GCI-Grand Challenge Initiative

New program reduces burnout in dementia caregivers, novel research evaluation proves

Taylor Thomas — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 12:41:27 +0000

New program reduces burnout in dementia caregivers, novel research evaluation proves Taylor Thomas Wed, 10/29/2025 - 08:41

In This Story

Y. Alicia Hong, PhD

As the old saying goes, you cannot pour from an empty cup. To give time and energy to others, it is vital to attend to one’s own well-being. As the U.S. population ages, there is a growing demand for tools that support the more than 19 million people who serve as caregivers of family members with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD). Family caregivers of individuals with ADRD are vulnerable to poor mental and physical health due to long-term, strenuous caregiving and lack of support.

Kang Shen. Photo provided

A novel process (i.e., delivery and functionality) evaluation developed by Kang Shen, PhD health services research student at �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Public Health, establishes that user-friendly digital interventions are the solution. WECARE 2.0, a culturally tailored digital health program, is proof as it has enhanced caregivers’ physical and mental health.

“WECARE’s approach—combining cultural relevance with an accessible, widely used technology app—proved to be highly effective and well-accepted by users. High user satisfaction, participant retention, and significant improvements in caregiving skills and positive aspects of caregiving all point to WECARE’s promising early results,” said Shen, who is a first-generation student and also has a bachelor's and master's degrees in health informatics from George �鶹��Ƶ.

The study, Process evaluation of a digital health intervention for dementia caregivers: Integrating active and passive measurements, was published in September 2025 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the premier journal of the Alzheimer’s Association and the leading journal in the field.

Participants became more knowledgeable about ADRD, learned problem-solving strategies, improved their personal caregiving skills, reduced stress, increased social support, while being user-friendly.

“This program [WECARE] is so good, easy to understand, even for a 70-year-old. I don’t like reading text and can play the recording instead. I like your how-to videos; I can open them whenever I want and watch them multiple times,” one program participant shared.

WECARE, which was originally designed by Y. Alicia Hong, a Department of Health Administration professor and digital technologies intervention researcher and specialist, was delivered through the social media app WeChat. Through the platform, researchers provide easily accessible educational articles and videos, tips on practicing self-care, and opportunities for social connection with other caregivers.

Innovative Evaluation Methods

Shen’s process evaluation of WECARE 2.0 is the first to employ multiple—qualitative and quantitative—data collection methods. With data from surveys, interviews, self-reported reviews, and website engagement, Shen measured how often participants opened the app and its accompanying resources, how long they spent using the resources, and feedback of the program at the intervention’s conclusion.

Shen’s approach also highlights the importance of creating tools that do not simply exist but are observable to implementers for timely improvement. Unlike previous evaluative methods, her use of short surveys (active measurement) and tracking user activities on the backend (passive measurement) offers program developers comprehensive insight into what works, what doesn’t work, and why throughout the intervention process.

This innovative process evaluation method can facilitate developing more effective digital health interventions for underserved dementia caregivers. Results are being integrated into the next version of WECARE and can inspire future interventions.

“This study serves as a framework for creating and evaluating digital health tools that are culturally grounded and genuinely accessible for diverse, underserved caregiving communities. Our goal is to inspire a shift toward more inclusive and effective support systems that meet caregivers where they are, leveraging familiar technologies to overcome access barriers,” said Shen.

Her research was supported by Hong. Additional co-authors include Yixuan (Janice) Zhang from the College of William and Mary Department of Computer Science, Hae-Ra Han from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Jessica Lin from the George �鶹��Ƶ's Department of Computer Science, and Kenneth Hepburn from the Emory University School of Nursing.

Topics

PhD in Health Services Research

Digital Health

Research

GCI-Grand Challenge Initiative

Alumni

Podcast: The modern grid: the intersection of energy and the environment

Sarah Holland — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:00:33 +0000

Podcast: The modern grid: the intersection of energy and the environment Sarah Holland Mon, 10/20/2025 - 11:00

“Infrastructure” is one of those words that can mean a lot of different things to different people. At George �鶹��Ƶ, we’re focused on infrastructure in terms of sustainability – how can we help innovate new systems for the world’s infrastructure that will be resilient and flexible enough to support a changing world.

On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by two guests working at the intersection of innovation and sustainability to develop George �鶹��Ƶ’s capabilities as a living laboratory for students, faculty, and staff to find solutions to our grand challenges: Liling Huang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing and the Dominion Energy Faculty Fellow in Power and Energy Systems, and Leah Nichols, executive director of the Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) in the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact.

