The Florida State University College of Nursing has been awarded $1.96 million through the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award to develop and test an artificial intelligence-powered intervention that delivers personalized behavioral health support to people who use problematic substances.

Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and led by Assistant Professor Liying Wang, the project will support the development and testing of a program called Glow. This generative AI-powered, just-in-time adaptive intervention will provide personalized dialectical behavior therapy skills coaching to people who are at risk for HIV or substance use. The research will explore how AI can reduce health risks associated with HIV and substance use by safely delivering personalized behavioral health skills and coping strategies when individuals need them most.

“By combining the patient-centered perspective of nursing with evidence-based behavioral interventions and emerging AI technologies, this work has the potential to make personalized support timelier and more responsive to individual needs,” Wang said. “Ultimately, we hope to explore how these technologies can safely extend the reach of care and improve patient outcomes.”

Wang is a member of the FSU College of Nursing’s Institute on Digital Health and Innovation (IDHI) and the Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment (CPSHE). Her research brings together nursing, behavioral health, substance use and HIV prevention, clinical research and artificial intelligence.

The project reflects the FSU College of Nursing’s growing focus on integrating AI and emerging technologies into nursing research, education and practice. Through initiatives such as IDHI, the college continues to explore new ways to harness AI to advance nursing science, strengthen healthcare delivery and prepare nurses to lead in a quickly growing technology-driven field.

“Artificial intelligence is helping us pave the way for how we understand and deliver healthcare, and nurses must be at the forefront of shaping how these technologies are used,” said Lisa Hightow-Weidman, associate dean for research for the FSU College of Nursing and co-director for the Institute on Digital Health and Innovation. “Dr. Wang’s work exemplifies the kind of interdisciplinary, high-impact research that can move digital health innovation forward while keeping patients and their care at the center.”

To learn more about the innovative research at the FSU College of Nursing and Institute on Digital Health & Innovation, visit nursing.fsu.edu.

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A Florida State University computer scientist has earned one of the most prestigious awards available to early career faculty for developing high-performance computing systems that help researchers more efficiently manage large amounts of data in experiments and theoretical predictions.

Kai Zhao, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, has earned the 2026 Faculty Early Career Development Award, or CAREER Award, from the National Science Foundation, or NSF, for his work helping scientists manage massive amounts of data generated by large-scale simulations, scientific instruments and sensor systems, such as those used in X-ray imaging or to build cosmological models of the universe.

The CAREER Awards Program offers the NSF’s most significant awards in support of early career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models and lead advances in their field. Zhao is the third faculty member from FSU’s Department of Computer Science to earn the award this year, which provides five years of funding to support activities that build a firm foundation of leadership through the integration of research and education.

“Earning the CAREER Award is a huge milestone for me,” Zhao said. “I’m excited that the award supports not only my research but also student mentoring and education over the next five years.”

During research, scientists often spend a great amount of time sorting through data to identify patterns and details that support or disprove their hypothesis. Zhao was inspired by interdisciplinary connections among computer science and other subjects to develop a compression system that makes research and data management for science and engineering more efficient.

“I like working on problems where advances in computer science can accelerate scientific discovery,” Zhao said. “Better data management can help researchers run larger simulations, analyze results faster and make better use of computing resources. My goal is to make storing, moving and analyzing scientific data more efficient without losing information that researchers need.”

Through NSF funding, Zhao will continue developing a streaming-first framework called StreamZ, a data-processing tool designed to handle data that is continuously produced or consumed — such as data gathered in medicine, astrophysics or materials research. StreamZ will reduce the volume of such data by sorting out repeated or unnecessary information so scientists can more easily retrieve the most essential data at the level of detail they need.

“StreamZ addresses one of the most pressing challenges in modern scientific computing — how to efficiently manage massive streams of data from scientific instruments and simulations,” said Weikuan Yu, professor and former chair of the Department of Computer Science. “Kai’s work has the potential to substantially reduce storage costs and accelerate scientific discovery.”

The StreamZ stool is currently a set of compression algorithms, sets of rules that reduce data by removing repeated or extra information, but Zhao will further develop it into a high-performance software that can run on both high-performance computing clusters and personal computers. He’s also exploring how artificial intelligence and large language models can assist in data compression by automatically optimizing compression methods for different scientific applications or computing platforms. Eventually, he hopes to make StreamZ an open-source system that scientists can use in their daily research activities.

Zhao’s award will also support educational and mentorship initiatives by allowing him to hire undergraduate and graduate research assistants to help with laboratory processes while gaining valuable research experience, providing them with necessary skills and knowledge for a successful scientific career.

“Kai has accomplished an extraordinary amount in a very short time,” Yu said. “I’m impressed not only by the quality and quantity of his research products but also by his commitment to mentoring students and building strong research relationships.”

