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Why Your Digital Detox Resolution Fails by January 15
Every January, millions of people make the same promise: “This year I’m going to spend less time on my phone.” By mid-month, most are back to doomscrolling in bed, feeling like they’ve failed yet another resolution. According to Offline.now founder and author Eli Singer, that story is not about laziness, it’s about confidence. Offline.now’s proprietary research shows 8 in 10 people want to change their relationship with technology, but more than half feel so overwhelmed by their habits they don’t know where to start. “If you don’t learn how to manage the screens in your life, they will manage you,” says Singer. “When people tell us they feel overwhelmed, it’s not laziness. It’s a crisis of confidence. And confidence is something that can be built.” At the heart of the platform is the Offline.now Matrix, a behavioral framework that maps people into four quadrants: Overwhelmed, Ready, Stuck, or Unconcerned - based on their motivation and confidence levels. Someone who is “Overwhelmed” needs reassurance and tiny first steps; someone who is “Ready” can handle bigger commitments. Treating everyone as if they’re in the same place (“just delete Instagram”) virtually guarantees most resolutions will collapse. Psychotherapist Harshi Sritharan, MSW, RSW, who specializes in ADHD and modern anxiety, sees how this plays out in the brain. For many of her clients, especially those with ADHD, digital devices provide a fast dopamine hit that everyday life simply can’t match. “With ADHD, you’re working with a dopamine deficiency,” she explains. “Phones and apps are designed to give you highly stimulating, personalized content. You get this huge dopamine surge, and when you put the device down, everything else feels flat, boring and harder to start.” She notes that common habits like checking your phone the second you wake up, quietly undermine even the best January intentions: “If you’re on your phone first thing in the morning, you hijack your attention and dopamine for the rest of the day. Your brain has already tasted the highest stimulation it’s going to get, and it will keep seeking that level. That’s not a willpower issue, it’s neuroscience.” The good news: the science suggests you don’t need a perfect detox to see benefits. A JAMA Network Open study on young adults found that reducing social media use for just one week - without going completely offline; led to about a 24.8% drop in depression, a 16.1% drop in anxiety, and a 14.5% drop in insomnia symptoms. “Lasting change doesn’t require deleting Instagram or TikTok tomorrow,” says Singer. “You need to win one personal victory today, and then another tomorrow. That’s how confidence rebuilds.” Featured Experts Eli Singer – Founder of Offline.now and author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance. Speaks to the behavioral data behind failed resolutions, the confidence gap, and the Offline.now Matrix framework. Harshi Sritharan, MSW, RSW – Psychotherapist specializing in ADHD, anxiety and digital dependency. Explains the dopamine science behind compulsive scrolling and offers brain-friendly strategies that work better than “willpower.” Expert interviews can be arranged through the Offline.now media team.
Why Insomnia May Hold the Key to Treating Depression, According to MCG Research
William Vaughn McCall, MD, professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, is leading a new multi-year clinical trial aimed at addressing insomnia and depression together — two conditions that frequently occur side by side. The Assessing Improvements in Mood and Sleep (AIMS) Trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is exploring whether treating sleep problems through psychotherapy can also reduce lingering symptoms of depression, particularly in older adults. McCall has served as professor and Case Distinguished Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at Augusta University since 2012. His research interests include depression, electroconvulsive therapy, quality of life, insomnia, and suicide. His research has been continuously funded by the National Institute of Mental Health since 1995, and he is the author of more than 400 publications, including more than 180 peer-reviewed journal articles. View his profile McCall’s work builds on decades of research examining how disrupted sleep contributes to mood disorders. While previous studies often focused on medication-based approaches, this trial takes a different direction by testing non-pharmacological therapies that target insomnia itself. The research team, which includes collaborators from multiple universities, is evaluating whether improving sleep quality can meaningfully lower depression symptoms for patients who remain symptomatic despite antidepressant treatment. “Ultimately, the hope is to find other avenues to reduce the risk for depression and depression symptoms,” McCall says. The trial is currently recruiting adults aged 55 and older who are experiencing both insomnia and depression, with options for both in-person and remote participation. For journalists covering mental health, aging, sleep science, or emerging clinical research, McCall is a key expert offering informed perspective on how sleep-focused interventions could reshape the future of depression treatment. The full article 'New MCG trial targets insomnia and depression symptoms' is available below: And if you're interested in talking with William Vaughn McCall, MD, simply click on his icon now to arrange a time for an interview today.
