The National Academy of Inventors, or NAI, has named five Florida State University faculty members as 2026 NAI Senior Members.

NAI Senior Members are active faculty, scientists and administrators with success in patents, licensing and commercialization and have produced technologies that have had significant impact on the welfare of society. There are more than 945 Senior Members holding over 11,000 U.S. patents.

This year’s class of NAI Senior Members is the largest to date, hailing from 82 NAI Member Institutions across the globe and collectively holding over 2,000 U.S. patents. FSU’s 2026 inductees are Pradeep Bhide, Ava Bienkiewicz, Christian Bleiholder, Yan-Yan Hu and Ulf Trociewitz. The university now counts 10 Senior Members among its faculty.

“This recognition from the National Academy of Inventors is a testament to the inventiveness and impact of these faculty members,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “Their research is making positive change in the world, and I’m proud to celebrate their achievements.”

The 2026 class of Senior Members will be honored during the Senior Member Induction Ceremony at NAI’s 15th Annual Conference June 1-4 in Los Angeles.

Pradeep Bhide

Bhide is a professor in the College of Medicine and director of the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases. As the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental Neuroscience, he directs interdisciplinary teams of physicians, scientists and genetic counselors who leverage gene therapy and precision medicine approaches to improve outcomes for children affected by rare diseases. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and private foundations, and his comprehensive approach to developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic technologies has earned national recognition.

In 2024, Bhide helped launch the Sunshine Genetics Pilot Program, which allows Florida families to opt in to no-cost whole genome sequencing for newborns to identify serious but treatable conditions before symptoms appear. As director of the Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases, Bhide remains committed to advancing translational research, expanding public outreach and training the next generation of healthcare professionals dedicated to combatting pediatric rare diseases.

Ava Bienkiewicz

Bienkiewicz is an associate professor in the College of Medicine, where she integrates research and teaching in the doctoral, M.D., and physician assistant programs in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Her research focuses on protein structure, stability and biomolecular interactions in the context of human disease and therapeutic intervention.

Bienkiewicz’s work centers on intrinsically disordered proteins and their roles in neurodegenerative and vascular injury-related conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and traumatic brain injury. By investigating protein misfolding and structure-function relationships, her research seeks to uncover molecular mechanisms that drive neuronal degeneration and survival.

She leads collaborative research efforts that translate fundamental molecular discoveries into medically relevant applications. Her work contributes to the development of new therapeutic strategies aimed at improving outcomes for patients affected by neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases.

Christian Bleiholder

Bleiholder is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he leads an interdisciplinary laboratory that integrates physical chemistry, analytical chemistry and biophysics to address longstanding challenges in protein structure analysis.

His research centers on advancing analytical chemistry methods, such as tandem‑trapped ion mobility spectrometry, or tandem‑TIMS, a powerful tool that reveals how proteins fold, assemble and change shape. His lab combines experimental and computational approaches to connect protein structure across multiple scales, opening new windows into complex systems such as monoclonal antibodies and protein assemblies linked to neurodegenerative disease and biotherapeutics.

Bleiholder has received multiple honors for his work, including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Postdoctoral Research Award from the American Chemical Society, and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Yan-Yan Hu

Yan‑Yan Hu is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a faculty affiliate of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Her work sits at the crossroads of chemistry, materials science and the MagLab’s world‑class magnetic resonance capabilities.

Her research is focused on advancing solid‑state NMR and MRI techniques to reveal how energy and biomaterials function at the atomic level. Her discoveries have reshaped understanding of ion transport and structure in solid‑state batteries and other energy‑storage materials, with results published in leading journals such as Nature Materials, Science Advances and Angewandte Chemie.

Hu has earned major honors including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the Marion Milligan Mason Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has also served in editorial roles for journals such as Materials Today Chemistry, Journal of Magnetic Resonance, and Chemistry of Materials.

Ulf Trociewitz

Trociewitz is a research faculty member at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, where he serves as senior personnel and deputy in magnet technology within the Applied Superconductivity Center. His research focuses on the development of high-temperature superconducting magnets and materials designed for ultra-high magnetic fields and exceptional homogeneity, particularly for nuclear magnetic resonance applications.

He holds six patents and has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications in international journals, reflecting his significant contributions to superconducting magnet innovation. His work supports the advancement of next-generation research instrumentation critical to scientific discovery in chemistry, biology and materials science.

He leads a $1.2 million, four-year research project funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to develop ultra-high-field NMR magnets using multifilament high-temperature superconductors. Through his research, Trociewitz continues to push the technological boundaries of magnet design, strengthening the nation’s leadership in advanced scientific infrastructure.

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Emily Shiel is a generous and driven doctoral student who dedicates her time to research and giving back to her community.

