As autism diagnoses continue to rise across the United States, schools are under growing pressure to better support students on the spectrum. About 1 in 31 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a shift that is reshaping classrooms nationwide.

At Florida State University, researchers Jenny Root and Veronica Fleury from the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences are studying how schools can meet that need. Their work focuses on evidence-based teaching strategies and inclusive classroom practices that improve both academic and social outcomes for students with autism.

The Autism Society recognizes April as Autism Acceptance Month, which brings attention to the need for greater understanding, support and inclusion.

Root and Fleury are available to speak with media about what strategies work in the classroom and how educators can better support autistic students.

Veronica Fleury, Associate Professor, Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences; affiliate faculty, Florida Center for Reading Research
vpfleury@fsu.edu

Fleury’s research focuses on optimizing learning opportunities for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. She examines how autism influences students’ ability to participate in learning and explores instructional strategies that support academic and social development in young children. Fleury has more than 20 years of experience working with children with autism and she received the 2023 Research Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

What are some of the most important ways schools and educators can better support students with autism in classroom settings?
Our best chance at promoting positive outcomes for individuals with autism is through early intervention and high-quality education that incorporates evidence-based instruction. Providing teachers with exemplary training in the characteristics of autism and the use of research-supported practices is critical.

Evidence-based practices center on predictable environments, explicit teaching methods and behavioral supports that prioritize frequent practice and immediate feedback. To keep pace with the growing body of research, educators must also have ongoing opportunities to monitor students, continue learning and adjust instruction as needed.

Based on your research, what strategies or approaches show the most promise for improving learning, communication or social outcomes for students with autism?
My current intervention work focuses on using shared book reading (i.e., adults reading aloud to children) as a context to develop early literacy and language skills in young children with autism. Reading aloud is a developmentally appropriate way to build foundational skills for reading success. Because it is inherently social, many children with autism require additional support to actively engage in book-reading activities. While the fundamental skills remain the same, how we teach them may differ. Autistic children may require more frequent reading opportunities, carefully selected books aligned with their interests, explicit vocabulary instruction and behavioral support to sustain engagement. 

Jenny Root, Anne and John Daves Endowed Associate Professor, Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences; affiliate faculty, Florida Center for Reading Research
jrroot@fsu.edu

Root’s research focuses on developing and evaluating evidence-based instructional methods that promote meaningful academic learning for students with autism and intellectual disability, as well as supporting teachers in implementing effective practices. She has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and received the 2025 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

What are some of the most important ways schools and educators can better support students with autism in classroom settings?
Many classroom expectations are based on implicit norms about how students should behave, communicate and demonstrate learning. For students with autism, these norms can create unnecessary barriers.

While it is important to support students in navigating different expectations, it is equally important for educators to provide flexibility. By allowing flexibility in how students engage, respond and demonstrate understanding, educators can focus on meaningful learning rather than surface-level compliance.

Supporting students with autism is often framed as providing additional help, but a more productive lens is to reconsider how classrooms are designed in the first place. When educators embed support for communication, predictability and engagement into instruction, they reduce the need for individualized workarounds and create more equitable learning environments.

Based on your research, what strategies or approaches show the most promise for improving learning, communication or social outcomes for students with autism?
Students are more successful when they are taught not just what to do, but how to use supports independently. This includes learning when to use a strategy, how to adapt it and how to ask for help when needed.

Instruction should include opportunities for decision making, self-monitoring and gradually reducing adult support over time. When designed this way, it helps students build skills they can apply across settings beyond the classroom.

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Five outstanding Florida State University faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to the promotion of science, engineering and innovation.

This year’s class includes FSU professors Stephen Hill, Michael Roper, Theo Siegrist, Nora Underwood and Dragana Popović.

“We are incredibly proud to see our faculty recognized as AAAS Fellows,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “This distinction speaks to their commitment to discovery and to the meaningful impact of their work across the scientific community. Their accomplishments strengthen Florida State University and inspire our students, peers and partners.”

Election as an AAAS fellow is a lifetime honor and a tradition dating back to 1874. Past distinguished honorees from across the nation include Ellen Ochoa, Steven Chu, Grace Hopper, Alan Alda, Mae Jemison and Ayanna Howard.

For more on this year’s FSU Honorees:

Stephen Hill
Department of Physics/National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Hill is a professor of physics and chief scientist for quantum information science at the National MagLab. His research primarily explores the properties of molecular nanomagnets, focusing on quantum information processing and the behavior of single-molecule magnets. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was recently selected to serve on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Identifying Opportunities at the Interface of Chemistry and Quantum Information Science.

Michael Roper
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Roper is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Florida State. His work sits at the intersection of chemistry and biology, specifically focusing on microfluidics and bioanalysis. His team develops “lab-on-a-chip” technologies to study cell clusters in the pancreas known as islets of Langerhans. By measuring how these cell clusters secrete hormones like insulin in real-time, his research provides critical insights into the underlying mechanisms of diabetes. Roper has received multiple awards for his research and teaching including the American Chemical Society Young Investigator Award in Separation Science, Developing Scholar Award from FSU, and the Mid-Career Award from the American Electrophoresis Society.

Theo Siegrist
FAMU-FSU College of Engineering/National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Siegrist, a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering, is a leading expert in materials science and crystallography. His research focuses on the structure-property relationships of complex materials, including organic semiconductors and superconductors. By understanding how atoms are arranged within a crystal, his work helps pave the way for the next generation of electronic devices and energy-efficient materials. Siegrist is a fellow of the American Physical Society. Prior to working at FSU, Siegrist served as a researcher at the famed Bell Laboratories.

Nora Underwood
Department of Biological Science

Underwood is a population biologist who investigates the ecology and evolution of plant-insect interactions and the relationship between climate and the timing of biological events. Her research examines topics such as how plant diversity influences insect damage on plants, and how temperature has influenced the timing of spring growth over decades and centuries. Her work helps us understand biodiversity, how ecosystems change, and the natural management of agricultural pests and pollinators. Underwood received the 2021-22 Distinguished Teacher Award from FSU and was named a U.S. Fulbright Scholar for the 2024-2025 year.

Dragana Popović
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory/Department of Physics

Popović is a condensed matter physicist known for her experimental studies on electronic transport and magnetic properties in disordered systems. She focuses on phenomena such as the metal-insulator transition, high-temperature superconductivity, and charge dynamics. Her research often involves cooling materials to temperatures near absolute zero to observe how electrons behave under extreme conditions.  She was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2012 and a Distinguished University Scholar in 2013. She is being honored for outstanding experimental contributions to the physics of strongly correlated electron systems, and especially for seminal work on out-of-equilibrium behavior of two-dimensional electronic systems near quantum phase transitions.

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A Florida State University physicist has been named to a newly formed committee that will oversee and advise all future scientific ventures for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

Mayly Sanchez, the Wyatt-Green Chair of Physics in FSU’s Department of Physics, is one of 20 expert scientists selected for the Office of Science Advisory Committee, or SCAC, that will provide advice to DOE on complex scientific and technical issues as well as guide future directions of all of DOE’s research programs.