New AI-powered tool helps students find creative solutions to complex math proofs
Math students may not blink at calculating probabilities, measuring the area beneath curves or evaluating matrices, yet they often find themselves at sea when first confronted with writing proofs. But a new AI-powered tool called HaLLMos — developed by a team led by Professor Vincent Vatter, Ph.D., in the University of Florida Department of Mathematics — now offers a lifeline. “Some students love proofs, but almost everyone struggles with them. The ones who love them just put in more work,” Vatter said. “It just kind of blows their minds that there’s no single correct answer — that there are many different ways to do this. It’s very different than just doing computational work.” Building the tool HaLLMos was developed by Vatter, as principal investigator, along with Sarah Sword, a mathematics education expert at the Education Development Center; Jay Pantone, an associate professor of mathematical and statistical sciences at Marquette University; and Ryota Matsuura, a professor of mathematics, statistics and computer science at St. Olaf College; with grant support from the National Science Foundation. The tool is freely available at hallmos.com. The team’s goal was to develop an AI tool powered by a large language model that would support student learning rather than short-circuiting it. HaLLMos provides immediate personalized feedback that guides students through the creative struggle that writing proofs requires, without solving the proofs for them. The tool’s name honors the late Paul Halmos, a renowned mathematician who argued that the mathematics field is a creative art, akin to how painters work. Students using HaLLMos can select from classic exercises — such as proving that, for all integers, if the square of the integer is even, the integer is even — or use “sandbox mode” to enter exercises from any course. Faculty can create exercises and share them with students. Vatter introduced HaLLMos to his students last spring in his “Reasoning and Proof in Mathematics” class, a core requirement for math majors that is often the first time students encounter proofs. “They could use this tool to try out their proofs before they brought them to me. We try to identify the error in a student’s proof and let them go fix it,” Vatter said. “It is difficult for faculty to devote enough time to working individually with students. Our goal is that this tool will provide the feedback in real time to students in the way we would do it if we were there with them as they construct a proof.” Helping professors and students excel “I think every math professor would love to give more feedback to students than we are able to,” Vatter said. “That’s one of the things that inspired this.” The next steps for Vatter and his colleagues include getting more pilot sites to use the tool and continuing to improve its responses. “We’d like it to be good at any kind of undergraduate mathematics proofs,” he said. Vatter also intends to explore moving HaLLMos to UF’s HiPerGator, the country's fastest university-owned supercomputer. “It’s our goal to have it remain publicly accessible,” Vatter said. This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education.