Zhao earned his bachelor’s degree in 2014 from Peking University in Beijing, China and his doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Riverside in 2022. While earning his doctorate, Zhao worked as a student intern at the Argonne National Library, a federally funded, multidisciplinary science and engineering research center in Lemont, Illinois. He joined FSU’s faculty in 2023.

Visit the Department of Computer Science website to learn more about Zhao’s work and department research.

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Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or MagLab, have shown that a potential stroke treatment derived from stem cells may be more effective for women.

In a study published in Theranostics, the research team used human mesenchymal stem cells, which can transform into a variety of different cell types, to harvest extracellular vesicles, or EVs — small particles released by cells as chemical messengers. They tested those EVs as a therapy for ischemic stroke, when blood is blocked from reaching the brain.

The research could help scientists improve drug-based treatments for stroke patients and refine care strategies, even tailoring those that may be impacted by a patient’s sex.

What they did

Extracellular vesicles have shown potential as a treatment for various diseases, both as a way to deliver medicines to specific targets in patients and as a therapy on their own.

In this study, researchers used EVs to treat rats with strokes, then tracked changes in their brains over several weeks with the MagLab’s 21.1-T ultra-widebore magnet using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy.

In both males and females, the EV treatment improved post-stroke recovery. MRI scans showed improvements to damaged brain tissue and the brain’s chemical and metabolic activity after treatment.

But the benefits were not the same for each sex, suggesting that biological differences may influence treatment effectiveness.

Why it matters: Personalizing treatment for patients

The primary female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, have protective effects for the brain. In this study, the researchers saw that EVs augmented the positive effects of these naturally occurring hormones.

“Extracellular vesicles are a way to use the body’s own biological messaging system to promote healing,” said study co-author Yan Li, a professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “That natural capacity to promote repair and restore balance could transform how we treat some of the most challenging diseases.”

Preclinical work, including animal and cellular studies, often uses male subjects to avoid data variations caused by female hormonal cycles. By understanding the role sex hormones play in stroke recovery, the research could eventually help scientists implement more effective treatments for women.

Extracellular vesicles: An avenue for targeted treatment

EVs are a promising treatment for various diseases because they offer the regenerative and anti-inflammatory benefits of cell therapies without the risks of using living cells.

Drugs used to treat strokes must cross the blood-brain barrier to target the area where they are needed. EVs are small and can penetrate deeper into the brain than stem cells, which are more likely to be identified and attacked by a patient’s immune system.

“You’re getting an extra bang for your buck as a patient,” said study co-author Samuel Grant, a professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “Even though estrogen is helping recovery, the EV therapy has the added benefit of helping to recover faster, to salvage more tissue and reestablish regulation of metabolic processes in the brain.”

Collaborators and support

Former FSU doctoral student Jamini Bhagu was the lead author on this study. FSU graduate students and undergraduate students were also co-authors. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation through the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the State of Florida.

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Florida State University researchers at the College of Medicine and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering will study how physical changes in cells contribute to the progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common type of pancreatic cancer and the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

The research, which is supported by a $2.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, will help scientists understand how the shape and organization of pancreatic cells change as the disease develops and whether these physical changes help tumors grow and spread to other parts of the body.

Pancreatic cancer progression

Changes in cell structure and organization are a hallmark of pancreatic cancer progression and are routinely used by pathologists to assess disease stage and progression. Using human-derived pancreatic organoids — miniature 3D models of pancreatic tissue grown in the lab — the researchers will recreate key structural features seen in real patient tumors, from normal pancreatic tissue to advanced cancer.

Normal organoids have a central hollow space, called a lumen, surrounded by a thin layer of cells, similar to the structure of a normal pancreatic duct in the body. In pancreatic cells with primary tumors or metastatic tumors, the lumen is different.

“Primary tumor organoids still have a lumen, but the surrounding cell layer becomes much thicker,” said grant co-investigator Jerome Irianto, assistant professor at the College of Medicine. “In metastatic organoids, the central lumen collapses and is replaced by multiple small lumen-like structures, resembling the disorganized architecture seen in advanced pancreatic tumors. This led us to ask two important questions: What drives these structural changes, and what are the consequences for cancer progression?”

How it works: Cellular physics

The lumen depends on the movement of ions and water to maintain its shape and fluid balance. As ions are transported into the lumen, water follows. The surrounding layer of epithelial cells contains this fluid, creating physical forces that help shape the organoid.

When fewer ion and water channels are present, this delicate balance is disrupted. 

“A major factor driving the collapse of the lumen is the loss of ion transport that normally helps build pressure inside it, almost like filling a balloon,” said mechanobiologist Tristan Driscoll, assistant professor at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and a co-investigator on the grant. “When that pressure changes, it also changes the mechanical forces experienced by the surrounding cells and how those cells sense and respond to those forces.”

