As Suicide Prevention Month brings renewed national attention to mental health, Florida State University Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology Thomas Joiner stands among the nation’s most influential researchers, dedicating his career to understanding why people die by suicide and how communities can help prevent it.

Suicide remains a leading public health challenge in the United States, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting 48,824 deaths by suicide in 2024. Each September, organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline use Suicide Prevention Month to raise awareness, reduce stigma and encourage people to seek help before a crisis becomes fatal.

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Florida State University psychologists, education researchers and computational scientists have teamed up to transform raw data from educational research into a digital resource that can advance the teaching and learning of K-12 mathematics.

The interdisciplinary team will bring together six existing dataset covering about 90,000 elementary students and 3,000 teachers and build an interactive dashboard with an AI chatbot that allows users to ask questions about the data in plain language.

Professors of Psychology Colleen Ganley and Chris Schatschneider, Professor of Scientific Computing Gordon Erlebacher and Associate Professor of Mathematics Education Robert Schoen have been awarded $1.5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support the creation of the Integrated Data for Education AI, and Learning in Mathematics Project (IDEAL-Math) Network.

The collaboration between researchers and educational practitioners aims to improve the quality of existing math education data by developing a digital dashboard to increase accessibility to education research.

“This project represents an important national investment in FSU’s strengths in psychological science, education, artificial intelligence and data science,” said Brad Schmidt, Robert O. Lawton Professor of Psychology and Department of Psychology chair. “By bringing researchers together with teachers and technology experts, this project will organize the high-quality data needed to better understand how children learn mathematics and develop increasingly effective educational tools and practices.”

The IDEAL-Math project is one of five projects funded across the country through NSF’s Collaboratory to Advance Mathematics Education and Learning for K-12 initiative. Together, these five projects will form a shared national hub intended to have a lasting influence on the collection, digital organization and sharing of U.S. education data.

The interdisciplinary nature of this work is reflected by the versatile affiliations of its lead researchers. Alongside their roles in the FSU Department of Psychology, Ganley is a faculty affiliate of the Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or FCR-STEM, and Schatschneider is the associate director of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Schoen is also an associate director of FCR-STEM, and Erlebacher directs FSU’s Interdisciplinary Data Science Master’s Degree Program.

“Every year, researchers collect large amounts of data through surveys, test scores, classroom videos and other methods trying to understand how children learn math,” said Ganley, director of FSU’s developmental psychology program. “Too often, those data get squirreled away after a few publications and never make it back to the educational community or public. This project aims to change that by taking data that have already been collected and making them more useful for researchers, educators and policymakers who want to ask their own questions.”

“By bringing researchers together with teachers and technology experts, this project will organize the high-quality data needed to better understand how children learn mathematics and develop increasingly effective educational tools and practices.”

– Brad Schmidt, Robert O. Lawton Professor of Psychology and Department of Psychology chair

Data sharing is often mandated as a condition of funding for federal agencies and an increasing number of foundations that support research. However, back-end tasks — producing high-quality documentation, organizing information so computers and humans can easily reuse it and de-identifying sensitive information like names and faces from classroom videos — require a significant amount of expertise and time that a research team may not have once the research itself has concluded.

To protect the privacy of research participants, the IDEAL-Math Network’s team will employ de-identification processes that prevent data, such as test scores and survey answers, from being traced back to one person. For example, the data will not include specifics on parents’ occupations but instead include broad job categories from public databases. Statistical and AI-based methods will assess reidentification risk for participants across multiple datasets to ensure student, parent and teacher confidentiality.

“As a computational scientist, my role is in translation, or taking data that are meaningful to psychology and education researchers and turning them into a structured, validated and well-documented dashboard that someone without coding experience, as well as AI systems, can easily understand,” Erlebacher said. “As we build the AI chatbot component, I am focused on lowering barriers for teachers and principals by eliminating weak points where the chatbot risks giving a confident-sounding wrong answer.”

Researchers will curate and assemble six datasets collected by FSU researchers into the interactive dashboard and develop the custom chatbot so users can ask questions and receive answers in plain language. The team will also host workshops for education researchers on ethical data sharing, data management and AI in education research.