UC Irvine’s Daniele Piomelli provides expert view on federal reclassification of cannabis
As the White House moves to reclassify cannabis under federal law from a schedule I to a schedule III, questions remain about how the change could affect medical use, public health, research, and regulation. UC Irvine’s Daniele Piomelli, PhD, an internationally recognized cannabis researcher, is available to comment on the implications of the policy shift. Piomelli is a distinguished professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine, the Louise Turner Arnold Chair in the neurosciences, and director of the UCI Center for the Study of Cannabis. Piomelli has more than 30 years of experience studying cannabis, THC and the endocannabinoid system, with research spanning basic neuroscience, pharmacology and translational science. He is editor in chief of Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research and has testified before the U.S. Senate on cannabis-related research and policy. He can provide perspective on: • What federal reclassification may change for medical cannabis and scientific research • Differences between THC, CBD and other cannabinoids • Potential public health benefits and risks of cannabis legalization • Cannabis exposure and the developing brain, including adolescence • Regulatory and research challenges tied to cannabis policy Piomelli is available for interviews or background conversations. Email: piomelli@hs.uci.edu
A year in the spotlight: University of Delaware’s most notable media mentions of 2025
In 2025, the University of Delaware had many exceptional media mentions. Here are some of the most notable. Science coverage dominated Where will the next big hurricane hit? Ask the sharks. (The Washington Post) – Aaron Carlisle, a marine ecologist, was featured for his revolutionary work using sharks to predict major weather events. Scientists could soon lose a key tool for studying Antarctica's melting ice sheets as climate risks grow (NBC News) – Carlos Moffat, an associate professor and oceanographer, spoke about the national budget and how it's impacting climate research. These Katrina Survivors Feel Overlooked. Now, They’re Using TikTok to Tell Their Stories (Rolling Stone) – Jennifer Trivedi, a disaster researcher, spoke about why Hurricane Katrina was such a major story. Malala Yousafzai, Migration and Sustainability (Forbes) – Saleem Ali, a professor of energy and environment, contributed regularly to Forbes on environmental topics. Scientists went hunting for freshwater deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. What they found could have global implications (CNN) – Holly Michael, a professor of Earth sciences and civil and environmental engineering, spoke about the history of freshwater. Engineering Professor Answers Electric Car Questions (WIRED) – Willett Kempton, a professor of engineering, joined WIRED to answer the internet's most interesting questions about electric cars. Plastic shopping bag policies are actually working, a new study suggests (CNN) – Kimberly Oremus, associate professor of marine science and policy, was featured in several major outlets on the effectiveness of plastic bag bans. Insects are dying: here are 25 easy and effective ways you can help protect them (The Guardian) – Douglas Tallamy, an entomologist, was featured in dozens of outlets for his expertise. Political news coverage was front and center U.S. Chamber of Commerce sues Trump administration over $100,000 H-1B visa fees (NPR) – Daniel Kinderman, a political science professor, was interviewed for his expertise on a lawsuit involving changes in work visas. The government shutdown is over, but expect more fights and higher insurance prices to come (Delaware Public Media) – David Redlawsk, a political psychologist, discussed the recent government shutdown and what an end to it signals. Wrestling Over Charlie Kirk’s Legacy and the Divide in America (The New York Times) – Dannagal Young, a communications professor, commented on how media reacted to the death of Charlie Kirk. Consequences for colleges whose students carry mountains of debt? Republicans say yes (NPR) – Dominique Baker, associate professor of education, was quoted in multiple national outlets for her education expertise. General expertise came in clutch Why the U.S. struggles with passenger service despite having the most rail lines (NPR) – Allan Zarembski, a professor of railroad engineering, was featured in dozens of national publications for his expertise. From folklore to your front porch: The history of the jack-o'-lantern (NPR) – Cindy Ott, an associate professor of history, detailed the history of this autumn staple in multiple outlets. Nexstar Media Group buying Tegna in deal worth $6.2 billion (AP) – Danilo Yanich, professor of public policy, noted the ways the media giant duplicates work across networks. Warren Buffett hired Todd Combs to take over Berkshire's portfolio one day. Here's what close watchers say about his surprise exit. (Business Insider) – Lawrence Cunningham, director of UD's Weinberg Center, was featured throughout the year for his business and economic expertise. Enlighten Me: How to make your holidays truly happy (Delaware Public Media) – Amit Kumar, a professor of marketing, discussed strategies for finding happiness during the holidays throughout the winter season. Students and their stories shined throughout the year Networking: Is it what you know or who you know? (The Chronicle