These physical changes may have important consequences for tumor progression. Previous research by the Irianto Lab has identified ion and water channels as potential drivers of changes in lumen structure. In pancreatic tumor organoids, genes responsible for these channels are expressed at lower levels than in normal pancreatic cells. Their expression decreases even further as tumors progress and spread, suggesting a connection between these channels, changes in lumen structure and cancer progression. 

The research team will measure forces between neighboring epithelial cells and the forces transmitted to the nuclear envelope surrounding the cell’s DNA to examine how changes in lumen pressure may ultimately affect cell behavior. 

Yes-associated protein

The Irianto Lab will investigate whether these changes affect a force-sensitive protein called yes-associated protein, or YAP.

Using gene-editing techniques, Irianto and his team will test how changes in ion and water transport, lumen structure and YAP activity work together to influence pancreatic cancer progression.

Under normal cellular conditions, YAP remains outside of the nucleus in an inactive state. When physical forces change or the cell is compressed, YAP moves into the nucleus in its active state to turn on genes that control cell growth, survival and other behaviors important in cancer.

Why it matters: Improving pancreatic cancer survival rates

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a particularly deadly and prevalent form of pancreatic cancer. The disease accounts for more than 80% of pancreatic cancer cases, and the five-year survival rate is around 13%.

Most patients have tumors that cannot be removed with surgery or that have grown larger or spread into nearby tissues. Traditional treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery and radiation have not been shown to significantly improve survival.

“Our goal is to reveal new vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer that could shape future treatment strategies,” Irianto said. “Despite advancements in care, this continues to be an especially deadly disease that kills tens of thousands of people every year. The better we understand how this works within cells, the better we will be at stopping it.”

Multidisciplinary research to drive impact

Irianto and Driscoll will work with mathematical modeler Katarzyna Rejniak from the Moffitt Cancer Center, pancreatic cancer biologist Chang-il Hwang from UC Davis, and pathologist Jose I. Diaz from the FSU College of Medicine. By combining engineering, cell biology, cancer biology, mathematical modeling and pathology, the team hopes to uncover aspects of pancreatic cancer that cannot be fully understood by studying genes or biochemical pathways alone.

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Pellumb Reshidi, an assistant economics professor in Florida State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, has been named a Senior Fellow of Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute (AIEI), joining an international cohort of researchers studying how artificial intelligence is transforming firms and the future of work.

As part of the fellowship, Reshidi and collaborators Brian Jabarian of Carnegie Mellon University and Luca Henkel of Erasmus University Rotterdam received a Microsoft research grant to investigate the growing use of AI in hiring and recruitment. Their project focuses on agentic hiring, or the use of artificial intelligence to screen, interview and evaluate job candidates.

The research comes as organizations increasingly adopt AI tools in the workplace. While many companies have embraced the technology, questions remain about its effects on workers, employers and labor markets.

“Adoption has moved faster than the evidence, particularly on what happens when an entire industry takes up these systems rather than a single firm, and how the added competition affects firm and worker welfare,” Reshidi said. “Those effects need careful measurement, and we’re approaching them less as a question of AI substituting for people than as one about where the two together outperform either alone.”

Working with a major recruiting firm, the team has conducted a natural field experiment covering roughly 70,000 interviews, producing a dataset that tracks both recruiters and candidates from application through employment and beyond.

The evidence speaks to the interactions between human recruiters and AI systems, to how screening changes when applicants can choose between a human and an AI interviewer, and to how employers compete when they rely on similar AI screeners.

This is AIEI’s third cohort and the first to turn to firms themselves; the previous two examined how education systems prepare people for an AI-enabled economy.

The cohort’s findings will be collected in an edited volume scheduled for publication in January, with Reshidi’s team contributing a chapter and submitting its research to an open-access academic journal.

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Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have designed new quantum computing architecture that uses magnetic levitation to smooth over design flaws in the intricate bits necessary to run a quantum computer.

Quantum bits, or qubits, can be as small as a few nanometers, and manufacturing them inevitably introduces random flaws onto their surface. By using superconducting magnets to levitate neon particles, the research addresses a challenge in electron-on-neon qubit devices: the tendency for electrons to become trapped by random tiny bumps on the neon surface, making them function unpredictably.

The study, published in the American Physical Society journal PRX Quantum, could help pave the way for more reproducible and scalable quantum computing technologies.

“Instead of hoping that the right nanoscale feature appears in the right place, we want to decide where each electron qubit sits,” said study co-author Wei Guo, a professor at Florida State University, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or MagLab.  “Magnetic levitation gives us a way to place a clean neon carrier above the chip, while the chip still provides the circuitry needed to control and read the qubit. In this architecture, the qubit is no longer found by chance. It is built by design.”