“I’m so excited for the opportunity to shape how we do science and help determine the best directions for DOE’s research,” said Sanchez, a world leader in the study of neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles that have little mass, no charge, and played a large role in how our universe came to be. “We’re living in a very exciting moment in which we have many new technologies that are developing incredibly fast, and there’s a real opportunity for the scientific community to adopt these tools and make significant progress in all areas of science.”

SCAC was established in 2026. The committee includes scientists from a range of fields and combines expertise from academia and university research, national laboratories and industry science. Other SCAC members hail from such institutions as the Cleveland Clinic; the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California; Google DeepMind and more.

“Dr. Sanchez is an extraordinary scientist who will provide invaluable insight to DOE as it faces the next generation of complex scientific and technological questions,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “This recognition is a testament to her outstanding leadership and dedication to advancing scientific research. We’re proud to have her represent FSU at the national level.”

Sanchez currently leads research in multiple neutrino experiments, including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, a large international collaboration among over 1,400 scientists that uses giant underground neutrino detectors at DOE’s Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois, and the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. She also helps lead the  NOvA (NuMI Off-axis νe Appearance) experiment in its investigation of neutrinos through precise measurements of their oscillation properties at Fermilab.

“Being named to SCAC is a significant honor that reflects a career defined by excellence and impact,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “Professor Sanchez has consistently pushed the boundaries of what is possible in the lab; now, she will bring that same rigorous, forward-thinking approach to the DOE. Her work on this committee will undoubtedly influence the future of scientific discovery and energy security for years to come.”

Previously, Sanchez served on the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, which recommended plans and directions for research in particle physics to DOE, and on the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel, which advised DOE’s Office of Science on high-energy particle physics research until 2025.

“This committee is unique not only because it crosses interdisciplinary boundaries but also because scientists in academia, industry, and government work in very different ways,” said Sanchez, who works with FSU’s High-Energy Physics group. “Having the space to discuss how we can better enable collaboration among these domains can make a huge difference in the world and in how we conduct science, especially if we make certain technologies more accessible. I’m an incredible optimist in terms of what technology and science can do for society, and I’m looking forward to sharing that energy with the committee.”

SCAC’s responsibilities include establishing research and facilities priorities, determining program balance among disciplines, and identifying opportunities for inter-laboratory collaboration, program integration and industrial participation.

“I’m very pleased with Mayly’s selection to serve on SCAC,” said College of Arts and Sciences Dean Sam Huckaba. “The appointment is not only prestigious and reflective of her stature, but it’s also important — it means that FSU will be well-represented during discussions of current scientific priorities and future directions at DOE.”

Sanchez has earned numerous accolades for her research, including an American Physical Society Fellowship in 2020. In 2013, she was named among Latin America’s top 10 women scientists by the BBC, and she’s also received two prestigious National Science Foundation awards for her work with neutrinos — the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2012 and the Early Career Development Award in 2011. Sanchez received her doctorate in 2003 from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Following her graduation, Sanchez conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University and simultaneously joined the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search team at Fermilab. She then worked as a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, before taking a faculty position at Iowa State University in 2009. Sanchez joined FSU’s faculty in 2022.

To learn more about Sanchez’s work and research conducted in the Department of Physics, visit physics.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University and Apalachee Center have established a new partnership to improve mental health care across the state, with a particular focus on Northwest Florida.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two institutions unites Apalachee Center’s more than 80 years of hands-on experience serving individuals living with mental illness and substance use disorder with Florida State University’s 175-year legacy of academic and research excellence. It also complements the university’s work through FSU Health to expand access and quality care across the state.

Together, the organizations will collaborate on large-scale research initiatives – leveraging Apalachee Center’s role as the region’s largest provider of mental health care and the internationally recognized expertise of FSU’s behavioral health researchers – with one shared goal: to deepen the understanding of mental illness and behavioral health challenges and advance the development of more effective treatments.

Through the agreement, Apalachee Center and FSU will:

• Collaborate on research to better understand the causes and effective treatments for behavioral health issues and mental illness
• Share insights and information in a safe and secure way to better understand community needs
• Develop joint initiatives that bring academic expertise and community care together

“Without question, the people of Florida will benefit from this partnership through the development of effective and innovative mental health services that improve lives,” said Dr. Alma Littles, dean of the FSU College of Medicine. “Working together, we will build upon the positive impact of FSU Health to create healthy, resilient communities.”

FSU’s behavioral health researchers span multiple units across the university including the College of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences and College of Social Work, bringing a wide research perspective to the issue.

The partnership will support new initiatives in Leon and Bay counties, as well as across Florida, to expand access to and delivery of high-quality mental health services.

“This strategic endeavor will use de-identified anonymous data to study behavioral health trends and outcomes” said Dr. Jay Reeve, President and CEO of Apalachee Center. “For decades, behavioral health clinicians and researchers everywhere have been focused on ensuring that behavioral health treatments have replicable, positive outcomes that follow the science. This partnership is a crucial step in that direction for university researchers, providers and most importantly the residents of North Florida who rely on access to quality behavioral healthcare.”

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About Florida State University

Florida State University is a top public research university that is recognized nationally for its academic excellence, student success and robust research enterprise. Niche ranked FSU No. 11 on its list of America’s top public universities, and U.S. News & World Report has ranked FSU among the Top 25 public universities for seven consecutive years, driven by student retention and graduation rates that are among the best in the country. Celebrated for its entrepreneurial culture and forward-thinking approach, FSU is also ranked as one of the nation’s Most Innovative Schools.

About Apalachee Center

Since 1948, Apalachee Center, a private, not-for-profit organization, has been dedicated to supporting the mental health and recovery of individuals and families across Leon, Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla Counties succeed in recovering from emotional, psychiatric and substance use disorder crises. For more information, visit ApalacheeCenter.org.

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Maize serves as a vital model species for advancing our understanding of plant biology, yet many mysteries remain about the intricate processes governing how DNA works and organizes itself in the genome.

A team of FSU researchers together with colleagues at North Carolina State University has made a breakthrough in understanding how DNA replicates in maize, uncovering the existence of two distinct subcompartments in the nucleus that hold genetic material. This discovery not only advances the fundamental knowledge of plant genomics but may have broad implications for gene regulation and crop improvement.

“We’re beginning to uncover chromatin’s organization in plants,” said Hank Bass, senior author of the study. “We had suspected that these subcompartments might exist, but this was the first real proof we had of their existence.”

The paper was published in the journal Plant Cell.

“Being part of this project and making a contribution to investigate the blueprint genome organization with respect to replication has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my scientific journey,” said Hafiza Sara Akram, the paper’s lead author and Bass’ former graduate student.

Foundations of DNA Replication and Chromatin Structure

DNA replication is a critical process that ensures every cell receives an exact copy of genetic material during cell division. The genome, organized within the nucleus, consists of DNA wrapped around proteins to form chromatin. Chromatin exists in two main forms: euchromatin, which is generally more accessible and transcriptionally active, and heterochromatin, which is more condensed and typically less active. The timing of DNA replication varies across these regions, with euchromatin usually replicating earlier than heterochromatin.

Understanding how chromatin structure influences the order and regulation of DNA replication is critical for unraveling how genes are controlled and how cells maintain their identity.

To investigate DNA replication in maize, researchers combined cutting-edge genomics techniques with advanced 3D microscopy. High-throughput sequencing allowed the team to map replication events across the entire genome, while three-dimensional imaging visualized the physical organization of chromatin within the nucleus. This integrative approach provided unprecedented resolution in linking DNA sequence features with nuclear architecture and replication behavior.