of Higher Education) – UD's career-development office, which assists students on their job journeys, was featured. U of Delaware Creates Yearlong Co-Ops for Business Students (Inside Higher Ed) – A new partnership with the state of Delaware connects business students to local employers, with the goal of reducing brain drain in the region was featured. Wilmington’s 'STEM Queen' earns national Obama–Chesky honor (The News Journal/Delaware Online) – Jacqueline Means, a management information systems major, was featured for earning a national recognition. Vita Nova Restaurant Gives Culinary Students Hands-on Training (Delaware Today) – The student-staffed restaurant, Vita Nova, was featured. Delaware professor transforms writing class by teaching students to use AI as the technology reshapes the workforce (WHYY) – Matt Kinservik, a professor of English, was featured for teaching students to use AI responsibly, exploring its capabilities and fact-checking tools. Pop culture experts weighed in 'Stranger Things' expert at UD chats about Netflix show's appeal (The News Journal/Delaware Online) – Siobhan Carroll, an associate English professor, sat down with a reporter to discuss the latest season and how the horror genre is often a mirror of our real world. “Horrendous And Insulting”: Backlash Erupts Over “Misrepresentation” In 2026 Wuthering Heights (Bored Panda) – Thomas Leitch, an English professor, said that “literal adaptations of classic novels are exceedingly rare, maybe impossible.” Major changes at UD highlighted University of Delaware appoints interim president to the permanent post (The Philadelphia Inquirer) – News of UD's new president, Laura A. Carlson, was covered throughout the region. Retiree learning center gets boost with $1M gift for downstate OLLI classes (Spotlight Delaware) – a large donation to the southern Delaware chapter of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, was featured. To speak with any of these experts in 2026 on these stories or others, please reach out to MediaRelations@udel.edu. Happy holidays and cheers for a bright and healthy new year!
With OpenAI’s latest release, GPT-5.2, AI has crossed an important threshold in performance on professional knowledge-work benchmarks. Peter Evans, Co-Founder & CEO of ExpertFile, outlines how these technologies will fundamentally improve research communications and shares tips and prompts for PR pros. OpenAI has just launched GPT-5.2, describing it as its most capable AI model yet for professional knowledge work — with significantly improved accuracy on tasks like creating spreadsheets, building presentations, interpreting images, and handling complex multistep workflows. And based on our internal testing, we're really impressed. For communications professionals in higher education, non-profits, and R&D-focused industries, this isn’t just another tech upgrade — it’s a meaningful step forward in addressing the “research translation gap” that can slow storytelling and media outreach. According to OpenAI, GPT-5.2 represents measurable gains on benchmarks designed to mirror real work tasks. In many evaluations, it matches or exceeds the performance of human professionals. Also, before you hit reply with “Actually, the best model is…” — yes, we know. ChatGPT-5.2 isn’t the only game in town, and it’s definitely not the only tool we use. Our ExpertFile platform uses AI throughout, and I personally bounce between Claude 4.5, Gemini, Perplexity, NotebookLM, and more specialized models depending on the job to be done. LLM performance right now is a full-contact horserace — today’s winner can be tomorrow’s “remember when,” so we’re not trying to boil the ocean with endless comparisons. We’re spotlighting GPT-5.2 because it marks a meaningful step forward in the exact areas research comms teams care about: reliability, long-document work, multi-step tasks, and interpreting visuals and data. Most importantly, we want this info in your hands because a surprising number of comms pros we meet still carry real fear about AI — and long term, that’s not a good thing. Used responsibly, these tools can help you translate research faster, find stronger story angles, and ship more high-quality work without burning out. When "Too Much" AI Power Might Be Exactly What You Need AI expert Allie K. Miller's candid but positive review of an early testing version of ChatGPT 5.2 highlights what she sees as drawbacks for casual users: "outputs that are too long, too structured, and too exhaustive." She goes on to say that in her tests, she observed that ChatGPT-5,2 "stays with a line of thought longer and pushes into edge cases instead of skating on the surface." Fair enough. All good points that Allie Miller makes (see above). However, for communications professionals, these so-called "downsides" for casual users are precisely the capabilities we need. When you're assessing complex research and developing strategic messaging for a variety of important audiences, you want an AI that fits Miller's observation that GPT-5.2 feels like "AI as a serious analyst" rather than "a friendly companion." That's not a critique of our world—it's a job description for comms pros working in sectors like higher education and healthcare. Deep research tools that refuse to take shortcuts are exactly what research communicators need. So let's talk more specifically about how comms pros can think about these new capabilities: 1. AI is Your New Speed-Reading Superpower for Research That means you can upload an entire NIH grant, a full clinical trial protocol, or a complex environmental impact study and ask the model to highlight where key insights — like an unexpected finding — are discussed. It can do this in a fraction of the time it would take a human reader. This isn’t about being lazy. It’s about using AI to assemble a lot of tedious information you need to craft compelling stories while teams still parse dense text manually. 