What they made: A new design for electron-on-neon qubits

The researchers proposed a chip design that uses superconducting loops to magnetically hold tiny solid-neon particles above the chip surface. Instead of placing a solid-neon film directly on the chip, where it can inherit roughness from the substrate underneath, the new architecture uses nearly spherical neon microparticles as carriers for electron qubits.

“A simple way to think about it is that we give the electron a tiny, clean, floating island to sit on, rather than asking it to find a good spot on a rough landscape,” said study co-author Yinghe Qi, a MagLab postdoctoral researcher. “The chip underneath still provides the microwave circuits needed to control and read the qubit.”

Why it matters: Engineering a better chip

The work opens a path toward a new class of hybrid quantum devices, where clean quantum materials are integrated directly with chip-based control circuits.

“We have not built a full quantum computer in this paper, but we showed that the essential ingredients can work together in a realistic design: clean electron confinement, tunable qubit energy levels, strong coupling to microwave circuits and a way for neighboring qubits to communicate,” Guo said.

Technological advantages

Unlike the bits in ordinary computers, which store information as 0s or 1s, qubits use the rules of quantum mechanics to process information that can represent multiple possibilities at the same time until it is measured. To build a useful quantum computer, researchers need qubits that are clean, stable, controllable and practical to arrange in large numbers on a chip — a mix of properties that is difficult to achieve.

Electron-on-neon qubits, which use a single electron held above solid neon, are a promising platform for qubit design because of their accuracy and their ability to maintain their quantum information long enough to perform calculations. The electron sits in a clean environment, while the chip underneath provides the microwave circuits needed for control and readout.

The design shown in this study preserves the advantages of these qubits while using levitation to remove the randomness of a bumpy surface. 

“The main advantage is reproducibility,” said study co-author Yiming Xing, an assistant professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “Right now, useful electron-on-neon qubits depend on random nanoscale surface features, almost like hoping the right defect appears in the right place. Our approach replaces those random traps with designed, clean neon carriers placed at intended locations on a chip. If demonstrated experimentally, this could make electron-on-neon devices more predictable, reduce unwanted charge noise and make it easier to build larger arrays of qubits.”

Future research: Building a working prototype

The researchers plan to use their design to build a working prototype of an electron-on-neon qubit.

The main components of their design — superconducting loops, microwave resonators and patterned chip structures — are compatible with fabrication methods already used in quantum-device research, which will help researchers move from design to prototype and beyond.

Collaborators and support

Co-authors on this study included FSU postdoctoral researchers Sosuke Inui and Charles Peretti. Dafei Jin, an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame, was also a co-author.

The project received support from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the Florida State University Quantum Initiative. The FAMU Center for Quantum Science and Engineering supported contributions by Xing and supported the Notre Dame team through the National Science Foundation ExpandQISE grant administered by Florida A&M University.

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Florida State University researchers studying male green sea turtles off the coast of Brazil have discovered two distinct migration strategies, with some turtles traveling up to 1,000 kilometers after breeding while others remain in the same area year-round.

The findings shed new light on the movements of male green sea turtles, which are much harder to study than females. Female turtles regularly return to nesting beaches to lay their eggs, giving researchers predictable opportunities to tag and monitor them. Males, however, rarely return to land after entering the sea as hatchlings, leaving major gaps in scientists’ understanding of where they travel and which marine areas are important to their survival.

The FSU team, based in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, tracked adult male green sea turtles at a remote breeding site off Brazil’s coast during three breeding seasons. The study provides new information about where the turtles travel during and after breeding season and could help guide conservation efforts in areas they use for migration and feeding. The research was recently published in Marine Ecology Progress Series.

“Many turtles undertook long-distance migrations, with some migrating for almost a month,” said Armando Barsante Santos, one of the study’s co-authors and a postdoctoral researcher in the Marine Turtle Research, Ecology and Conservation Group at FSU. “Their sense of navigation is impressive, and identifying paths they use during their oceanic migrations is essential for conservation management.”

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New FSU Quantum Initiative certificate will prepare students and professionals for careers in the rapidly expanding quantum workforce

Florida State University is launching Florida’s first formal graduate-level credential in quantum information science and engineering, opening a new pathway for students and professionals to enter one of the world’s fastest-growing technology fields. The Graduate Certificate in Quantum Science & Technology is now accepting applications for Spring 2027 enrollment.

Administered by the FSU Quantum Initiative, the interdisciplinary certificate will give graduate students and working professionals rigorous training across quantum physics, materials science, chemistry, computer science and engineering. Drawing on courses from multiple departments and two colleges — the FSU College of Arts and Sciences and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering — the program positions FSU to help build the emerging quantum workforce vital to the nation’s technological leadership and security.

