A Florida State University neuroscientist has earned the highest award granted to scientists studying the sensory systems associated with the nose and mouth.

The Association for Chemoreception Sciences presented Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Alan Spector with the Max Mozell Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Chemical Senses for his career-long contributions to research. Spector studies taste preferences and aversions, the regulation of eating and drinking, sensory processes and the neural basis of gustation.

“I feel enormously honored to have my name added to a very distinguished list of prior award recipients,” Spector said.  “I’m also grateful that the work done in collaboration with my students, postdoctoral scholars, research technicians and colleagues is being recognized.”

The Association for Chemoreception Sciences, or AChemS, is a scientific research organization that fosters research and understanding of the roles smell and taste play in health and disease. Each year, AChemS awards the Max Mozell Award to a senior scientist with an outstanding research record of excellence and contributions that have made a major impact on research in the field of chemical senses.

Spector’s research has wide-reaching potential for understanding the neurological processes that underpin human diet, lifestyle and health. For example, everything a person eats must first pass scrutiny by that individual’s tastebuds, which guard the alimentary tract of the digestive system.

“What you eat can provide nourishment or it can harm you, be it right away or after a lifetime of intermittent ingestion,” Spector explained. “So, the taste system is part and parcel of any mechanism involved in the control of eating and drinking. My laboratory’s work is focused on trying to understand how taste signals from the mouth influence behavior, such as food choice, and physiology, such as insulin release.”

Spector is also interested in how the latest generation of obesity drugs interact with the taste system to control what food patients consume and how and when they eat.

“The new class of drugs approved for treatment of obesity are starting to approach the same levels of effectiveness for body weight loss as gastric bypass surgery,” he said. “However, very little is known about how these drugs affect taste, eating behavior, and relative macronutrient intake. Thus, we plan to conduct complementary parallel experiments in a rat model and in patients to learn more about the consequences of this drug treatment on behavior.”

Spector joins a cohort of 26 outstanding chemical senses scholars to have received the Max Mozell Award since its inception in 1998. He is the third FSU faculty member to receive the award, following Department of Psychology Professor Emeritus James C. Smith in 2004, who was Spector’s graduate adviser, and Department of Biological Science Professor Emeritus Michael Meredith in 2017.

“The chemical senses represent a historical strength of the FSU Psychology Department and Program in Neuroscience, and this award further elevates the reputation of this outstanding group of scientists,” said Lisa Eckel, director of the FSU Program in Neuroscience. “The scientific impact of Alan Spector’s research is far reaching and contributes to his national and international reputation as a scholar and leader in the field.”

Spector, a two-time FSU alumnus, earned his master’s degree in psychology in 1981 and his doctoral degree in psychology in 1984, and has been a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience since 2007. Since then, he has supervised 10 doctoral students and nine postdoctoral trainees, been named a distinguished research professor in 2015, and has worked with many members of the psychology and neuroscience program to advance scholarship and research in the chemical senses and build on an existing legacy of excellence.

To learn more about Spector’s work and the science of gustation, visit neuro.fsu.edu.

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Michelle Martinez already knew she wanted to pursue a career in health care when she enrolled at Florida State University.

As a freshman, Martinez applied to FSU’s Health Professions Learning Community (HPLC), a program that houses first-year, pre-health students and provides social and education opportunities, service-learning initiatives and on-site academic advising for students in a community environment.

The HPLC offered Martinez the smooth transition she needed to adjust to college life and succeed in behavioral neuroscience.

“After moving to Tallahassee, a new city so different and far from South Florida, the HPLC provided a home for me with like-minded individuals who shared similar interests,” she said.

Now a senior, Martinez is an executive board member of the FSU College of Medicine Undergraduate Science Students Together Reaching Instructional Diversity & Excellence, or USSTRIDE. The group includes pre-med students interested in working with rural, minority or underserved communities and offers resources such as MCAT preparation, medical training and networking opportunities.