2. The Chart Whisperer You’ve Been Waiting For We’ve all been there — squinting at a graph of scientific data that looks like abstract art, waiting for the lead researcher to clarify what those error bars actually mean. Recent improvements in how GPT-5.2 handles scientific figures and charts show stronger performance on multimodal reasoning tasks, indicating better ability to interpret and describe visual information like graphs and diagrams. With these capabilities, you can unlock the data behind visuals and turn them into narrative elements that resonate with audiences. 3. A Connection Machine That Finds Stories Where Others See Statistics Great science communication isn’t about dumbing things down — it’s about building bridges between technical ideas and the broader public. GPT-5.2 shows notable improvements in abstract reasoning compared with earlier versions, based on internal evaluations on academic reasoning benchmarks. For example, teams working on novel materials science or emerging health technologies can use this reasoning capability to highlight connections between technical results and real-world impact — something that previously required hours of interpretive work. These gains help the AI spot patterns and relationships that can form the basis of compelling storytelling. 4. Accuracy That Gives You More Peace of Mind...When Coupled With Human Oversight Let’s address the elephant in the room: AI hallucinations. You’ve probably heard the horror stories — press releases that cited a study that didn’t exist, or a “quote” that was never said by an expert. GPT-5.2 has meaningfully reduced error rates compared with its predecessor, by a substantial margin, according to OpenAI Even with all these improvements, human review with your experts and careful editing remain essential, especially for anything that will be published or shared externally. 5. The Speed Factor: When “Urgent” Actually Means Urgent With the speed of media today, being second often means being irrelevant. GPT-5.2’s performance on workflow-oriented evaluations suggests it can synthesize information far more quickly than manual review, freeing up a lot more time for strategic work. While deeper reasoning and longer contexts — the kinds of tasks that matter most in research translation — require more processing time and costs continue to improve. Savvy communications teams will adopt a tiered approach: using faster models of AI for simple tasks such as social posts and routine responses, and using reasoning-optimized settings for deep research. Your Action Plan: The GPT-5.2 Playbook for Comms Pros Here’s a tactical checklist to help your team capitalize on these advances. #1 Select the Right AI Model for the Job: Lowers time and costs • Use fast, general configurations for routine content • Use reasoning-optimized configurations for complex synthesis and deep document understanding • Use higher-accuracy configurations for high-stakes projects #2 Find Hidden Ideas Beyond the Abstract: Deeper Reasoning Models do the Heavy Work • Upload complete PDFs — not just the 2-page summary you were given • Use deeper reasoning configurations to let the model work through the material Try these prompts in ChatGPT5.2 “What exactly did the researchers say about this unexpected discovery that would be of interest to my <target audience>? Provide quotes and page references where possible.” “Identify and explain the research methodology used in this study, with references to specific sections.” “Identify where the authors discuss limitations of the study.” “Explain how this research may lead to further studies or real-world benefits, in terms relatable to a general audience.” #3 Unlock Your Story Leverage improvements in pattern recognition and reasoning. Try these prompts: “Using abstract reasoning, find three unexpected analogies that explain this complex concept to a general audience.” “What questions could the researchers answer in an interview that would help us develop richer story angles?” #4 Change the Way You Write Captions Take advantage of the way ChatGPT-5.2 translates processes and reasons about images, charts, diagrams, and other visuals far more effectively. Try these prompts: Clinical Trial Graphs: “Analyze this uploaded trial results graph upload image. Identify key trends, and comparisons to controls, then draft a 150-word donor summary with plain-language explanations and suggested captions suitable for donor communications.” Medical Diagrams: “Interpret these uploaded images. Extract diagnostic insights, highlight innovations, and generate a patient-friendly explainer: bullet points plus one visual caption.” A Word of Caution: Keep Experts in the Loop to Verify Information Even with improved reliability, outputs should be treated as drafts. If your team does not yet have formal AI use policies, it's time to get started, because governance will be critical as AI use scales in 2026 and beyond. A trust-but-verify policy with experts treats AI as a co-pilot — helpful for heavy