“Quantum science is reshaping the future of computing, communication, materials and national security, and Florida State University is positioning itself at the forefront of that transformation,” said FSU Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “This new graduate certificate reflects the strength of our research enterprise and our commitment to preparing students for the high-demand careers that will drive the next generation of discovery and innovation.”

Students will complete required coursework in quantum information and computing, choose from a broad selection of electives and gain access to world-class research facilities, including the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the new Interdisciplinary Research & Commercialization Building. The building houses cleanroom and nanofabrication facilities as well as dilution refrigerators for low-temperature quantum experiments. The FSU Quantum Initiative also is developing partnerships with leading quantum technology companies and national centers to connect students directly with career opportunities in the rapidly growing quantum industry.

“Florida State University is an ideal place for students to pursue training in quantum science and technology because of the extraordinary breadth of expertise across our campus,” said Sam Huckaba, dean of the FSU College of Arts and Sciences. “Students in this program will learn from faculty working at the cutting edge of physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, computer science and related fields, while also benefiting from access to world-class research facilities. That combination of talent, infrastructure and opportunity will prepare them to make meaningful contributions in a rapidly evolving field.”

FSU has made bold investments in quantum science and engineering, including hiring ten new faculty. Many of these faculty will teach new courses that will serve both their departments and interdisciplinary programs.

“The most important challenges in emerging technologies cannot be solved within the boundaries of a single discipline,” said Suvranu De, dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “This certificate reflects the strength of the partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, bringing together complementary expertise to prepare students for a future where quantum information science and engineering is transforming computing, sensing, communications, and enabling new approaches to materials discovery. It is exactly the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle fundamental scientific challenges and develop the quantum technologies of tomorrow.”

FSU is extending its commitment to quantum education beyond the graduate level. The university already offers introductory quantum computing courses for undergraduate and high school students, and plans are underway to develop formal programs for both groups. Together, these efforts will create a comprehensive quantum education pipeline that introduces students to the field early and supports them through advanced training.

“Quantum information science is not just a frontier for research; it is becoming a foundation for the economy of the 21st century,” said Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Michael Shatruk, director of the FSU Quantum Initiative. “With this certificate program, we are giving students in Florida the tools to be part of that future. And by reaching students at the undergraduate and high school levels, we will be planting those seeds early.” 

The FSU QIST Graduate Certificate Program is accepting applications for the Spring 2027 cohort through Oct. 1, 2026. The program is open to current FSU graduate students in relevant STEM disciplines as well as external post-baccalaureate applicants, including industry professionals seeking foundational knowledge in quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum materials and related technologies. More information and the online application are available on the program website.

About the FSU Quantum Initiative

The FSU Quantum Initiative is a cross-departmental research and education hub spanning the departments of Physics, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Materials Science & Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Florida State University. FSU Quantum coordinates quantum science and engineering research, education, and industry partnerships across the university, with access to the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the Interdisciplinary Research & Commercialization Building.

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Hurricane warnings are only effective if people understand them.

A new study by Florida State University faculty in the School of Communication in the College of Communication and Information and the Department of Geography in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy examined an experimental forecast graphic developed by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) that adds inland tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings to the traditional track-forecast cone, which historically emphasized coastal impacts.

The FSU study found that the new graphic helps nonexperts identify which inland areas are under a hurricane or tropical storm watch. But the updated format, developed by NHC in 2024, didn’t change respondents’ perceptions of risk or their intentions to take protective action. It also didn’t improve their ability to identify regions under warnings. The research was published in the American Meteorological Society journal Weather, Climate, and Society.

“The National Hurricane Center has made a number of thoughtful changes to improve how hurricane information is communicated,” said Assistant Professor Elizabeth Ray, the study’s lead author. “We had a simple question. Do those changes actually help people understand what the graphic is telling them about the risk they face?”

Analyzing public understanding

The researchers surveyed participants in Florida and Georgia using both a traditional hurricane cone graphic and the updated experimental version. Respondents who viewed the inland-enhanced graphic were better able to identify areas under tropical storm or hurricane watches, but that improvement did not translate into higher perceptions of risk or plans to avoid storm danger. One challenge is that people often misunderstand what the familiar “cone of uncertainty” actually represents.

“For years, research has shown that people often mistake a wider cone for a bigger storm,” Ray said. “Our findings suggest that even with an updated graphic, that misconception can be hard to shake.”

Turning data into action

The NHC introduced the updated graphic in 2024 to better communicate inland hazards such as flooding, tornadoes and damaging winds. The revised version adds inland hurricane and tropical storm information to the familiar forecast cone to show that serious hurricane impacts often extend well beyond the coastline.