As a minority and third-year member of USSTRIDE, Martinez provides mentorship to high school and college students from a place of experience.

In collaboration with fellow board members and USSTRIDE adviser Thesla Berne-Anderson, Martinez has established a new USSTRIDE mentoring program to increase the recruitment of students from underrepresented minorities into medical and health care programs.

“Serving on the executive board for USSTRIDE for two years connected me with students who need advice, especially those underrepresented in the pre-health field,” Martinez said.

As a learning assistant for Biological Science 1 and 2 through FSU’s Learning Assistant Program, Martinez extended her passion for mentorship by serving as a bridge between students and their professor. In addition to her Learning Assistant responsibilities, Martinez formulated a research study to assess student improvements in academic performance and self-efficacy.

“Through this study, we hope to improve the Learning Assistant Program by using teaching methods that address those who lack self-efficacy and academic performance,” she said.

For her Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) project, Martinez conducted research at the FSU Autism Institute to assist parents in identifying early signs of autism and provided information to address parental concerns regarding the risks.

As a research assistant at the Children’s Learning Clinic, Martinez evaluated children for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often continues into adulthood. With this data, she identified behavioral and cognitive training methods to improve the child’s symptoms.

“Through these experiences, I learned about the treatment children with disabilities receive, their participation in research and how to better assist their needs,” Martinez said.

With a semester cut short due to the pandemic, Martinez chose to intern as a medical assistant at an urgent care facility in South Florida, where she collected data on the reliability of infrared forehead thermometers as a screening method for COVID-19.

Her research was published in the Florida Undergraduate Research Journal, contributing to the limited literature available on COVID-19 at the time.

After graduation, Martinez plans to pursue a medical degree followed by a specialization in pediatric rehabilitation. She hopes to use her expertise in behavioral neuroscience to reduce the inequitable gap for children with disabilities.

“My time at Florida State has allowed me to grow and improve as I learn to become the best leader I can be,” said Martinez.

Do you plan on incorporating your teaching and mentoring experience into your future career? If so, how?

As a future physician, one of my main goals is to give back to the community. I hope to mentor pre-med students who need guidance tackling the demands of the medical profession. As a pre-med student myself, I understand how hard it can be to ask for help when it feels like no one understands the issues we face. In the future, I hope to help this community directly by empathizing with them and letting them know that although every journey is different, you can still find guidance and support from someone who has gone through the journey. I also hope to use what I learned from teaching and mentoring to improve my studying skills and better retain content in medical school.

How has your experience at the FSU Autism Institute and Children’s Learning Clinic influenced your decision to pursue pediatric rehabilitation?

My main goal was to get a better idea of what it is like to work with kids and what this field entails in the clinical setting. These opportunities provided exactly that. Being able to work with kids made my interest in this area grow stronger. Through these experiences, I learned about the treatment children with disabilities receive, their participation in research and how to better assist their needs. I am eager and excited to get more involved with this community and learn from them!

How have your projects outside the classroom complemented your behavioral neuroscience curriculum?

The great thing about my major in behavioral neuroscience is its versatility. Through the Autism Institute and the Children’s Learning Clinic, I noticed more of the neuroscience aspects involved in human behavior. My learning assistant research project with the clinic allowed me to see how knowledge affects behavior. Through my work with USSTRIDE, I witnessed how people adapt their behavior based on experience, such as failure or making mistakes. Behavioral neuroscience is a great major because applying the curriculum ranges from the neuroscience level to noticing how people interact.

In what ways has your experience at FSU allowed you to grow as a leader and refine your goals?

Being involved in different opportunities on campus, ranging from personal interests to academia, allowed me to become a leader in the pre-health student community. Although it wasn’t easy, taking this role allowed me to impact students who need someone who can advise and guide them as they tackle the pre-health field. Serving on the executive board for USSTRIDE for two years bridged the connection with students who need advice, especially those underrepresented in the pre-health field.

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