Key Findings: Two Distinct Euchromatin Subcompartments

The study revealed that maize euchromatin is not a uniform compartment as previously thought. Instead, it is divided into two subcompartments, each exhibiting distinct replication timing and spatial organization. One subcompartment replicates early and is associated with highly active genes, while the other replicates later and shows unique structural features. This organizational complexity suggests a new layer of regulation in plant genomes.

The identification of euchromatin subcompartments with specialized replication timing provides important clues about how gene expression is controlled.

“Our findings indicate that the spatial and temporal regulation of DNA replication is tightly coupled to gene activity,” Bass said. “This could mean that manipulating replication timing may one day offer new ways to enhance crop traits or resilience.”

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

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Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of people around the world. To study this condition, researchers must peer inside the distinctive environment of the human brain.

For scientists to get the most accurate picture of the proteins that drive this disease, they must extract them without altering their environment.

In a study published in Protein Science, researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering demonstrated a new method for studying Alzheimer’s disease that keeps disease-causing proteins intact in a near-native environment, helping scientists get a more accurate picture of how they function.

“Alzheimer’s disease is devastating,” said Professor Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy, a co-author of the study. “More people are living longer, and that means more people are going to be living with Alzheimer’s disease, so we need to find a cure for it and other aging-related amyloid diseases, like Parkinson’s and Type 2 diabetes. Attempts to develop drugs for Alzheimer’s disease have failed, so we started to work on the C99 protein, which is the origin for everything.”

What they did

Researchers developed a method to extract a key protein involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease called C99.

Previously, C99 was difficult to study, as samples had to be removed from cells and prepared for analysis using detergents. The harsh, soap-like chemicals break down lipids, or fats, that surround C99 in the brain and influence how it behaves. Without lipids, C99’s behavior changes, and scientists were unable to study how it acts in its natural environment in the brain.

By using a non-detergent-based polymer to capture C99, the natural environment of the brain cells where the protein is found was preserved, providing researchers with a new way to study it.

“We have been developing these synthetic polymers that can extract proteins present in the cell membrane directly without using detergents,” Ramamoorthy said. “This work was about using synthetically prepared polymers in my lab to isolate a precursor protein along with the lipids present in the cell membrane and reconstituting them together in the form of disc-shaped particles called nanodiscs for a deeper medical investigation.”

How it works

C99 is a byproduct of the amyloid precursor protein, or APP, which is found in the brain.

When enzymes known as secretases cut APP, they produce fragments of C99 called Aβ isomers. The accumulation of Aβ and lipids causes plaque buildup, which is responsible for memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients by killing neuronal cells.

In this study, researchers isolated the C99 protein from a bacterial cell membrane then extracted it along with lipids surrounding C99 using their newly designed polymer. After extraction, researchers conducted further tests to confirm that the protein’s shape and lipids were still intact and preserved exactly as they are in cells.

Why it matters

This study represents a revolutionary advancement in Alzheimer’s research by keeping a key disease-causing protein intact for more accurate study.

“This work provides a toolkit for studying Alzheimer’s disease at the molecular level and it lets scientists observe C99 in its ‘natural habitat,’ which is something that had not been possible in more than 30 years of research,” Ramamoorthy said. “It creates a biomedically relevant and more accurate method for preparing proteins used in therapeutic discovery and Alzheimer’s disease modeling.”

The research could improve outcomes for pharmaceutical development, medical diagnostic and imaging tools or biotechnology manufacturing. The new method provides a foundation for further research that could one day lead to a cure.

“Drug development has so far not been able to solve the problems posed by Alzheimer’s disease,” Ramamoorthy said. “Our hope is that this new method will give researchers a clearer picture of how the C99 protein works and contributes to this disease, so that we can develop ways to stop its progression. Ultimately, we can find a cure.”

Researchers from the University of Michigan contributed to this study. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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FSU Health brings together researchers, educators and clinical partners under one umbrella to transform health and health care in Florida. To learn more, visit fsuhealth.fsu.edu.

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Two distinguished professors at the Florida State University Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (Anne’s College) earned recognition from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) for their outstanding work in their respective fields.

Nicole Patton Terry and Lara Perez-Felkner were each selected by the AERA for national education research awards and will be recognized April 9 at the organization’s annual meeting in Los Angeles. Patton Terry is the director of the Florida Center for Reading Research and the Olive & Manuel Bordas Professor in the School of Teacher Education. Perez-Felkner is the Professor of Higher Education and Sociology and is also an affiliated faculty member in the Department of Sociology.

“Drs. Perez-Felkner and Patton Terry are exceptional members of Anne’s College, and I am so proud of their contributions to their fields,” said Damon Andrew, dean of Anne’s College. “These awards are a testament to their dedication to excellence and their achievements in advancing education research.”

“Drs. Perez-Felkner and Patton Terry are exceptional members of Anne’s College, and I am so proud of their contributions to their fields. These awards are a testament to their dedication to excellence and their achievements in advancing education research.”

– Damon Andrew, dean of Anne’s College

The AERA strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. The organization is dedicated to improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.

Patton Terry is the recipient of the 2026 AERA Exemplary Contributions to Practice-Engaged Research Award. The award is presented to an education research scholar or scholars in recognition of collaborative projects between researchers and practitioners that have had sustained and observable effects on contexts of practice.

Her research, innovation and engagement activities involve young learners who are vulnerable to having difficulties with language and literacy achievement. Patton Terry’s research has been supported by various organizations, including the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Spencer Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation.

She said the award is an example of how research creates real-world impact.

“This award reflects my conviction that public research universities are uniquely positioned to work alongside their communities in ways that leverage our research to advance positive outcomes,” Patton Terry said. “I am honored to have collaborated with so many partners in our schools in communities to make that mission a reality and I humbly accept this award on behalf of us all.”

Perez-Felkner is receiving the 2026 AERA Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research Award. The award recognizes individuals within AERA for distinguished research, professional practice and activities who advance public understanding of this field at any level in the education community.

Perez-Felkner’s research uses developmental and sociological perspectives to examine the mechanisms that shape opportunity pathways toward postsecondary access and success in scientific career fields. Her work has appeared in several education and social and behavioral science journals. Her research has been supported by external funders including the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

The national award reflects nearly 20 years of research by Perez-Felkner, including particular attention to STEM fields like engineering and computer science.

“I’ve been fortunate to do this work in community with my very first students here at FSU and still today, as well as incredible colleagues nationally and internationally,” Perez-Felkner said. “I’ve been able to communicate findings to audiences including secondary and postsecondary faculty and staff, public audiences and scientific groups like CERN. This is a great honor from our largest professional association in the field of educational research that I’ve been part of since graduate school. It’s humbling to be recognized in this way, and I’m honored and motivated to continue.”

Patton Terry and Perez-Felkner join Lou & Elizabeth Bender Endowed Professor Shouping Hu as recent AERA honorees from Anne’s College. Hu was recognized last week as one of 34 exemplary scholars for the 2026 class of AERA Fellows.

Anne’s College was rated the No. 5 Best College for Education in America among public institutions in Niche’s 2026 Best Colleges in America rankings, and No. 8 nationally. For more information, visit annescollege.fsu.edu.