The researchers emphasized that the findings are not a criticism of NHC’s forecasting, which they describe as highly accurate. Instead, the study focuses on the communication challenge of translating complex scientific information into messages the public can quickly understand and use.

“Our question wasn’t whether the science is good,” said co-author Patrick Merle, professor and director of the School of Communication. “The science is excellent. The question is how we communicate that science so people who aren’t meteorologists understand the risk they’re facing.

If people find information credible but still don’t understand it well enough to take protective action, then communication has fallen short. The goal is to empower people with information they can use to stay safe.”

The researchers said people should not rely on the graphic alone but also seek out local forecasts and information about expected impacts.

“Our findings are a reminder that one graphic can only tell you part of the story,” Ray said. “Don’t rely on the cone alone. Pair it with clear, local information about what impacts to expect and what actions to take. That gives you a fuller picture of what the storm could mean where you live and what to do next.”

The research was supported by an internal Florida State University SEED grant and informed by conversations with NHC, which provided the experimental forecast graphics used in the study. Department of Geography Assistant Professor Bradford Johnson was a co-author of the research. The project is part of a broader line of research on crisis and risk communication being conducted through the College of Communication and Information’s Crisis and Communication Collaborative (C3), co-directed by Ray and Merle.

Visit the School of Communication website for more information about research conducted at the College of Communication and Information.

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A new artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and Florida State University’s Center for Advanced Power Systems could help make electric grids more reliable and reduce operating costs. The system improves forecasts of electricity demand and renewable energy generation, giving grid operators better information to balance supply and demand.

As more renewable energy comes online, today’s electric grid has become increasingly difficult to manage. Uncertainty in forecasts can force operators to keep too much reserve power, increasing costs, or too little, raising the risk of blackouts. The FSU-developed model addresses that challenge by treating the power grid as a connected network to generate more accurate forecasts. The research was published in IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering.

The forecasting system, called GridFusionX, combines information such as past electricity demand, power generated from renewable sources, energy market prices and other data points to generate predictions and confidence intervals, helping operators run the grid more efficiently and with less wasted reserve power.

“Our research looks at smart systems as a dynamic puzzle: every factor, from different energy sources, to shifting demands in cities and changing prices and how they fit together,” said study co-author Tuy Nguyen, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “What happens in one area can affect neighboring areas because they share power lines, weather patterns and energy markets. By continuously analyzing these pieces, we can predict energy needs more accurately and adapt to ensure both reliability and cost savings.”

How does GridFusionX work?

The main innovation in the AI tool developed in this research is multi-modality: the ability to use many sources of information in estimates.

“Whether we’re predicting power usage, traffic patterns or even weather, reducing uncertainty in our predictions lets us make smarter, more adaptive decisions that benefit daily life,” said Associate Professor Olugbenga Moses Anubi and a co-author of the study.

The system uses a graph neural network — a mathematical representation of connected objects — to map how what happens within one region in the power grid can affect neighboring regions. The tool addresses a critical gap in existing methods by providing both spatially connected predictions and measures of uncertainty.

The model’s precision allows grid operators to plan reserves more efficiently and respond proactively to sudden changes, such as spikes in demand or drops in renewable generation. In real-world tests across ten European regions, GridFusionX improved forecasting accuracy by up to 56% and cut reserve costs by as much as 66%, all while maintaining reliable service.

Why it matters

Today’s power grids have become increasingly complex. Regional power nodes are linked not just by electrical lines, but also by market economics, weather patterns and other issues that affect power usage.

“Right now, utility companies estimate your usage to make sure you never underpay, which almost always means you overpay,” Anubi said. “With our approach, predictions become more precise, so your bill matches what you truly use.”

Knowing how much energy is needed and when it is needed is a problem of predictability.

“The main vision is engineering intelligence,” said Associate Professor Ravikumar Gelli. “We want to help utility operator balance generation and load and help consumers pay less. That’s the vision behind it.”

A new generation of energy scholars

FAMU-FSU faculty are incorporating concepts used in this research into classes about cyber security systems for electric grids and artificial intelligence for power systems. Doctoral student researcher Quoc Bao Phan led the study.

“It benefits students to work on a project like this because they have the chance to work with four faculty instead of just one,” Anubi said. “This mentorship serves as a model for other students and other kinds of collaborations. There are good learning and research outcomes for students and that is also an important part of this project.”

Assistant Professor Abdulrahman Takiddin was also a co-author of this study. This work was supported by the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

Visit the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering website for more information about the research at the college. Visit the Center for Advanced Power Systems website to learn more about advanced power system engineering research at the center.

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FSU Health leader to serve as president of Florida Medical Association

Alma Littles, M.D., dean of the FSU College of Medicine, will be installed Aug. 1 as the 150^th president of the Florida Medical Association at the FMA’s annual conference in Orlando. Littles is the first medical school dean to serve as president in the association’s history.