“Research shows that beyond a person’s preference for one subject over another, the way someone learns math as a child has ripple effects into adulthood, influencing aspects like reading capability, the likelihood of pursuing a STEM career, and eventual socioeconomic status,” Erlebacher said. “Through this project, we hope that a district administrator, for example, can ask for strategies to increase students’ confidence in their math skills and receive a data-backed answer in seconds instead of never being able to ask the question at all.”

To learn more about research conducted in the FSU Department of Psychology, visit psychology.fsu.edu, and for more information on work in the FSU Department of Scientific Computing, visit sc.fsu.edu. To explore offerings in the FSU School of Teacher Education, visit annescollege.fsu.edu. Visit the FCR-STEM website for more information on this Learning Systems Institute program.

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As GLP-1 drugs become increasingly common for weight loss, researchers are beginning to examine what these medications may reveal about eating behavior beyond the scale, including why some people experience persistent urges to binge.

Florida State University’s Pamela Keel, the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology, has developed emerging research suggesting GLP-1 drugs may help reduce binge-eating symptoms in some patients by addressing a biological factor rather than simply targeting willpower or behavior.

Keel led the research team whose work last summer established that overlooked biological components in bulimia could be targeted by FDA-approved treatments for Type 2 diabetes. Their research concluded that in addition to targeting psychological factors in treatment, screening patients for biological conditions like high weight suppression — the difference between highest and current body weight — can help clinicians identify who might benefit most from GLP-1s.

The finding could help explain why certain patients experience improvements in bingeing when treated with GLP-1 drugs, and why binge eating should not be framed simply as a lack of self-control.

“Most treatments for eating disorders focus on psychological factors,” Keel said. “Our much-needed research allows clinicians to better understand what biological factors to target when treating patients with eating disorders.”

Keel’s study recently gained attention in the Wall Street Journal for a feature on how GLP-1s assisted one person who was battling bulimia — an illness marked by uncontrolled episodes of bingeing and purging. The article highlighted the research team’s finding that some people with bulimia experience a reduced release of the body’s natural GLP-1 hormone after eating — the same hormone these drugs are designed to mimic. The finding suggests that the persistent urge to binge may stem not from psychological weakness, but from a measurable hormonal deficit that medication could help address.

Keel, who conducts translational research in eating disorders, confirmed that her research provides a possible pathway for bingeing improvements for some individuals targeted with GLP-1s.

“These findings suggest that GLP-1 drugs might help some women stop bingeing by correcting problems with lower GLP-1 release while eating,” Keel said.

“These findings suggest that GLP-1 drugs might help some women stop bingeing by correcting problems with lower GLP-1 release while eating.”

– Pamela Keel, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology

A recent Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index shows the percentage of U.S. adults currently taking GLP-1s for weight loss has risen to 11% in 2026. Keel’s emerging research supports studies testing GLP-1s for their potential efficacy in individuals with bulimia and related syndromes.

Media interested in learning more about Keel’s research and its importance in navigating treatments for eating disorders may reach out to her via email at keel@psy.fsu.edu.

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Shark Awareness Day, observed every year on July 14, encourages a better understanding of sharks and the important role they play in healthy marine ecosystems.

Summer fears often focus on shark attacks instead of far more common dangers such as rip currents, extreme heat or even dehydration. On average, shark attacks cause one to two fatalities nationally per year, while rip currents result in more than 100 annual deaths and heat-related illnesses contribute to nearly 2,400 deaths each year, according to 2023 data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Florida State University Associate Professor of Psychology David March studies threat perception, or how people judge and respond to danger. He leads the March Research Laboratory that examines how automatic and deliberate thinking shape perception, decision making and behavior. March says people naturally process dramatic events such as shark attacks differently than more common but less visible dangers, shaping how they think about risk before they ever step onto the beach.

“There is an evolved bias toward acute, identifiable physical threats,” March said. “A shark is a clear and imaginable agent of harm. It has teeth, movement, intentional behavior and the capacity to cause immediate bodily harm. In contrast, rip currents and dehydration are more diffuse, gradual and harder to visualize as ‘attackers.’ They do not fit the evolved threat prototype, even though they may be more dangerous in practical terms.”