For more information on AERA, visit aera.net.

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A Florida State University particle physicist has been awarded a fellowship to support his research into the Higgs boson, a fundamental building block of our universe, and dark matter.

Kohsaku Tobioka, an associate professor in the Department of Physics, is the first FSU faculty member to receive an Invitational Fellowship for Research in Japan from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, or JSPS. The fellowship will support his research in Japan from April to July.

“We’re looking to learn more about the origins of the universe, and conducting research across institutions and nations is essential to do so,” Tobioka said. “We need international collaboration to make real progress; it can’t be done with just one laboratory or nation.”

JSPS strengthens international research networks and fosters the next generation of scientists who pursue the creation of new avenues of knowledge in all areas of science. The specific fellowship Tobioka earned invites physics researchers with exceptional records of achievement to collaborate with colleagues at the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics at Kyoto University in Japan, a world-renowned institute for theoretical physics research.

“In the four months of my fellowship, I hope to begin two projects and continue working with Kyoto University researchers after returning to FSU,” Tobioka said.

In collaboration with Ryuichiro Kitano, a professor at the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Tobioka will focus on two research avenues: the presence of dark matter — an invisible, mysterious substance that makes up most of the mass in the observable universe — as well as properties of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle that interacts with other particles, which receive their mass through interactions with the Higgs field.

For 60 years, the existence of the Higgs boson was considered the final missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics, a theory classifying all known elementary particles. In 2012, it was produced for the first time and confirmed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, near Geneva. Several FSU researchers were among hundreds of scientists who served significant roles in search of the particle.

Tobioka’s work will investigate how the Higgs boson interacts with itself, helping scientists understand how the universe began.

The collaborative research will use a future muon collider to experiment with higher amounts of energy than CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, which facilitates research of subatomic particles by firing two high-speed protons at each other and observing what is produced in the collision.

In a 2024 publication, Tobioka and his former student, physics doctoral alumna Shemeran Mahmud, presented novel techniques to observe the Higgs boson self-interaction, and these new techniques can be achieved with a muon collider, which is much smaller than the LHC. Instead of firing protons, these colliders use muons — subatomic particles similar to electrons but about 200 times heavier, yielding a higher energy.

“Using protons, like in the LHC, requires a very big tunnel and can be an infrastructure challenge,” Tobioka said. “A muon collider is a smaller, completely new technology. We all want to know where we came from and how the universe came to be, and this essential science has the potential for unpredictable breakthroughs.”

Another direction of Tobioka’s research will focus on dark matter, which makes up about 27 percent of the known universe. While dark matter is invisible, scientists can understand it by observing the way it affects the environment around it through forces such as gravity. Tobioka plans to use superconducting qubits, which are cutting-edge quantum computing materials, to detect dark matter waves and develop theoretical foundations connecting dark matter and superconductivity.

“Some people call dark matter ‘the mother of galaxies’ because it hosts stars and galaxies,” Tobioka said. “Because our solar system is constantly moving through the galaxy’s dark matter, we may experience a ‘dark matter wind’ which lets us measure that dark matter. Discovering and fully understanding dark matter is a global competition right now.”

Tobioka earned his doctorate from the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe at the University of Tokyo’s Kashiwa campus in 2014 and received a Research Fellowship for Young Scientists from JSPS that same year. He completed postdoctoral research at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan and held a joint appointment with Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He conducted research at Stony Brook University in New York before joining FSU’s faculty in 2018.

In addition to his research, Tobioka also regularly participates in FSU’s Saturday Morning Physics program to promote scientific engagement and outreach for children and the broader community.

“Professor Tobioka has brought brilliance and energy to both our physics department and the department’s high-energy physics group,” said Paul Cottle, Department of Physics chair. “He’s an intellectual risk-taker who is constantly challenging boundaries.”

To learn more about Tobioka’s work and other research conducted in FSU’s Department of Physics, visit physics.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University’s Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center recently convened farmers, researchers and emergency management leaders from across the Southeast to examine how disasters disrupt food production and what communities can do to strengthen resilience.

The summit, “Rooted in Resilience: Farmers and Researchers Respond to Disasters and Disruptions,” focused on food production, food system resilience and emergency management.

The event brought together local and regional leaders from Northwest Florida along with farmers and researchers from the Southeast and Appalachian regions.

“This summit reflects something Florida State University believes deeply: that the most important work we do happens at the intersection of research and real lives,” said Provost James Clark. “At FSU, resilience is a priority across disciplines, including engineering, the social sciences, public policy, and environmental and biological sciences. It’s central to our work with communities who live with risk every day.”

This summit connected farmers and food practitioners with researchers focused on disaster resilience. The event was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and co-hosted by the RIDER Center and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

“Building resilience in our food ecosystems has many challenges,” said Eren Ozguven, director of the RIDER Center and a professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “With this inaugural event, RIDER takes the lead to focus on adapting to the challenges posed by natural disasters and other disruptions in the food ecosystems of the Southeast region.”

Regional food resilience

The summit started with presentations and panels examining ways to build resilience into food production. Presentations focused on themes such as incorporating lessons from urban food production in 4-H programming, mutual aid and experiences in the aftermath of disasters, information from Assistant Professor Jeffrey Farner on the impact of floods and microplastics on food production, farmer-researcher collaborations and more.

Florentina Rodriguez visited the summit from Agraria Farm in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she is the programs director and administration manager for the 138-acre research and education farm.

She appreciates events like the summit as an opportunity for farmers and researchers to learn from each other and think about how they can collaborate. Her farm has partnered with Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio for farmer-to-farmer skill sharing programs. Rodriguez and her colleagues use knowledge developed by researchers, apply it on their own farm, and teach what they have learned to fellow farmers and gardeners.

“We were finding that information wasn’t being readily adopted by farmers or gardeners when the folks who were coming in and doing the education were just institutional partners,” she said. “We said ‘Hey, if you want this to really take off, you have to partner with farmer peer educators because they’re the ones who can say ‘I learned this at Central State and I have been practicing it on my farm and I know that it works.’ When it’s a farmer teaching a farmer, that trust just really accelerates the adoption rate.”

Information sharing among peers helps farmers adapt broad-based guidance to the best practices that will work for their particular site.

“We found that people often try to make efforts on a national scale or global scale, and that’s difficult when you start big and try to distill it down, because so much adaptation has to happen,” Rodriguez said. “When you put different communities together to figure out what is a resilient strategy for each of them, you have resilient communities linked together, and then the whole region is resilient.” 

Emergency management

The summit’s second day examined lessons from emergency management and environmental research.

Panelists Brian Bradshaw from the Tallahassee Fire Department, Department of Geography Professor Mark W. Horner, Christian Levings of the Apalachee Regional Planning Council, and Ozguven discussed how disasters obstruct distribution of food and other resources and how researchers and emergency management professionals can work together to minimize disruptions.

A key part of responding to disasters is knowing a community’s needs, transportation network, chokepoints and other key information before disruptions change the map. Projects such as vulnerability assessments allow emergency management planners to understand the needs of an entire region and respond appropriately to natural disasters that don’t follow county borders, Levings said.

Add the dynamic changes brought on by disasters, and responding to disruptions becomes a multi-dimensional, multi-temporal problem, Horner said.