Founded in 1874, the FMA represents more than 20,000 physicians on legislative, economic, educational and ethical issues. As president, Littles will chair the FMA Board of Governors, which initiates policy for the organization, and   serve as its chief ambassador.

“While assuming this role is one of the greatest honors of my professional career, I am humbled by the opportunity and mindful of the responsibility,” Littles said. “I see this role as an opportunity to serve — not only physicians — but also the patients and communities who depend on us.”

Littles’ election further elevates the statewide leadership role of FSU Health, Florida State University’s integrated academic health system. Through its growing network of clinical, educational and research partnerships, FSU Health is helping address Florida’s most pressing health care challenges, including physician workforce development, access to care and medical innovation.

A board-certified family medicine physician, Littles said her priorities as FMA’s president  include helping physicians practice medicine effectively while advancing policies that support safe, high-quality, compassionate patient care. As the first sitting dean to serve as FMA president, Littles also plans to advocate for the strengthening of Florida’s physician workforce by supporting medical education, residency training, physician retention, physician well-being and leadership development.

“This advocacy will include supporting physicians, residents and students as we all navigate the very necessary implementation of AI and other emerging technologies, while maintaining the human connection at the heart of the patient-physician relationship,” Littles said.

During their one-year term, FMA presidents appoint two members to the FMA Board of Governors. Littles has chosen Jeremy Slaga, FSU’s vice president and chief clinical operations officer overseeing FSU Health, and Andrea Friall, M.D., who practices obstetrics and gynecology and is the chief medical officer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare in Tallahassee.

“Anyone who has worked with Dr. Littles knows that the superlatives are well-deserved,” said FMA Chief Executive Officer Chris Clark. “She’s a remarkable person and a consistently remarkable physician leader. The FMA has always valued having close relationships with Florida’s medical schools. So, the fact that Dr. Littles is the first medical school dean to serve as FMA President in our organization’s 151-year history is especially meaningful.”

Before becoming president, Littles served as FMA president-elect, vice president and secretary. She has been a member of FMA since she was a medical student.

Littles is a leader in organized medicine at both the state and national levels. She continues to advocate for access to quality healthcare, inspiring doctors and other clinicians to practice in areas where people are most in need, particularly in rural areas and in the areas of primary care and preventive medicine.

Littles is a former president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians (FAFP) and was Florida Family Physician of the Year in 1993. She is also a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, where she was named a Fellow in 1998; the American Medical Association; and the Florida Alliance for Health Professions Diversity. In 2016-17 Littles served as chair of the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Board of Directors.

Littles was named one of the 25 Women You Need to Know in Tallahassee in 2010 and in 2014 was identified by Black Health Magazine as one of the country’s Top 15 Most Influential African American Medical Educators. She also received the 2014 Outstanding Physician of the Year Award from Capital Medical Society (CMS). In 2019, she was honored with the American Medical Women’s Association’s Elizabeth Blackwell Award. She also received the Director’s Award for Outstanding Faculty from AMWA.

A longtime patient advocate, Littles has always recognized the importance of being a part of and giving back to the community. She has an interest in promoting student and physician wellness and addressing ways to prevent burnout. She serves on the Wellness Committees of the CMS and FAFP and chaired the FMA’s Wellness Committee in 2019-20. She also served as vice chair of Florida’s Physicians Workforce Advisory Council (chaired by Florida’s surgeon general) for eight years and is a contributing author of the textbook Contemporary Challenges in Medical Education, published in 2019.

She served previously as chair of the American Medical Association’s Academic Physicians Section and as delegate to the AMA from the Academic Physicians Section. She is also the vice chair of the Council of Florida Medical School Deans.

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FSU Health is Florida State University’s integrated academic health system, bringing together hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education, and innovation under a unified vision to improve the health of the communities we serve.

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Florida State University will lead four major projects as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s highly coveted Genesis Mission, showcasing the university’s strengths in advanced technological innovation.

These landmark projects, led by FSU’s world-class faculty, utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle some of the nation’s most complex challenges, spanning high-temperature superconductors for fusion energy, quantum error correction, particle physics, and nuclear reaction modeling.

“These awards further affirm Florida State University’s emergence as a national leader at the frontiers of discovery, innovation and national service,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “To secure four projects through the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission is a defining achievement for our institution and a powerful recognition of the caliber of our faculty. FSU is helping shape the scientific agenda for the nation’s future by advancing the artificial intelligence, quantum and energy frameworks that will strengthen our national infrastructure, accelerate American innovation and reinforce U.S. technological leadership.”