As a leader in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Student Association, Shiel creates a supportive environment for other graduate students and volunteers with the Tallahassee Science Festival every fall.

She has received a Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and a Predoctoral Fellowship Award from the American Heart Association for her research on immune signaling in cardiac diseases. Shiel presented her research to Florida legislators and scientists at the 2025 Rare Disease Day symposium.

What drew you to attend Florida State University?

I chose to attend Florida State University because of its strong biomedical sciences program, collaborative research environment and supportive faculty. I was drawn to FSU’s opportunities to engage in cutting-edge cardiovascular research and its emphasis on translating science to increase public understanding. The welcoming atmosphere at FSU made it clear that I could thrive in my academic and personal life.

What are your proudest academic accomplishments?

My most significant academic accomplishments include receiving a National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and a Predoctoral Fellowship Award from the American Heart Association. These competitive and prestigious grants not only supported my dissertation research but also recognized the significance of my work on immune signaling in cardiac diseases. Receiving these awards has been an honor and recognition of my potential as an independent scientist.

How do you give back to your community?

In 2025, I presented my research on the impact of inflammatory signaling in heart diseases at the Rare Disease Day symposium hosted by the College of Medicine’s Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases before an audience that included scientists, Florida legislators and individuals living with rare diseases. This experience taught me to translate complex biomedical findings into language accessible to the public while also emphasizing the importance of continued investment in rare disease research. Sharing my work in this setting highlighted both the human impact of scientific discovery and the role researchers play in advocating for patients and their families.

How have you seen the impact of your community service?

Through my research, I have contributed to FSU’s reputation as a hub for innovative cardiovascular science, advancing knowledge that will improve patient outcomes. I have disseminated my findings at national conferences. Beyond the lab, my leadership in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Student Association has fostered a more inclusive and supportive environment for graduate students. Through BSGSA, I work to foster a love for science in K-12 students by participating as a judge in the Capital Regional Science & Engineering Fair and volunteering at the Tallahassee Science Festival each fall.

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The public health crisis of drug abuse and addiction, now understood to be a chronic, treatable brain disorder, has affected society for centuries. In 2024, more than 46 million people in the U.S. had a substance use disorder, yet only 3.5% of them received treatment.

In addition to treatment options such as behavioral therapy and medication, a person’s social context has a significant influence on whether they will actively avoid drugs. Social groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous provide support to those overcoming substance abuse disorders, but support outside of these groups also has a major impact.

Florida State University researchers have been awarded a $3.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to investigate the effect of peer partners on facilitating drug avoidance and reducing the desire to seek out drugs. Leading the five-year project are Mohamed Kabbaj, professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Medicine, and Zuoxin Wang, professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences. They will investigate the foundational neural interactions influencing drug- and social-reward interaction.

“It’s well known that drug abuse is a serious worldwide public health problem for humans and that social affiliation and context can have profound effects on preventing and reducing drug use and dependence,” Wang said. “Unfortunately, the underlying neurochemical mechanism is still largely unknown.”

Our brains have evolved to reinforce and encourage life-sustaining behaviors through the brain’s reward pathway known as the mesolimbic system. When we experience things that give us pleasure — eating food, exercising, listening to music and other natural rewards — our brains release dopamine, an important hormone that helps us associate pleasurable activities with positive feelings.

“Because oxytocin is so important for social connections, it makes us wonder: What’s really going on in the brain that makes social interactions feel rewarding — and how does that affect whether people use or steer clear of drugs?”

– Mohamed Kabbaj, professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Medicine

When someone abuses substances like drugs, their brain reward pathway is hijacked — the neural circuitry that has evolved to enhance associative learning instead produces pleasurable feelings related to drug use, reinforcing the individual’s desire to continue using the substance.

“On the other hand, positive social interaction, such as maintaining strong social bonds, is critical and beneficial as it can have profound effects on our brain and behaviors to prevent and reduce the negative impacts on drug use from a person’s social environment,” Wang said.

Researchers will analyze a model centered on strong social preferences and focus on amphetamine or AMPH, one of the most abused drugs worldwide according to the NIH. They’ll investigate how AMPH use impairs social affiliation, how social affiliation facilitates AMPH extinction — one’s willingness to resist the drug even in its presence — and the role of the neurochemical oxytocin in mediating these drug- and social- reward interactions.

“Hanging out with a partner or friend boosts dopamine release in specific brain areas, hitting the same spots that light up when using drugs,” Kabbaj said. “AMPH tends to reduce social behaviors and bonding, but being around someone you’re close to can actually weaken the brain’s response to drugs. Because oxytocin is so important for social connections, it makes us wonder: What’s really going on in the brain that makes social interactions feel rewarding — and how does that affect whether people use or steer clear of drugs?”