When managers and planners are faced with a need to reconcile all those variables, that’s where research can make a big impact.

“Our students love to work on data that can help connect research and practice in resilience,” Ozguven said.

Another panel featured Associate Professor Youneng Tang, researcher Xiuming Sun, Assistant Professor Ebrahim Ahmadisharaf and Institute for Water and Health post-doctoral researcher Whitley Stewart. It focused on how disasters such as hurricanes and heavy rainfall affect farming, water quality, and human health.

Collaboration is key for finding effective methods for dealing with the problems posed by these disasters, Ahmadisharaf said.

“The nonacademic piece is really important,” he said. “We need to know more about localized issues, such as what farmers are seeing or fish kills, to get a clearer picture. It is through collaboration with communities that we can extend our research impact.”

Working with the community is a way to supplement data collection, Stewart said. Volunteer citizen-scientists can provide on-ground information quickly after disasters.

“Not everyone can get to the field or work with field-based science, so efforts like those can help tremendously,” she said.

Visit the RIDER Center website for more information about how research at RIDER helps build communities in Florida and around the country that remain resilient against natural disasters.

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Florida State University’s distinguished faculty are central to the mission of the university. Faculty excellence in scholarship, research, and creative activity is critical to the quality of student learning and makes a difference in the lives of others.

Throughout the year, honors and recognitions are awarded to individual faculty and staff members across campus. Faculty and Staff Briefs are produced monthly to recognize accomplishments and provide a space where honors, awards, bylines, presentations, grants, service and any other notable items can be showcased.

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HONORS AND AWARDS

Lina Rojas, MAAPP (Office of Governmental Relations) was honored by the News Service of Florida in the digital feature “2025 News Service of Florida 40 Under 40,” which highlights 40 rising stars under the age of 40 in government, business and advocacy.

Michael D. Carrasco, Ph.D. (College of Fine Arts) and FSU alumnus Joshua Englehardt, Ph.D. (Department of Anthropology) had their paper “Threats to Cycad Biocultural Heritage in the Amami Islands, Japan” awarded with the 19th Plant Species Biology Best Paper Award in the Journal Plant Species Biology.

Panayotis League, Ph.D. (College of Music) was recognized with a Bronze Medal from the Global Music Awards for his album “Bedroom Volume,” which was the only album in the Indie category to receive honors in the Winter 2025-2026 cycle.

Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN (College of Nursing) was nominated and inducted into Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Honor Society) in recognition of scholarly achievements and contributions to the advancement of knowledge.

Alexandra Yeager (Fraternity and Sorority Life) was recognized as Advisor of the Year for the Southern Region by the Order of Omega.

Brittany Devies, Ph.D. (Fraternity and Sorority Life) was awarded the 2026 Outstanding Fraternity/Sorority Advisor Award by Alpha Chi Omega National Headquarters.

Clair Bailey, M.S. (University Housing) with assistance from student Resident Assistants, received the NASPA-FL Program of Distinction Award: Housing, Residence Life, Contracted Services, Student Conduct, for the October program they created on wellness, “Escape the Haunted Habits.”

GRANTS

Christopher Solís, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) is a co-awardee on a Networking Mini-Grant sponsored by the Biophysical Society, which will help organize the FSU networking event “The Exhaustive Chase: Investigation of Striated Muscle Regulation in Health and Disease.”

Henna Budhwani, Ph.D., MPH (College of Nursing), Sylvie Naar, Ph.D. and Iván Balán, Ph.D. (Center for Translational Behavioral Science) were awarded a three-year R01 grant totaling $616,000 from the National Institutes of Health for their study “Healthy Choices to Reduce Stigma and Improve Self-Management of Alcohol and HIV among Young Adults”.

BYLINES

Joseph Watso, Ph.D. and Jonathan Hoch (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored “Can We Protect Our Hearts by Sweating Out Excess Sodium?” published in Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews.

Joseph Watso, Ph.D., Jonathan Hoch, Christin Domeier (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) and FSU alumna Pannonica Silvestri co-authored “Prognostic Value of Exercise Blood Pressure: Role of Fitness and Exercise Training,” published in Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

Adrienne-Barnes-Story, Ph.D., Kate Schell, Ph.D. and Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) co-authored “Pedagogical Practices in Overcrowded Classrooms: Evidence from Education Stakeholders in Malawi,” published in Current Issues in Comparative Education.

Matt Schmidli, Ph.D. (School of Theatre) published Issue 40.1 of the “Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism,” edited by Aaron Thomas (School of Theatre).

Kristy Anderson, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored “Antipsychotic Drug Prescriptions for Transition-age Youth on the Autism Spectrum,” published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Melissa Radey, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored “Complex Relationships Between Justice and Injustice in Organizations: Reducing Work-Related Burnout Among Child Welfare Workers,” published in Human Service Organizations.

Yaccov Petscher, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored “Peer Assisted Writing Strategies for Kindergarten: An Efficacy Study,” published in Scientific Studies of Reading.

Hugh Catts, Ph.D. (College of Communication and Information), Yaacov Petscher, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) and Ashley Edwards, Ph.D. (Florida Center for Reading Research) co-authored “Evaluation of the Consistency of Speech Verification System with Human Raters in Early Literacy Screening Assessment,” published in Frontiers of Education.

Terri Bourus, Ph.D. (Department of English) wrote the article review “Henry IV: Falstaff in Brooklyn,” published in volume 43 of the Shakespeare Bulletin journal by Johns Hopkins University Press. Bourus’ essay reviewing Jonathan Lamb’s book, “How the World Became a Book in Shakespeare’s England” was also published in volume 48 of Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme.

Lucinda J. Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) co-authored “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Initial Evidence for Enhancing Problem-Solving in Rural Heart Failure Dyads,” published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. These findings support the potential benefit of dyadic problem-solving interventions in improving problem solving, HF self-care, and depressive symptoms, especially in rural patients.

Lauren Stanley, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored “Patience and Protocol: Advice to Newly Hired Child Welfare Workers from Experienced Colleagues,” published in the Journal of Public Child Welfare.

Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) authored the poems, “Prayer for Ukraine,” published in the Journal of Family Social Work. Mazza also authored “Hand and Heart of Healing” and “Consultation,” both published in Fresh Words: An International Literary Magazine.

Qinchun Rao, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored “Pelagic Sargassum as a Sustainable Source of Food-Grade Alginate: Selective Functional Modulation by High-Pressure Processing and Sonication,” published in Food Hydrocolloids; “Quantitative Western Blot Assay for the Detection of Chicken Serum Albumin (Gal d 5),” published in Food Chemistry; and “Immunological and Proteomic Characterization of Food Allergens in Almond Hulls,” published in Sustainable Food Proteins.

Helene Tigro, Ph.D., Michelle Parvatiyar, Ph.D. and Christopher Solís, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored “Desensitization of the Cardiac Troponin Complex by TnI Phosphorylation and Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate,” published in ACS Omega and highlighted on the cover of Volume 11, Issue 1.

Tenley Bick, Ph.D. (Department of Art History) published her essay “Armatures of a Different Value, of Boundless Feeling: The Art of Buzz Spector” in the exhibition catalog for “Buzz Spector’s Recto | Verso” at Zolla / Lieberman Gallery in Chicago.