That imbalance, March said, is especially clear among beachgoers who may understand the ocean more as a place of recreation than as a changing natural environment with less visible risks.

“Threat perception is not simply a response to objective danger. It is shaped by experience, attention, cultural messages and how easily a threat can be imagined,” March added. “For tourists, the beach may feel generally safe and recreational, while the most emotionally available danger is the shark. The result is misallocated fear, leading to vigilance toward the wrong threat and underpreparedness for the risks most likely to cause harm.”

Media interested in interviewing associate professor of psychology David March about the misplaced summer fears of shark attacks may reach out to him via email at march@psy.fsu.edu.

David March, associate professor, Florida State University Department of Psychology

Statistics show shark attacks are rare, yet rip currents and extreme heat claim far more lives. Why do so many people worry more about sharks at the beach?

Sensationalized news coverage contributes to an overperception of how often shark attacks occur. This reflects the availability heuristic: because shark attacks are dramatic and widely reported, examples of them come to mind easily, which makes them feel more common than they actually are. In contrast, dangers like rip currents or dehydration may be statistically more frequent, but they are less likely to receive the same kind of vivid media attention.

This availability effect is paired with the especially vivid and emotionally intense nature of shark attacks. The idea of being attacked by a large predator is easy to imagine, visually graphic, and associated with fear and pain. Those affective reactions can make the risk feel more immediate and serious, even when the actual probability is low. As a result, when someone is at the beach, they may become more vigilant about signs of sharks than about less dramatic but more likely dangers.

Together, media sensationalism, availability, vivid affect, and evolved sensitivity to acute predators prepare us to overperceive the risk of shark attacks, leading to greater concern that is oversized relative to the actual danger. This is especially the case when we are at the place where such a threat may occur.

One behavioral data point suggests that a large portion of rip current fatality victims are out-of-state tourists — many who visit beaches more for leisure. How much does mindset play a role in these types of fatalities, and how does this tie into threat perception overall?

Experience likely plays an important role because it shapes both how people approach the beach and which threats they know how to recognize. Tourists with less regular beach exposure may see the beach primarily as a leisure setting rather than a dynamic natural environment with changing surf, currents, heat and other hazards. They also have fewer ordinary, uneventful beach experiences to counter the cultural narrative that sharks are the major ocean danger. At the same time, they may be less familiar with rip currents, less likely to recognize their warning signs, and less likely to have encountered public messaging that treats them as a serious threat. This stacks the deck toward underperceiving common but less vivid dangers while overperceiving dramatic but rare ones.”

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Mental Health Awareness Month is recognized each May to provide education and reduce the stigma of several disorders. One lesser-known term gaining attention is high-functioning anxiety, which describes people who appear successful and composed while privately struggling with chronic stress, worry and self-doubt.

According to the Mayo Clinic, high-functioning anxiety is associated with generalized anxiety disorder and often goes unnoticed because individuals continue to perform well at work, school or in relationships despite significant internal stress. Florida State University’s Brad Schmidt is the director of the Anxiety & Behavioral Health Clinic, which develops state-of-the-art treatments for individuals suffering from anxiety-related problems. Schmidt’s translational research lab also focuses on the nature, causes, treatment and prevention of anxiety and associated forms of psychopathology, including PTSD, substance use and suicide.

Schmidt says high-functioning anxiety can be difficult to recognize because many people who experience it appear highly capable on the surface.

“One important thing to clarify is that high-functioning anxiety is not a formal diagnosis. It is a way of describing people whose anxiety is largely hidden by outward competence,” Schmidt said. “These individuals may look successful, organized and driven, but internally they experience chronic worry, self-doubt, anticipatory fear, and a persistent sense that they are one mistake away from failure. Basically, it is a term for people who experience anxiety while still appearing outwardly successful or composed.”

Today’s culture often celebrates people who push themselves to succeed, even when that success comes at the expense of their mental health. Schmidt said social media can amplify behaviors commonly associated with anxiety.