The longtime collaborators will investigate the nucleus accumbens, a brain structure where dopamine is released and plays a major role in reward and motivation, and the interaction between oxytocin and dopamine at the molecular level. Oxytocin and dopamine are both neurotransmitters that facilitate communication among neurons throughout the body.

“We believe the nucleus accumbens is where oxytocin and dopamine work together to regulate this close interaction between social behaviors and drug of abuse,” Kabbaj said. “These neurotransmitters work within a brain circuit that includes the nucleus accumbens, and we plan to isolate the roles of these various brain circuits to understand the dampening effects of social behaviors on the development and extinction of drug addiction.”

Understanding the brain mechanisms behind how social behaviors impact drug addiction can lead to novel therapies including pharmacological therapy and new therapies based on how social support and social interactions influence drug use.

To learn more about research conducted in the Wang Lab, visit fla.st/BR4LINE1. For more on the Kabbaj Lab in the College of Medicine, visit fla.st/36IF0YPF.

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With recent hires in the College of Medicine and the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Florida State University has doubled the number of its faculty who are members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, a prestigious organization that unites leading researchers from around the country.

“Florida State University is a leading research university and an excellent place to grow an academic career,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “Our ability to attract these esteemed faculty members is a testament to that commitment.”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, or NASEM, are private, nonprofit institutions that provide expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and world. Their work helps shape sound policies, inform public opinion and advance the pursuit of science, engineering and medicine.

The university now counts 12 NASEM members among its faculty, an increase from six in 2024.

“These National Academy members want to be a part of FSU because the administration, faculty and students value their contributions and the opportunity to collaborate,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark.

This year, FSU added National Academy members A. Stewart Fotheringham to the Department of Geography, Regan Bailey to the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, and Patrick Stover to the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

Fotheringham is the Krafft Professor of Spatial Data Science and the director of the Spatial Data Science Center. His research focuses on the analysis of spatial data sets using statistical, mathematical and computational methods, which he applies to topics such as health data, crime patterns, migration and more.

Bailey is a professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine and co-director of the Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health. She is a nutritional epidemiologist whose research is focused on promoting health through nutrition across the lifespan. Her research program uses best practices for characterizing nutritional status, improvement of dietary assessment and chronic disease risk using a life course approach.

Stover is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and co-director of the Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health. He is known for his research on folate metabolism and its crucial role in human health. His work has helped uncover how folate, a B-vitamin, affects critical biological processes such as DNA synthesis, repair and methylation, and it has shown how folate deficiencies could lead to severe health consequences such as neuropathies, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

The number of National Academy members on the faculty is an important factor for institutional membership in the Association of American Universities, or AAU, a group of leading research universities.

National Academy members at FSU are working on game-changing research across campus:

National Academy of Sciences
Greg Boebinger, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences; director emeritus of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Laura Greene, Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences; chief scientist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Steven Stanley, Department of Biological Science, College of Arts and Sciences
A. Stewart Fotheringham, Department of Geography, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
Patrick Stover, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine

National Academy of Medicine
Regan Bailey, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, College of Medicine
Barbara J. Culliton, College of Communication and Information
Susan B. Hassmiller, College of Nursing
Jill Quadagno, Department of Sociology, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy

National Academy of Engineering
David C. Larbalestier, Department of Mechanical Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering; chief materials scientist, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Manoj Shah, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Longya Xu, Office of the Dean, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

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Depression is a worldwide epidemic on track to become second only to cardiovascular disease in terms of global disease burden. Recent Florida State University graduate Nella Delva is helping address this epidemic through groundbreaking research in Berlin, Germany, as part of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Delva, who graduated with her Ph.D. from the Department of Biomedical Sciences at FSU’s College of Medicine in May, spent the past year expanding her studies with enhanced technology at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin as a recipient of the Fulbright Study/Research Award.

“Participating in the Fulbright Program was really the best decision, even though I didn’t really think that this whole idea would ever come to life,” Delva said.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between U.S. citizens and people of other countries. The primary source of funding is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments, host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support.

Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant recipients are selected based on academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential in their fields, with the program operating in over 160 countries worldwide.

“It enriches you in ways you didn’t think it would, in your personal life and critical thinking as well,” Delva said.

Her Fulbright award allowed her to join one of Germany’s top research centers — part of the Helmholtz Association, the country’s largest scientific organization. Delva’s research focuses on dopamine, a brain chemical less studied than serotonin in depression research. Specifically, she is exploring D1 receptors, a type of dopamine receptor found on certain neurons in the brain’s cerebral cortex.

“My dissertation really started by wanting to understand a subset of cells in the brain — molecular markers of new depressive disorders — and how they impact behavior,” she said.