lifting — while humans remain accountable for approval and publication. The Importance of Humans (aka The Good News) Remember: the future of research communication isn’t about AI taking over — it’s about AI empowering us to do the strategic, human work that machines cannot. That includes: • Building relationships across your institution • Engaging researchers in storytelling • Discovering narrative opportunities • Turning discoveries into compelling narratives that influence audiences With improvements in speed, reasoning, and reliability, the question isn’t whether AI can help — it’s what research stories you’ll uncover next to shape public understanding and impact. FAQ How is AI changing expectations for accuracy in research and institutional communications? AI is shifting expectations from “fast output” to defensible accuracy. Better reasoning means fewer errors in research summaries, policy briefs, and expert content—especially when you’re working from long PDFs, complex methods, or dense results. The new baseline is: clear claims, traceable sources, and human review before publishing. ⸻ Why does deeper AI reasoning matter for communications teams working with experts and research content? Comms teams translate multi-disciplinary research into messaging that must withstand scrutiny. Deeper reasoning helps AI connect findings to real-world relevance, flag uncertainty, and maintain nuance instead of flattening meaning. The result is work that’s easier to defend with media, leadership, donors, and the public—when paired with expert verification. ⸻ When should communications professionals use advanced AI instead of lightweight AI tools? Use lightweight tools for brainstorming, social drafts, headlines, and quick rewrites. Use advanced, reasoning-optimized AI for high-stakes deliverables: executive briefings, research positioning, policy-sensitive messaging, media statements, and anything where a mistake could create reputational, compliance, or scientific credibility risk. Treat advanced AI as your “analyst,” not your autopilot. ⸻ How can media relations teams use AI to find stronger story angles beyond the abstract? AI can scan full papers, grants, protocols, and appendices to surface where the real story lives: unexpected findings, practical implications, limitations, and unanswered questions that prompt great interviews. Ask it to map angles by audience (public, policy, donors, clinicians) and to point to the exact sections that support each angle. ⸻ How should higher-ed comms teams use AI without breaking embargoes or media timing? AI can speed prep work—backgrounders, Q&A, lay summaries, caption drafts—before embargo lifts. The rule is simple: treat embargoed material like any sensitive document. Use approved tools, restrict sharing, and avoid pasting embargoed text into unapproved systems. Use AI to build assets early, then finalize post-approval at release time. ⸻ What’s the best way to keep faculty “in the loop” while still moving fast with AI? Use AI to produce review-friendly drafts that reduce load on researchers: short summaries, suggested quotes clearly marked as drafts, and a checklist of claims needing verification (numbers, methods, limitations). Then route to the expert with specific questions, not a wall of text. This keeps approvals faster while protecting scientific accuracy and trust. ⸻ How should teams handle charts, figures, and visual data in research communications? AI can turn “chart confusion” into narrative—if you prompt for precision. Ask it to identify trends, group comparisons, and what the figure does not show (limitations, missing context). Then verify with the researcher, especially anything involving significance, controls, effect size, or causality. Use the output to write captions that are accurate and accessible. ⸻ Do we need an AI Use policy in comms and media relations—and what should it include? Yes—because adoption scales faster than risk awareness. A practical policy should define: approved tools, what data is restricted, required human review steps, standards for citing sources/page references, rules for drafting quotes, and escalation paths for sensitive topics (health, legal, crisis). Clear guardrails reduce fear and prevent preventable reputational mistakes. If you’re using AI to move faster on research translation, the next bottleneck is usually the same one for many PR and Comm Pros: making your experts more discoverable in Generative Search, your website, and other media. ExpertFile helps media relations and digital teams organize their expert content by topics, keep detailed profiles current, and respond faster to source requests—so you can boost your AI citations and land more coverage with less work. For more information visit us at www.expertfile.com