“Social media does not typically celebrate anxiety itself, but it does celebrate behaviors that can be anxiety-driven — extreme productivity, relentless ambition and the idea that rest is weakness,” Schmidt added. “The danger is that we confuse high output with psychological health. A person can be achieving at a high level and still be chronically dysregulated, sleep-deprived and unhappy and anxious. In an anxiety clinic, we would ask not only ‘Is the person functioning?’ but ‘What is the cost of them functioning in this way?’

Schmidt is available for interviews on high-functioning anxiety and can be reached via email at schmidt@psy.fsu.edu. As an experienced and highly responsive media subject, Schmidt has appeared in National Geographic, Us Weekly  and other large outlets recently.

Brad Schmidt, director, FSU Anxiety and Behavioral Health Clinic

High-functioning anxiety can be masked easily, especially by individuals who are seen as successful and rewarded in corporate culture. But what are some of the internal dilemmas these individuals experience?

A common dilemma is that the very behaviors that make them look successful —overpreparing, saying yes to everything, working late, being hyperresponsive —may actually be anxiety-management strategies. They reduce anxiety in the short term because the person feels temporarily more in control, but they can reinforce the belief that “I only succeed because I never let up.”

So, the internal conflict is: “I’m being rewarded for the same behaviors that are exhausting me.” The person may receive praise for being dependable or high achieving, while privately experiencing sleep disturbance, muscle tension, irritability, difficulty relaxing, and a narrowed life organized around preventing failure.

How normalized is high-functioning anxiety becoming in today’s competitive landscape?

I would be cautious about saying that high-functioning anxiety itself is becoming normalized, because we don’t really have good research tracking HFA to know how common it is. Anxiety itself is very common. Epidemiological estimates suggest that clinically significant anxiety is one of the most common mental illnesses, and so it would follow that many people with significant anxiety are also outwardly successful.

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Florida State University recognized the research contributions and creative work of associate professors with this year’s Developing Scholar Awards.

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

“These faculty members exemplify excellence in scholarship, and we congratulate them on this well-earned recognition,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “FSU is honored to celebrate their accomplishments and to support their ongoing research and creative work.”

This year’s awardees are:

David Braithwaite, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
In his “Queen of the Sciences” lab, Braithwaite investigates mathematical thinking and logical reasoning and how people learn and develop these skills. Using behavior studies and computational modeling, he aims to improve our understanding of cognitive processes involved in math and logic to advance psychological theory and improve education.

Ravinder Nagpal, Department of Health, Nutrition, and Food Science, Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Nagpal researches the role of the gut microbiome in age-related intestinal and neurocognitive health. His research examines how beneficial and pathogenic microbes and their metabolites function, with the goal of developing nutritional and pharmacological interventions to improve the microbiome and reduce conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

Joel Smith, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
The Smith Lab is focused on improving synthetic approaches to assemble some of nature’s most complex molecules. Smith and his team investigate the most concise way to assemble naturally occurring molecules, which often inspires the invention of brand-new chemical reactions and improves the synthesis, function, and translational potential of organic molecules and transformations.

Qian Yin, Department of Biological Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Yin studies how individual proteins or protein assemblies intervene in related biological processes such as membrane transport, the innate immune response, and host-pathogen interactions. Her work illuminates the interactions among inflammation, infection, cellular cleanup processes and rearrangement of protein filaments in cells. A recent focus is on the endomembrane system, which is the focal point of both antimicrobial defense and cell maintenance.

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Florida State University Teaching Professor of Psychology Orenda Johnson has been recognized with the university’s most prestigious teaching honor for her sustained excellence in the classroom and her deep commitment to student learning.

Johnson of the College of Arts and Sciences is the recipient of FSU’s 2026-2027 Distinguished Teacher Award, which recognizes faculty who demonstrate long-term excellence in teaching and a lasting impact on their students.

“Professor Johnson is known for creating a highly engaging, student-centered classroom, where complex concepts are broken down clearly and reinforced through active learning, practice and real-world connection,” said Jim Clark, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

Johnson has spent nearly two decades teaching Introduction to Neuroscience, a foundational course that reaches students from across the university. The course serves a wide range of learners, from first-year students to advanced STEM majors, many of whom encounter neuroscience for the first and only time in her classroom. She also teaches upper-division neuroscience courses and a graduate teaching practicum.