With access to advanced technology at the Max Delbrück Center, Delva used induced pluripotent stem cells — adult cells reprogrammed into an embryonic-like state — to model how changes in dopamine receptors affect brain function. Her work has since expanded to look at other molecular modifiers of stress and neurodevelopment.

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Florida State University has recognized four faculty members with the Developing Scholar Award, which honors the research contributions and creative work of associate professors.

Faculty were nominated by their respective academic departments. The awards, sponsored by the Council on Research and Creativity, include funding to promote the awardee’s program of research and creativity.

“Congratulations to these faculty members for their outstanding work and this well-deserved recognition,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “FSU is proud to celebrate their accomplishments and to support them in their scholarship.”

Robert Tomko, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine
Tomko studies the structure and function of a protein system called the ubiquitin-proteasome system and its role in normal and disease states. His laboratory works on the scale of individual proteins up to whole cells and integrates approaches spanning biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, structural biology, proteomics, biophysics and pharmacology. His goal is to identify new targets for treatment and to develop pharmacological modulators with potential therapeutic benefits.

Elizabeth Cecil, Department of Religion, College of Arts and Sciences
Cecil examines text, images, monuments and landscapes to investigate the history of Hindu religions across South and Southeast Asia. She is the primary research collaborator in the European Research Council PURANA project and co-editor-in-chief of the open-access journal PURANA Media. At FSU, she contributes to the Native American and Indigenous Studies Center and is co-director of the More-than-human Religion project, which explores the agency of nonhuman forces, entities and ecologies.

Aaron Wilber, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
As a faculty member in FSU’s Program in Neuroscience, Wilber researches the brain dynamics that allow us to derive a sense of location from a body-centered view of the world — how we get oriented in space so we can navigate our environment and understand what goes wrong when this system fails. His research examines how these brain systems participate in learning and memory and how neural networks are altered by mental and memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Yanshuo Sun, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Sun uses mathematical modeling and optimization methods to improve the planning, operations and management of transportation systems. His work touches several areas of transportation, including public transportation, freight transportation, airports, economics and transportation data analytics. Recent projects have examined how to improve the efficiency of on-demand mobility services in rural areas, the effects of fare capping for public transportation and how to strengthen data capabilities through academia-industry partnerships.

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Two Florida State University faculty members will receive Rising Star Awards from the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida.

Mariana Fuentes, an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Gregg Stanwood, an associate professor in the College of Medicine, will be honored at the organization’s annual meeting, which takes place Nov. 3-4 in Orlando.

Fuentes’ research provides a critical scientific basis to help in the recovery of marine turtles and other threatened marine species. Her multidisciplinary approach improves our understanding of fundamental ecological questions and helps determine how marine species will be impacted by different disturbances. Her recent work focuses on how sea turtles are impacted by recreational fisheries, vessel interactions and climate change.

“My research allows managers and decision makers to better anticipate and mitigate impacts to marine wildlife, and to identify what stressors they should be mitigating to maximize conservation of species,” Fuentes said. “By managing and conserving marine megafauna, we’re enabling the ecosystems to be healthy, and that has a positive cascading effect to the whole ocean.”

Stanwood is a developmental neurobiologist who explores the effects of gene and environmental interactions on brain development. In a recent study, his lab showed that the receptors targeted by drugs that treat metabolism, diabetes and obesity — Ozempic is one popular example — are also involved in the addictive effects of cocaine and other drugs of abuse. An upcoming project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will examine the interactions of harmful chemicals and psychosocial stressors such as adverse childhood experiences on children in the southwestern Florida community of Immokalee.

“I’m really excited to be part of a team that’s gathering new sources of data to assemble to make new models for cumulative risk exposures,” Stanwood said. “I think this is very impactful and can change lives positively, not just for members of the Immokalee community, but can also be adapted for other communities across the state and across the nation. Our team is uniquely positioned to evaluate both chemical and nonchemical stressors jointly – for the first time.”

Fuentes and Stanwood are among 11 faculty members from Florida universities who will be honored as rising stars. Other faculty come from the University of Florida, University of Miami, University of Central Florida and Florida International University.

The Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL) was established in 2018 and works to inform Floridians of current and future science, engineering and medicine issues and address associated challenges. The organization provides unbiased expertise for issues that concern the state and helps facilitate scientific interactions.

The academy also named Pamela Keel, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Theo Siegrist, a chemical and biomedical engineering professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, for membership in this year’s class.

To be selected for ASEMFL membership, individuals must live or work in Florida and be a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, or be nominated by an ASEMFL member and have an outstanding record of accomplishments, national and international recognition.

Visit asemfl.org for more information about the organization and this year’s meeting.

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