Gina Rippon, professor emeritus of cognitive neuroimaging at Aston University, has won an award for her book, The Lost Girls of Autism The book won the 2025 British Psychological Society Popular Science Award It explores the emerging science of female autism, and examines why it has been systematically ignored and misunderstood for so long. The Lost Girls of Autism, the latest book from Gina Rippon, professor emeritus of cognitive neuroimaging at Aston University Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN), has won the 2025 British Psychological Society (BPS) Popular Science Award. The annual BPS Book Awards recognise exceptional published works in the field of psychology. There are four categories – popular science, textbook, academic monograph and practitioner text. With the subtitle ‘How Science Failed Autistic Women and the New Research that’s Changing the Story’, The Lost Girls of Autism explores the emerging science of female autism, and examines why it has been systematically ignored and misunderstood for so long. Historically, clinicians believed that autism was a male condition, and simply did not look for it in girls and women. This has meant that autistic girls visiting a doctor have been misdiagnosed with anxiety, depression or personality disorders, or are missed altogether. Many women only discover they have the condition when they are much older. Professor Rippon said: “It's such a pleasure and an honour to receive this award from the BPS. It’s obviously flattering to join the great company of previous winners, but I’m also extremely grateful for the attention drawn to the issues raised in the book. “Over many decades, due to autism’s ‘male spotlight’ problem, autistic girls and women have been overlooked, deprived of the help they needed, and even denied access to the very research studies that could widen our understanding of autism. This book tells the stories of these girls and women, and I’m thrilled to accept this prize on their behalf.”
At Texas Christian University, Dr. Andrew Ledbetter, Chair of the Communication Studies Department, is turning his scholarly attention to one of pop culture’s biggest phenomena: Taylor Swift. His research uses data-driven analysis to reveal how Swift’s albums and songs build an interconnected narrative universe — what he calls her “Taylorverse.” Ledbetter ran lyrics across ten albums through semantic-network software to show how certain songs act as linchpins connecting themes of fame, womanhood, love and storytelling. “I was interested in interconnections among the song lyrics,” says Ledbetter. “The songs that are most central have a lot of overlap with other songs, might tend to be songs that are the most popular.” November 03 0 NBC News The work stands out not just for its pop-culture relevance, but for its academic innovation: combining computational text-analysis with narrative theory to unlock why certain tracks resonate more deeply than others. For journalists, cultural commentators or anyone covering the evolving intersection of music, identity and media, Dr. Ledbetter is a go-to expert. He can speak to how storytelling in music shapes audience engagement, how media fandom becomes scholarship, and why Swift’s songwriting continues to spark new research just as much as chart-topping hits. Andrew Ledbetter is available for interviews - Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Fueling the Future of Cancer Immunotherapy: Gang Zhou’s Research Takes a Major Step Forward
Cancer immunotherapy has transformed how clinicians approach the treatment of certain blood cancers, but major limitations remain — especially when it comes to sustaining strong, long-lasting immune responses. Gang Zhou, PhD, a leading cancer immunologist at Augusta University’s Georgia Cancer Center and the Immunology Center of Georgia, is tackling these challenges head-on. Zhou’s work focuses on how T cells behave inside the body and how their performance can be enhanced to improve patient outcomes. His lab studies the forces that strengthen or weaken T cell responses, including their functional status, their ability to self-renew and the environmental pressures they face inside tumors. This deep understanding positions him as a key figure in the effort to advance next-generation immunotherapies. Recently, Zhou and his research team were awarded the first Ignite Grant from the Immunology Center of Georgia — a seed program designed to support bold, high-impact translational ideas. Their funded project aims to make CAR-T therapy more effective. CAR-T is a type of immunotherapy in which a patient’s own T cells are genetically modified to recognize and attack cancer cells. While this approach has revolutionized the treatment of certain blood cancers, it still faces obstacles such as limited cell persistence and reduced strength over time. “Our ultimate goal is to engineer T cells that not only survive longer but also remain highly functional, giving patients more durable protection against their disease.” Zhou’s team is addressing this issue by studying how a modified form of STAT5, a transcription factor that plays a key role in T cell survival and function, may help engineered T cells last longer and perform better. The ultimate goal is to create CAR-T therapies that maintain potency, withstand the harsh tumor microenvironment, and offer durable results for patients. The Ignite Grant recognizes not only the promise of this specific project, but also Zhou’s broader expertise in understanding how T cells can be guided, supported, and strengthened to fight cancer more effectively. His research contributes to a growing wave of scientific innovation aimed at improving immunotherapy outcomes for patients with both blood cancers and, potentially, solid tumors — an area where current treatments face significant barriers. As immunotherapy continues to evolve, the work led by Gang Zhou stands as a compelling example of how foundational science, translational research, and clinical ambition can work together to push the field forward. To connect with Dr. Gang Zhou - simply contact AU's External Communications Team mediarelations@augusta.edu to arrange an interview today.