Lorenzo Pericolo, Ph.D. (Department of Art History) published the book “Deleuze’s Modern Baroque: The Fold, Leibniz, the Formless, and the Objectile.”

Allison Menezes, M.D., Nicole Bentze, D.O. (College of Medicine) and alumna Britany Long, M.D. (Class of ’25) co-authored “Quantifying Patient Interest in Plant-Based Diets in Primary and Specialty Medical Practices” published in the International Journal of Disease Regression and Prevention.

Andrew Epstein, Ph.D. (Department of English) had his essay “William James, Attention, and Post-1945 American Poetry” published by the Cambridge University Press in the book, “William James and Literary Studies.”

Laura Greene, Ph.D. (Department of Physics and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory) co-authored a National Science Foundation-funded report on Reproducibility in Condensed Matter Physics.

PRESENTATIONS

Erika Loic, Ph.D. (Department of Art History) presented “Monstrous Conquests in Medieval Iberia: The Aquelarre Tabletop Roleplaying Game and Its Bestiarium Hispaniae” at the Medieval + Monsters Conference, hosted at Dominican University and the Newberry Library in Chicago.

Jack Krebs, MA (Academic Center for Excellence) presented “Navigating Policy and Practice for the ‘Maxed Out’ Dual Enrollment Student” at the Florida Alliance of Dual Enrollment Partnerships conference held at Indian River State College.

Jen Atkins, Ph.D. (School of Dance) spoke in the Gallier Gatherings Series at the Hermann-Grima Gallier Historic Houses Museum in New Orleans.

Henna Budhwani, Ph.D., MPH (College of Nursing) presented “Pilot Implementation of Nurse-Physician Phone Support Intervention for Maternity Health Worker” and “Womb2Heart Pilot Randomized Trial for Postpartum Individuals with Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes” at the Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Meeting.

Denise Bookwalter, MFA (Department of Art) presented about the Small Craft Advisory Press at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Jessica Bahorski, Ph.D., APRN, PPCNP-BC, WHNP (College of Nursing) co-presented “Postpartum Depression Screening by Pediatric Clinicians in North-Central Florida” at the 10th annual Perinatal Mental Health Conference, Florida Maternal Mental Health Collaborative.

Adrienne Barnes-Story, Ph.D. and Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) presented research findings on their study on large class sizes in Malawi and how to go about teaching students in these environments. Results were reported on by The Daily Times in Malawi.

Meghan Mick, MLA and Kelley Robinson, MFA (Department of Interior Architecture and Design) presented their paper “Grounded Learning” at the National Conference on the Beginning Design Student.

Lynn Jones, Ph.D. (Department of Art History) presented a section of her book in the paper “Imperial Imagery in the Province: The Case of the ‘White Bearded’ Unknown Saint in Cappadocia” at the 51st Annual Byzantine Studies Conference.

Nicole Bentze, D.O. (College of Medicine) and Giovana Perez-Oliveras (John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) were speakers for “Arts & Healthcare: The Human Side of Healing,” hosted by the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County.

Shermeeka Hogans-Mathews, M.D. and Nicole Bentze, D.O. (College of Medicine) were selected to present their lecture “Mental Health Stigma, Help-Seeking Behaviors, & Barriers to Mental Health Care Among Family Medicine Physician Educators” at the 2026 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Conference.

Nell Robinson (University Health Services) presented “REACH Beyond the Office: Expanding Prevention Through Collaborative Partnerships” at the 2026 NASPA Strategies Conference in Chicago.

Amy Magnuson, Ph.D., RD, LD/N, Nell Robinson and Zabe Thompson, MPH (University Health Services) presented a concurrent session “From Listening to Leading: Using Qualitative Data to Re-Envision Campus Health and Wellness” at the 2026 NASPA Strategies Conference in Chicago.

Rachel Blakesley, Ph.D. (Student Conduct and Community Standards) presented her doctoral work, “Turn It Up: Amplifying Historically Marginalized Students’ Experiences with Interpersonal Conflict in the Residence Halls,” at the Association for Student Conduct Administration’s annual conference.

Nina Davis, MS, Lynn Sleeth, RN, BSN, MSN and Warren Oliver, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) co-presented the panel discussion “Implementing Self-Directed Learning Strategies to Bridge the Gap Between Foundational Nursing Knowledge and NCLEX Readiness” at the 39th International Society for Self-Directed Learning Symposium in Cocoa Beach, FL.

Robert Hanna (Learning Systems Institute) presented at the FSU Law School’s AI Day in the Capital.

EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES

Jean Shon, MFA, (Department of Art) opened her solo exhibition “Bleed” at Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, GA.

Matt Schmidli, MFA (School of Theatre) began producing and directing a narrative short film called “Arizona,” a modern western with principal photography.

Denise Bookwalter, MFA (Department of Art/ Small Craft Advisory Press) exhibited a collection of Small Craft Advisory Press publications at the CODEX International Book Fair and Symposium in San Francisco, CA.

Katie Kehoe, MFA (Department of Art) exhibited her work in “Parallel Works” and participated in the Artists’ Roundtable presentation at the College Art Association Conference in Chicago. Kehoe also exhibited three works in the juried group exhibition “Ancestral Futures,” curated by artist and ceramicist Donté K. Hayes, at ARC Gallery in Chicago, IL.

Carrie Ann Baade, MFA (Department of Art) exhibited work within “Visionary Voices: Echoes of Inner Worlds” on view at the Leonora Carrington Museum in Xilitla, Mexico.

Monika Gossman (School of Theatre) finished principal photography of the feature film “STRIPPED.” She was also a finalist at the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards with short film script “Lemonade.”

Chari Arespacochaga, MFA (School of Theatre) directed “Primary Trust” at the Asolo Repertory Theatre and serves on the organizing committee of Performance Studies International in Jacarta.

Jamie Ho, MFA (Department of Art) participated in a panel and had her work featured in the exhibition “Becoming Sticky: Equatorial Vision” during the Decolonization and Global Justice Conference at the University of Oregon’s Erb Memorial Union.

Meredith Lynn, MFA (Department of Art) was featured in “The Hunter Invitational V” group exhibition at the Hunter Museum of American Art.

Liliya Ugay (College of Music) premiered her one-act opera “Thirty Angels” at the 2026 National Opera Association Conference to a sold-out audience. She was also honored to serve as a keynote speaker for the Composition in Asia Symposium at the University of South Florida. As a part of the symposium, she performed her monodrama “Chhlong Tonle” at Zinober Concert Hall.

Tom Welsh, Ph.D. (School of Dance) completed an editorial review of the manuscript “Interdisciplinary Research on DanceSport and Sports Biomechanics . . .” for the International Journal of Dance Medicine & Science.

nia love, MFA (School of Dance) was selected as a teaching guest artist for Movement Research’s Summer MELT program in New York, NY. She also completed production on the feature documentary “Let the Eagle Scream.”

Iain Quinn, Ph.D. (College of Music) was a Visiting Scholar at the University of St. Andrews and gave a lecture for the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts in addition to teaching and performing an organ recital. He also performed a recital at St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. His most recent CD, “Poulenc, Hindemith, Pinkham: Works for Organ and Orchestra,” recorded with the English Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ken Woods, has been released on ESO Records.