“It is a huge honor,” Johnson said of the award. “I’ve worked with so many faculty across the university over the years, and I’m always impressed and inspired by the dedication and thoughtfulness they put into teaching. To be recognized by my colleagues … is really very special.”

She said she approaches teaching as a shared experience between instructor and students.

“I really think of teaching as kind of a collaborative experience with myself and my students,” she said. “I don’t ever want it to be a situation where I just talk at them for a long time. I want the class to be active and conversational.”

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Two Florida State University faculty members have been named among the world’s most highly cited researchers, a distinction that places them in the top 1% of scientists and scholars whose work has had the greatest influence in their fields.

Department of Psychology Professor Thomas Joiner and Department of Geography Professor A. Stewart Fotheringham were recognized by the analytics company Clarivate for producing multiple highly cited papers over the past decade, reflecting exceptional research impact in suicide prevention and spatial data analytics.

The designation identifies researchers whose publications rank in the top 1% by citations for their field and year in the Web of Science Core Collection and is awarded to roughly one in every 1,000 researchers worldwide.

Together, Joiner and Fotheringham exemplify FSU’s growing research profile, with scholarship that informs clinical practice, public policy and real-world decision making.

Thomas Joiner
Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology
Director, FSU Psychology Lab

Joiner’s research spans psychology, neurobiology and clinical treatment, with an emphasis on understanding the mechanisms that lead to suicide and identifying effective strategies for prevention across diverse populations, including military personnel and first responders. He is known for developing and empirically testing the interpersonal theory of suicide, a foundational framework in contemporary suicide research.

At FSU, Joiner directs the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors, where faculty, clinicians and students collaborate on research examining suicidal ideation and diagnoses and safety around access to lethal means. His work at the university also extends to large-scale, federally funded initiatives, including his role as co-director of the Department of Defense-funded Military Suicide Research Consortium, which is focused on reducing suicide risk among service members.

Joiner’s influence extends beyond academia into clinical practice and public health policy, reshaping how suicide risk is understood and addressed.

“Thomas is not only a prolific researcher, but his work has profoundly influenced practicing clinicians,” said Brad Schmidt, chair of the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts & Sciences. “We are doing a better job assessing for suicide and bringing it out of the shadows because of the bright light that Thomas has shone on it with his theory and empirical work over his career. His research, including the many students he has inspired, has substantially influenced the way we think about, assess and treat suicide risk.”

A. Stewart Fotheringham
Krafft Professor of Spatial Data Science, Department of Geography
Director, Spatial Data Science Center

A. Stewart Fotheringham is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a pioneer in the application of advanced statistical and computational methods to spatial data. His research focuses on how location and spatial relationships shape social, economic and health-related outcomes, with widely recognized contributions to spatial interaction modeling and local statistical analysis.

At FSU, Fotheringham is the founding director of the Spatial Data Science Center in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, where he leads interdisciplinary research that applies spatial analytics to real-world challenges including public health, crime patterns, migration, urban development and the environment.

“Stewart has transformed how researchers and policymakers understand the role of location in complex societal issues,” said Anne Chin, chair of the Department of Geography. “His innovative work in spatial data analytics has not only advanced our tools, but it has also provided practical insights into a range of issues that include public health, urban development and social patterns. Through his research and mentorship, Stewart has shaped a generation of scholars and left a lasting mark on the field of geography. The advances and approaches that he has championed will continue to lead us into meeting the global challenges of tomorrow.”

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Love takes center stage every Valentine’s Day. But for many, connections are becoming embraced over commitment.

The modern dating scene is seeing a rise in ‘situationships,’ defined as relationships that are characterized by passion and intimacy but lacking formal commitment. These types of relationships are more common today than in the past, particularly among younger generations.

Florida State University’s Andrea Meltzer is the social psychology area director and a professor within the Department of Psychology. Her research uniquely integrates relationship science and evolutionary psychology to examine how evolved processes shape our closest relationships.

While it’s hard to select the single biggest driver of the rise in situationships among younger people, Meltzer points to individuals’ perception of availability as a big reason for the trend.