Study: Lessons learned from 20 years of snakebites
The best way to avoid getting bitten by a venomous snake is to not go looking for one in the first place. Like eating well and exercising to feel better, the avoidance approach is fully backed by science. A new study from University of Florida Health researchers analyzed 20 years of snakebites cases seen at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville. “This is the first time we’ve evaluated two decades of venomous snakebites here,” said senior author and assistant professor of medicine Norman L. Beatty, M.D., FACP. Researchers analyzed 546 de-identified patient records from 2002 to 2022 and highlighted notable conclusions — for instance, that a third of the snakebites analyzed were preventable and caused by people intentionally engaging with wild snakes. “Typically, people’s experiences with getting bitten are due to an interaction that was inadvertent — they stumble upon a snake or reach for something without seeing one camouflaged,” Beatty said. “In this case, people were seeking them out. There were a few individuals who were bitten on more than one occasion.” Most (77.8%) of the snakebites occurred in adult men while they were handling wild snakes, and most of the bites were perpetrated by the diminutive pygmy rattlesnake and the cottonmouth. The latter is named for the white lining of its mouth, which it displays when threatened. “I was less surprised to see those species emerge as some of the most common ones people were bitten by, but the robust presence of other, less common species in the data — like the eastern coral snake, southern copperhead, timber rattlesnake and the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, was interesting,” Beatty said. The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is one of the most venomous snakes in North America. Most patients were bitten on their hands and fingers and around 10% of them attempted outdated self-treatments no longer recommended by doctors — like sucking out the venom. Initially, the study began as a medical student research project, thanks to a handful of medical students who worked with Beatty to review the cases. The intention was to dive deep into the circumstances of each encounter and learn more about the treatment given, as well as the outcomes. Fourth-year medical student River Grace, the paper’s first author, said the work struck a personal note. “My dad is a reptile biologist, so I’ve grown up around snakes my whole life,” Grace said. “He was bitten by a venomous snake many years ago and ended up hospitalized for multiple weeks, so it was interesting to keep that experience in mind while going over the data.” Grace noted that it typically took those bitten over an hour on average to travel from where the bite occurred to the hospital. “It seems like the reason for that was people not knowing exactly what to do once they’d been bitten, or underestimating the severity of the bite,” he said. “Some would just sit at home for hours.” Floridians share their home with a variety of scaly neighbors who don’t always welcome visitors — accidental or not. Ultimately, thanks to the timely care of providers, only three snake bites were fatal. However, antivenom is no panacea. Those who are lucky enough to receive it in time can still incur complications from the original snake bites, like tissue damage, or even a fatal allergic reaction to the antivenom itself. Consequently, researchers look toward improving the processes used to triage snake bites in the emergency room, ensuring that providers are equipped with the knowledge and the know-how to shorten time to treatment. “In the future, we think we’d love to get involved in enhancing provider education so everyone in the health care setting is confident in being able to identify and administer antivenom as quickly and safely as possible,” Grace said.