SERVICE

Jen Gillette, MFA (School of Theatre) served as the Costume Designer for Primary Trust at the Asolo Repertory Theatre.

Mora Beauchamp-Byrd, Ph.D. (Department of Art History) served as a panelist at the conference “Why Black Museums: Other Geographies, New Fields” at the University of Texas at Austin.

Christopher Solís, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) served on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant study section “Basic Biology of Blood, Heart, and Vasculature” which scores grants submitted to the NIH for extramural funding of research projects.

Tiffany Rhynard, MFA (School of Dance) attended the Dance on Camera Film Festival at Symphony Space in New York City as Vice President of the Board. She also received an artist residency at the Azule Art Residency Center.

Stephanie Sickler, MFA (Department of Interior Architecture and Design) was inducted into the Council of Fellows of the Interior Design Educators Council.

Felicia Williams, Ph.D. (Department of Student Engagement) was elected as the 2026 chair-elect of the Leadership Education Member Community for International Leadership Association and will transition to hold the chair position in 2027.

Kathleen Powers Conti, Ph.D. (Department of History) was selected to participate in “Whose History, Whose Voice? The Future of Interpreting Enslavement at Historic Sites,” a year long working group with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture at William & Mary.

Sabrina L. Dickey, Ph.D., MSN, RN (College of Nursing) was selected for the Board of Directors for Big Bend AHEC/Big Bend Rural Health Network.

Lauren Gillis, MFA (School of Theatre) served as Vice President of Conferences for the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance, planning and producing the 2026 International Conference in San Diego.

Marlo Ransdell, Ph.D. (Department of Interior Architecture and Design) co-led the event “It’s the Weather” at the Challenger Center of Tallahassee for the 2026 Festival of the Creative Arts.

Christina Parker-Flynn, Ph.D. (Department of English) was elected president of the Literature/Film Association, the largest and most active scholarly organization in the United States dedicated to the study of literature and film.

Julie Decker, M.Ed. (Division of University Advancement) participated in the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) District III conference. Decker served on the CASE DII Cabinet as a roundtable host for Newcomers to the profession and a session host for Board Recruitment and Management. Additionally, Decker served on the board at the Winter Institute for CAAE (Council of Alumni Association Executives) as the Chair of the Governance Committee.

Lucinda J. Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) recently participated in an Institute for Successful Longevity sponsored panel discussion, alongside Dawn Carr, Ph.D. (Claude Pepper Center) and special guest speaker, Dr. Ken Langa on “Staying Sharp and Connected: What Science Says About Aging Well” at the Tallahassee Senior Center. The event was moderated by Zhe He, Ph.D. (Institute for Successful Longevity).

NOTABLE

Julianna Baggott, MFA (College of Motion Picture Arts) had her short story “Attachment Parenting” picked up by Amazon MGM with Davis Entertainment producing, for TV adaptation.

Tiffany Rhynard, MFA (School of Dance) had her feature documentary gain new screening licenses in Australia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States through Kanopy Educational Distribution. Her other feature documentary “Not My Enemy” reached more than 4,600 viewers streaming on KweliTV. She also completed principal photography for the feature documentary “The Mirage.”

Kevin Jones, Ph.D. and Bill Peterson, M.M. (College of Music) have released a new single on all streaming platforms. They have also been invited to perform a recital at the 2026 International Trombone Festival in Riga, Latvia.

Tim Glenn, MFA (School of Dance) created 22 costumes for Days of Dance and finalized a 72-page DanceScript pre-visualization for his new work, “Hammers, Sticks, & Strings.”

Helanius J. Wilkins, MFA (School of Dance) completed his Green Box Residency in Green Mountain Falls, CO, with a performance of his work “The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging.”

Laura Greene, Ph.D. (Department of Physics / National High Magnetic Field Laboratory) was appointed to be a part of the consensus study “On Being a Scientist Panel on Responsible Conduct and Stewardship of the Research Process” with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Jen Atkins, Ph.D. (School of Dance) was appointed Executive Co-Editor of “Dance Research Journal.” Atkins was also named Vice President for Awards for the Popular Culture/American Culture Association.

Casey Dozier, Ph.D. (Career Center) was chosen to participate in the 2026 Career Teaching Academy Cohort at the National Career Development Association Conference for select career practitioners in higher education who teach undergraduate career exploration and planning courses.

Tom Welsh, Ph.D. (School of Dance) assisted a young dance science researcher at Elon University in preparing a competitive proposal for the Leadership Alliance Summer Research-Early Identification Program.

Please send items for Faculty and Staff Briefs to tfordyce@fsu.edu. We publish monthly.

The post Faculty and Staff Briefs February 2026 appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University researchers have demonstrated that significantly increasing dietary folic acid in mice can prevent peripheral neuropathy, a condition commonly associated with diabetes and other health issues.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS, not only provides additional evidence that certain nutrients can help manage chronic health conditions, but also underscores the importance of considering higher levels of certain dietary components, called “special nutritional requirements,” for people with chronic health problems, including diabetes and obesity.

Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate, vitamin B9, and is required for DNA synthesis, which promotes nerve protection throughout the life span as new cells are constantly produced. Lower levels of folate are related to the risk of birth defects as well as the severity and incidence of peripheral neuropathy – nerve damage causing numbness, tingling, burning sensations and weakness, typically starting in the hands and feet. This type of neuropathy is commonly linked with diabetes but is related to many diseases and disorders; it can also be caused by infections, injuries, vitamin deficiencies and toxins.

Patrick Stover, a professor in the College of Medicine, a founding director of FSU’s Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health (ICON-Health) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, was principal investigator on the project. He is an international research scholar in B-vitamins and their safe use in dietary fortification and supplements.

“Historically, the government’s Recommended Daily Allowances set the minimum amount of a nutrient you should have to maintain adequate nutrient status and function,” he said. “If the population is found to be deficient in a particular nutrient, then efforts are undertaken to fortify the food supply with that nutrient to avoid deficiencies.”

Common examples of food fortification are Vitamin D-fortified milk and yogurt, iodized salt and iron-fortified flour.

“Nutrient- and food-based dietary guidelines are derived with the assumption of a healthy population, and how much of each nutrient you need to stay healthy. The problem is that a lot of the population is not healthy,” Stover continued. “Many suffer from chronic diseases, often related to obesity, so guidance may need to be reconsidered in terms of impact on those who may have different requirements.”

This research, using a mouse model, indicates that a high-dose folic acid regimen prevented peripheral neuropathy among highly susceptible mice.

“This work is very exciting, and any nutritional strategies that can be leveraged to avoid disease risk and mitigate human suffering are critical,” said Regan Bailey, a co-author who is a professor in the college’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, also a founding director of ICON-Health, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Folic acid is an example of a fortification on an individual basis and is prescribed to prevent neural tube defects, called NTDs, in utero. NTDs are serious birth defects of the brain and spine that occur early in pregnancy, often before a pregnancy is known. Since folic acid is not necessarily needed by those who are not in early pregnancy, it’s recommended as a supplement and not added to the food supply.

The research also revealed that peripheral neuropathy and NTDs share a genetic etiology, a phenomenon where two or more conditions arise from the same underlying causes.