“We know from relationship science that, regardless of how happy people are in their relationships, the relative comparison of what people are getting out of their relationships versus what people think they could get outside of that partnership predict the extent to which they are committed,” Meltzer said.

Meltzer is head of The Attractions and Close Relationships (ACR) Lab at FSU. She utilizes both experimental and longitudinal methods and often draws from an evolutionary perspective to better understand established romantic relationships.

She asserts that social media is at the heart of modern dating habits.

“In our fast-paced, technology-drenched modern world, the available options seem endless,” Meltzer added. “When young people spend hours on their phones scrolling social media and dating apps, they are exposed to an endless stream of attractive others. Even if those attractive others are not realistically obtainable (because they live far away or because they are strangers), we likely unconsciously process those others as ‘potential options,’ driving lower commitment in our face-to-face relationships.”

For media interested in discussing the rise of situationships heading into Valentine’s Day, Andrea Meltzer is available for interviews. Requests can be made by contacting her via email at meltzer@psy.fsu.edu.

Andrea Meltzer, social psychology area director, Department of Psychology

What do you see as the main pros and cons of situationships?

Situationships can offer people many of the benefits of more committed relationships. They provide companionship, intimacy and emotional and physical support. Nevertheless, there is a growing literature demonstrating that such situationships are less satisfying than relationships characterized by more commitment. Furthermore, their ambiguity is associated with hypervigilance, lower self-esteem and poorer well-being (especially if the situationship ends and their partner “ghosts” them).

Talk about the role that dating apps have in this trend

I do think dating apps play a notable role. People who scroll these apps think their available options are endless. Even if they have considered all potential partners in a given area, they can expand their search to a wider area, offering more options. To me, social media plays an even bigger role. Compared to 10 minutes on a dating app, people are exposed to significantly more attractive people when endlessly scrolling on TikTok for 10 minutes.

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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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Annie English, a criminology and psychology student in the Florida State University Honors Program is an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) leader, IDEA Grant recipient and Honors in the Major student. English uses her research experiences and involvement at FSU to teach and mentor fellow undergraduates about research.

As a leader in her sorority, she gives back to the FSU community by helping her fellow sorority sisters with community engagement, academic resources and finding opportunities at FSU. Through research and leadership, English’s commitment to service remains a highlight of her FSU experience.

Why did you choose to attend FSU?

From a young age, I knew I wanted to spend my life studying the criminal mind. I have encouraging parents who stopped at nothing to help me follow my dreams and foster my curiosity. In high school, when it came time to search for colleges, I discovered that FSU had one of the top criminology programs in the country. FSU quickly became my dream.

I heard stories from friends and family about the many academic opportunities that FSU had to offer, so FSU seemed like the obvious choice. I was admitted for the summer term and never looked back. I feel attending FSU was never a “choice” for me; it was always the goal.

What academic achievements are you most proud of?

I participated in UROP during my second year at FSU. I worked with a faculty mentor to conduct research about the presence of hostile men in online communities. I had the privilege of presenting our work at the Undergraduate Research Symposium in spring 2024. UROP increased my involvement at FSU and improved skills that led me to new opportunities.

After participating in UROP, I was empowered to further involve myself in undergraduate research. I am working on an Honors in the Major project on how perceptions of juvenile deviance are influenced by music genre preferences. I received an IDEA Grant to fund my research, and I am grateful for the guidance and support of so many incredible and intelligent mentors and faculty.

How have you served the FSU community?

The first significant contribution I feel I have made to FSU is my involvement in the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement (CRE) as a UROP leader. For the past two semesters, I have taught a UROP colloquium of students eager to get involved in research at FSU.

Beyond academics, I also was selected by the executive board of my sorority, Chi Omega, to serve as the 2025 Director of Career and Personal Development (CPD). This role gives me the opportunity to assist my sisters as they navigate their undergraduate experiences. The day-to-day workload as the CPD director involves individual advising, where I help them with resume writing, LinkedIn profiles, class schedules, financial literacy and personal well-being.

Working as the CPD director has allowed me to not only learn how to help in many situations, but it has also been a reminder that spending time with others in different fields is beneficial, and that there is so much to learn.

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