The Genesis Mission represents a major federal investment to unite DOE national labs, industry and academia to accelerate breakthroughs in energy dominance, physical sciences and national security. It has drawn comparisons to the Manhattan Project or Apollo mission. The Department of Energy awarded 278 awards across 26 identified science and technology challenges to accelerate U.S. innovation and scientific leadership during a summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, July 22.

FSU secured four awards and the FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is partnering on a fifth award led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Three of the FSU awards stem from the Department of Physics, and the other is from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

The awards are for an initial phase one that is nine months. However, researchers who received the awards are invited to show initial results of their work and apply for a second phase of funding that will likely be announced next year.

FSU Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson emphasized the strategic alignment of these projects with FSU’s mission to deliver solutions to critical global challenges.

“FSU has strategically positioned itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and physical sciences to address some of the most critical vulnerabilities our country faces,” Patterson said. “From rebuilding a secure domestic supply chain for high-performance fusion magnets to paving the way for unbreakable, fault-tolerant quantum computers, these projects are highly practical solutions to real-world national security challenges. We are incredibly proud of our faculty for securing these historic awards, which will inspire next-generation breakthroughs and solidify FSU’s role as a trusted partner in federal scientific leadership.”

FSU researchers are leading the following Genesis projects:

AI-Powered Manufacturing of High Temperature Superconductors for Fusion Energy

Challenge Area: Reenvisioning Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Productivity

Led by Associate Professor Fumitake Kametani, this project uses AI to transform how high temperature superconducting tapes are made for fusion energy magnets. Manufacturing these highly engineered tapes involves subtle, hard-to-detect variations that limit performance uniformity and thus drive up costs of magnets, so the team is building an AI “digital twin”, which is a predictive computer model of the production line. This model learns how manufacturing conditions shape tape quality, helping rebuild a US-owned supply chain of this critically important technology for US energy security. FSU leads the project with the US manufacturer High Temperature Superconductors, Inc., and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Sanghyun Lee, associate professor of Mathematics, and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory researchers Aixia Xu, Yan Xin, Jeseok Bang, and Chris Segal, will also play key roles in executing the project, as well as MagLab Chief Materials Scientist David Larbalestier.

Teaching AI to Fix Quantum Errors

Challenge Area: Realizing Quantum Systems for Discovery

Led by Professor of Physics Nicholas Bonesteel, this project develops AI that acts as a real-time diagnostic system for quantum computers. Quantum computers are extraordinarily sensitive to noise, and keeping a quantum computation on track requires rapidly interpreting streams of indirect error signals. For today’s leading quantum codes, efficient classical algorithms handle this task — but they break down for the richer, more powerful codes expected to follow. The team is training neural networks to decode these signals for this next generation of quantum codes — essential groundwork for quantum computers that work at full scale. Co-Principal Investigators on this award include Assistant Professor of Physics Yanzhu Chen, Professor of Computer Science Xiuwen Liu, and FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Professor William Oates.

Accelerating Cosmic Discovery in Particle Physics

Challenge Area: Unifying Physics from Quarks to Cosmos

Led by Wyatt-Green Chair of Physics Mayly Sanchez and Robert O. Lawton Professor of Physics Harrison B. Prosper, this project uses AI to help scientists figure out one of the biggest mysteries in the universe: why everything around us is made of matter instead of antimatter. A massive U.S. experiment called DUNE will shoot invisible particles called neutrinos 800 miles through the Earth to find out, but physicists can only interpret what they see by comparing it against computer simulations that aren’t yet accurate enough. Today, improving those simulations is slow, hand-guided work that can take years. The FSU team is training an AI on millions of recorded neutrino collisions to find every place the simulation disagrees with reality at once, then compress what it learned into compact equations physicists can read. The team will transfer what the AI learns from one experiment directly to DUNE, opening the way to a system that unites the world’s neutrino data into a single shared model of how neutrinos interact with matter.

AI and Quantum Computing for the Next Generation of Nuclear Science

Challenge Area: Delivery of Fusion Energy

A multi-institutional team led by FSU will combine artificial intelligence with next-generation quantum-computing methods to improve understanding of atomic nuclei and other quantum systems. By combining AI-driven data analysis with advanced quantum-information methods, the researchers will address longstanding challenges in interpreting the vast amounts of experimental nuclear data collected over decades. Their work aims to produce predictive models that reveal how quantum systems interact, evolve, decay, and respond to external influences. Beyond advancing fundamental science, these developments could contribute to progress in quantum technologies, clean energy, and national security. The project brings together principal investigator Alexander Volya, Hitesh Changlani, and Yanzhu Chen of FSU; co-principal investigator Grigory Rogachev of Texas A&M University; Richard J. deBoer of the University of Notre Dame; collaborators at Quantinuum; and participating students and researchers across the institutions.

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