Robert J. Cousins, a University of Florida eminent scholar, Boston Family Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and founding director of the UF Center for Nutritional Sciences, said the connection between folic acid status and neurodevelopment was a major advance in nutrition science.

“Dr. Stover pioneered the development of mouse models that demonstrate, biochemically, the responsiveness of supplemental folate to correct developmental defects in the developing nervous system,” said Cousins, who was not involved in the research project.

The possibility of preventing and even curing peripheral neuropathy could be life-changing for millions of Americans.

In its National Diabetes Statistics Report issued in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as of 2023, there were 40.1 million people in the United States with diabetes – more than a quarter of them undiagnosed.

Furthermore, the Cleveland Clinic reports that 50% of people with diabetes experience peripheral neuropathy to some degree. Being able to prevent it would improve the quality of life for people with diabetes, as well as those with cancer.

According to the MD Anderson Cancer Center, 30-40% of the thousands of cancer patients each year experience peripheral neuropathy, either from the cancer itself or the toxins used to treat it with chemotherapy. The neuropathy sometimes is reversible once cancer treatment is concluded, but people with diabetes have no such exit door. Neuropathy treatment is generally focused on treating the symptoms, managing the underlying causes, and relieving pain to improve quality of life.

“Disease can affect nutrient needs by altering nutrient absorption, transport, or utilization,” said Martha Field, Ph.D., an associate professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University who also worked on the project. “It is exciting to see here that meeting those needs also alters disease-related physiological outcomes in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.”

Stover and Bailey moved to FSU from Texas A&M last year and founded the Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health as part of FSU Health.

Joydeep Chakraborty, lead author of the article, also moved from Texas A&M to FSU and is biomedical sciences research faculty at the College of Medicine. Other authors were Adhideb Ghosh of the University of Zurich; Eunice B. Awuah. of Cornell; and Sally P. Stabler of the University of Colorado.

The team plans to conduct clinical trials in Tallahassee, Stover said.

“If we see the same results in humans, which we believe we will, based on the literature that’s out there and what we’ve shown in this paper, that will change the standard of care,” he said. “This is exciting stuff.”

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As the Florida State University College of Medicine and Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases recognized Rare Disease Day last week, reminders of the urgency of their mission were all around the College of Medicine rotunda — the patients and families whose lives can be changed thanks to improved screening and care. 

 Observed annually on the last day in February, Rare Disease Day is a global movement raising awareness for the millions of people with one of more than an estimated 7,000 identified rare diseases. Its goal is to ensure equitable access to diagnosis, treatment, healthcare and social support for those affected. 

 FSU recognized Rare Disease Day on Feb. 27 with a symposium and panel discussion featuring experts in genomics and its clinical applications. 

 Although each rare disease affects few people, together, they impact an estimated 30 million Americans, many of whom are children. Genetic medicine offers an opportunity to improve diagnosis and treatment for those patients. 

 “Rare diseases may be individually uncommon, but together, they affect millions of people, families and children,” said Pradeep Bhide, director of the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases, or Florida IPRD. “Therefore, our responsibility has always been, and will always be, to ensure that scientific innovation translates into faster access, better care and real hope.” 

 The small patient population for each rare disease often means that private companies don’t consider those diseases when deciding where to invest limited research and development spending. Solving those long-term, difficult problems is where university research can play an important role, said President Richard McCullough. 

 “That’s what we do at FSU, and we’re really proud to be part of that,” he said. 

From idea to treatment 

The work at FSU and partner institutions will help to make diagnoses and possible treatments that were once only an idea, said Dr. Eric Green in his keynote address to the symposium. 

A physician-scientist, Green spent more than three decades at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, serving as its director from 2009-2025. He is now chief medical officer at Illumina, where he leads global efforts to advance the clinical application of genomics. 

The Human Genome Project — an international collaboration that sequenced the human genome of around 3 billion DNA base pairs — was the scientific foundation for research that continues today and is bearing fruit in medicine such as improved diagnosis and gene editing. 

“The good news is that we will get better at this every year,” he said. “This is helping so many areas of medicine in which rare diseases have an influence.” 

That means everything from dramatically reducing the “diagnostic odyssey” for families with a child who has a difficult-to-pinpoint rare disease to getting answers for undiagnosed genetic conditions in adults who find themselves in emergency care without a clear explanation. 

Since completing the Human Genome Project in 2003, “we have made a remarkable pivot from having a blurry concept of what genomic medicine might be, to now bringing it into focus,” he said. “There are so many exciting things that will happen in genomic medicine, but there are enough examples already to convince people that we can really do this. Now, we just need to expand our repertoire of examples for using genomics in medicine.” 

In the rare disease and genetic medicine world, Florida and FSU stand out for their willingness to “skate to where the puck is going to be” in pioneering new avenues for research and treatment. 

“This is becoming an epicenter of activities and progress in rare disease work,” Green said. 

Legislative support, private partnerships, and academic progress 

The work at FSU began with a handshake between President McCullough and Rep. Adam Anderson (R-Palm Harbor). Since then, the project has grown tremendously thanks to support from the state and private companies. 

In 2025, the Florida Legislature enacted and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Sunshine Genetics Act, a partnership between FSU and the state to advance genomic medicine for children across Florida. Under this initiative, the Florida IPRD serves as the hub of the statewide newborn genomic sequencing program, enabling early diagnosis and intervention for genetic conditions and positioning Florida as a national leader in precision medicine and pediatric health. 

To meet these ambitious goals, Florida IPRD has established new programs to address every stage of the rare disease journey. New programs focus on early detection, genomic diagnosis, specialized clinical care, research and innovation to discover diagnostic and therapeutic measures, and programs to train the next generation of professionals to become national leaders in this field. 

One program is the Florida IPRD diagnostic lab, which offers whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing of clinical samples. The institute partnered with Quest Diagnostics to establish the CLIA-certified clinical genomics laboratory. 

“Advances in comprehensive genomic sequencing now allow a single test to provide insights across thousands of rare diseases – accelerating our pursuit of truly personalized diagnostic insights,” said Dr. Sarah South, executive scientific director at Quest Diagnostics. “This is a significant public health opportunity, and we are pleased to support FSU’s Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases and the Sunshine Genetics Act.” 

 “We are proud to support FSU IPRD’s program to provide early genetic screening and intervention for children with rare diseases, advancing timely diagnosis and care,” said  

Gaurav Malik, a vice president of business development & patient services with Quest Diagnostics in Tampa. 

 In addition to diagnostic and clinical tools, the institute is training healthcare professionals who will provide the guidance to deal with some of the most difficult news parents can face. 

 The university’s first master’s students in a new genetic counseling program are expected to begin their classes in the 2027 fall semester. As research provides more information about genetic diseases, expert counselors are crucial for helping families and patients navigate medical complexities. 

 The training and research at Florida IPRD is giving hope to families across Florida and the country, said Anderson, whose son Andrew died in 2019 at age 4 from Tay-Sachs disease. 

 “Gene therapies are working and even more of those therapies are showing promise,” Anderson said. “Real change is on the horizon.” 

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FSU Health brings together researchers, educators and clinical partners under one umbrella to transform health and health care in Florida. To learn more, visit fsuhealth.fsu.edu. 

Visit the Florida IPRD website to learn more about the institute and its life-changing work. 

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