The Academic Minute

On Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Week: Can weight loss drugs help reduce alcohol use? Alex DiFeliceantonio , Assistant Professor and Interim Co-director of the Center for Health Behaviors Research, looks into this. Faculty Bio: Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, Ph. D., is an appetitive neuroscientist who studies how the brain integrates peripheral signals to guide food selection a...

On Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Week: How do we distinguish which symptoms belong to what neurological disease? Read Montague , Vernon Mountcastle Research Professor and Director of the Center for Human Neuroscience Research, explores this. Faculty Bio: Dr. Montague’s research focuses on computational neuroscience: the connection between physical mechanisms present in real...

On Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Week: Early interventions are key for children with cerebral palsy Stephanie DeLuca , associate professor and co-director at the Neuromotor Research Clinic, details why. Faculty Bio: Strokes are devastating events often associated with people over 65. But large numbers of infants have strokes, too, which can cause permanent neuromotor impairments. For more t...

On Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Week: Can a diet help you get more benefits from exercising? Sarah Lessard , associate professor, looks into this. Faculty Bio: Identifying mechanisms to optimize the therapeutic benefits of exerciseWhy do some people gain fewer health benefits from exercise than others? Increased aerobic exercise capacity is one of the key health benefits of aerobic trainin...

On Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Week: Is there a better exercise than running for blood sugar control? Zhen Yan , Professor and Director of the Center for Exercise Medicine Research. examines one. Faculty Bio: Zhen Yan’s research highlights the importance of the power plants of our cells, the mitochondria. The quantity, number, and function of mitochondria are critically i...

On Texas Christian University Week: Geography education may be getting an upgrade thanks to AI. Xiaolu Zhou , associate professor of geography, explains how this approach is evolving to enhance student learning. Faculty Bio: Dr. Xiaolu Zhou is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Texas Christian University and co-leads the Human-Centered AI Future research cluster in the AddRan...

On Texas Christian University Week: Have you sent your DNA off to be tested? Amina Zarrugh , associate professor of sociology, examines how these tests can lead to misunderstandings of race. Faculty Bio: Amina Zarrugh is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas Christian University. Her research focuses on politics and forced disappearance in North Africa as well as race and ethnicity in the U...

On Texas Christian University Week: Misinformation in the medical field is not new. Melissa Reynolds , assistant professor of early modern European history, looks back to find out more. Faculty Bio: Melissa Reynolds is a historian of early modern Europe whose research examines how ordinary people understood their relationship to medical and scientific knowledge and to the natural world around them...

On Texas Christian University Week: What you think about your body’s appearance can have many effects on your well-being. Jeannine Gailey , professor of sociology, discusses how to change harmful beliefs. Faculty Bio: Jeannine A. Gailey is professor and director of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Texas Christian University. Her research focuses on sociology of the body...

On Texas Christian University Week: Making better leaders going forward is key; so how do we do so? Ariane Balizet , Assistant Provost for Faculty Success and Professor of English, reads some classic texts to find out. Faculty Bio: Ariane M. Balizet is the inaugural Assistant Provost for Faculty Success and Professor of English at Texas Christian University, where she created a nationally-recogniz...

On New York University Week: Where are PFAS chemicals in our wastewater facilities coming from? Bridger Ruyle , assistant professor of civil, urban and environmental engineering, says the answer may be surprising. Faculty Bio: Bridger Ruyle is an Assistant Professor of environmental engineering in the Civil, Urban and Environmental Engineering Department at New York University Tandon School of Eng...

On New York University Week: How do vines climb so quickly? Joyce Onyenedum , assistant professor of environmental studies, looks inside the plant to find an answer. Faculty Bio: Joyce G. Onyenedum is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at New York University. She holds a B.S. in Plant Sciences from Cornell University and received her Ph. D. in Integrative Biology fro...

On New York University Week: Seeing is believing, especially when it comes to natural disasters. Yuki Miura , assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, uses 3D visualizations to see what can happen to your own street. Faculty Bio: Dr. Miura is an assistant professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU. Sh...

On New York University Week: Excessive heat can have consequences for children. Jorge Cuartas , Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology, determines why. Faculty Bio: Jorge Cuartas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at NYU Steinhardt and the director of the Catalyzing Action for Resilient Ecologies (CARE) lab. He holds a Ph. D. in Human Development...

On New York University Week: Is there a wildfire that we’re not planning for? Augustin Guibaud , assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, examines this. Faculty Bio: Dr. Augustin Guibaud is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a member of the Center for Urban Science and Progress. His research focuses on hazards through physics-ba...

Simple materials can teach STEM principles and help students engage with learning. Nicole Fenty , associate professor and chair of the Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership Department at the College of Community and Public Affairs at Binghamton University , discusses several examples. Faculty Bio: Nicole Fenty joined the Department of Teaching, Learning, & Education Leadership as an assist...

Can the light reflected from a leaf reveal the health of a tree? Nathan Swenson , professor of biological sciences and the Gillen director of the Environmental Research Center at the University of Notre Dame , looks for clues in the canopy. Faculty Bio Nathan Swenson is a professor of biological sciences and the Gillen Director of the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center. The goa...

Most Americans shouldn’t have to do their own taxes. Ryan Wilson , Henry B. Tippie Chair in Accounting at the University of Iowa , examines why. Faculty Bio: Ryan J. Wilson is the Henry B. Tippie Chair in Accounting and the department executive officer in Accounting at the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. Previously, he was director of the School of Accounting at the Universit...

How do emotions in a social media post influence who shares it? Yifan Yu , assistant professor of information, risk, and operations management at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business , examines this. Faculty Bio: Yifan Yu’s research centers on (1) the economics of artificial intelligence and machine learning; (2) business analytics leveraging online unstructured data (i.e...

We are still learning how best help children with autism early in life. Andrey Vyshedskiy , lecturer at Boston University , examines the importance of early learning interventions. Faculty Bio: Dr. Andrey Vyshedskiy is a neuroscientist at Boston University. He has authored more than 100 original research article published in leading scientific journals, including The New England Journal of Medicin...

Procrastination is everywhere, even in government. Brian Alexander , associate professor of politics at Washington and Lee University , explains a mistake that was corrected hundreds of years later. Brian Alexander, Ph. D., is associate professor of Politics at Washington and Lee University and director of the W&L Washington Term, an experiential learning program for undergraduates in Washington,...

How should we regulate AI companions? Clare Huntington , Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law at Columbia Law School , has a template. Faculty Bio: Clare Huntington ’96 is a nationally recognized expert in family law and poverty law. Her wide-ranging scholarship explores the institutions and empirical foundations of the legal system’s approach to relationships. Her research focuses on early ch...

How do we turn AI from an educational shortcut to a scaffold that helps students learn? Rosie Dutt , Teaching Assistant Professor & Director of the Undergraduate Neuroscience Career Development at the University of North Carolina , explores this. Dr. Dutt teaches interdisciplinary computational neuroscience courses, integrating engineering and data science concepts. Her background in communication...

What’s the best way to support the mental health of college students? Alexis Redding , faculty member at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University , says the reality is complicated. Alexis Redding is a developmental psychologist with more than twenty-five years of experience supporting young adults in college and the transition to the workforce. She is a faculty member at the Harvard...

Tornadoes do not only occur on Earth; they also happen in space. How do we predict them? Chip Manchester , C. Robert Clauer Collegiate Research professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan , looks into this. Chip Manchester is a research professor of climate and space sciences and engineering at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on the moveme...