The living lab, what I see, it's beyond the lab. It is a living community, a living society. We can have students actually have...a model startup to run this community, to run the lab, to collect the data, and then to hire students to be the operator. So I think this is even beyond lab, and it also brings in multidisciplinary collaboration between engineering, science, business and policy. – Liling Huang

We are now experiencing more intense storms, greater and longer durations of heat, shifts in seasonal patterns. However, a lot of our infrastructure was built decades, if not centuries ago...And so there's vulnerabilities, and we need to start accounting for how the changing climate and the information that we're receiving now about how the ecosystems are working and the physical systems are working into managing the infrastructure and the systems that comprise communities...Identifying opportunities to make changes to ensure that our systems are sustainable and can withstand the consequences or the more extreme weather and the different weather and climate effects that we're experiencing now is really important. – Leah Nichols

Read the transcript

Intro (00:04):
Trailblazers in research, innovators in technology, and those who simply have a good story: all make up the fabric that is �鶹��Ƶ, where taking on the grand challenges that face our students graduates in higher education is our mission and our passion. Hosted by �鶹��Ƶ President Gregory Washington, this is the Access to Excellence podcast.

President Gregory Washington (00:26):
Infrastructure is one of those words that can mean a lot of different things to different people. At George �鶹��Ƶ, we're focused on infrastructure in terms of sustainability: how we can help innovate new systems for the world's infrastructure that will be resilient and flexible enough to support a changing world. And we're not just talking theory here. My two guests today are at the intersection of innovation and sustainability to develop George �鶹��Ƶ's capabilities to be a living laboratory for students, faculty, and staff to find solutions to our pressing grand challenges. Liling Huang is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing, and she's the Dominion Energy Faculty Fellow in Power and Energy Systems. And Leah Nichols is the executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Earth, or ISE. It is in the Office of Research Innovation and Economic Impact. Leah, Liling, welcome to the show.

Leah Nichols (01:37):
Thank you.

Liling Huang (01:37):
Thank you.

President Gregory Washington (01:40):
Liling, your work focuses on securing the nation's critical energy infrastructure. Can you tell us a little more about what this means and why it's important?

Liling Huang (01:53):
Energy is a backbone of our national security, our economy, sustainability, our community trust. So without the energy we cannot have data flow, we cannot run hospitals, we cannot run data centers. So it is very, very critical infrastructure for our modern life.

President Gregory Washington (02:17):
So what kind of threats do you see that our energy and infrastructure face?

Liling Huang (02:23):
Our infrastructure is facing many challenges, uh, including the aging infrastructure. Our energy infrastructure was built more than a hundred years ago. It is aging and needs to be modernized. We also facing challenges of cyber physical attacks, we also facing challenges of the workflow shortage, the supply chain shortage, the challenge of incorporating the renewable energy into the power systems.
President Gregory Washington (02:54):
I see. Have we taken some major steps as a country or as a region to secure our energy infrastructure?

Liling Huang (03:02):
Yes. I think the public private sector are working together along with the government to secure the energy infrastructure by upgrading our infrastructure, investing in workforce development, uh, as well as bringing a more diverse energy portfolio to the system.
President Gregory Washington (03:24):
Well, that's more easily said than done, right? When you start to talk about diverse energy portfolio, that could be many other diverse energy pieces bring their own set of problems, right?

Liling Huang (03:36):
Yes, exactly.

President Gregory Washington (03:38):
So one of iscs key programs is �鶹��Ƶ as a Living Lab. And that whole entity aims to stimulate and support the development of research and scholarship that use the campuses and their physical and social ecological structures for implementation in education. And that framework seems to be working really well. Leah, can you tell us more about how this initiative came about?

Leah Nichols (04:03):
Sure. Happy to. I came to �鶹��Ƶ about five years ago to to run the Institute for a Sustainable Earth. And a core mission of the institute is to help put research into practice. So the campus itself is effectively a small city. There's over 48,000 people on the campus, a population that that utilizes the campus, some of whom live here. It embodies all of the different types of infrastructure systems that are required to support and maintain that population. So it's an ideal microcosm with which to engage, to study the socio-environmental technological ecosystems that make up this small city. And then it's also a microcosm within which we can develop solutions, test solutions, use it as a test bed, create some demonstration projects that could then be scaled into solutions in communities elsewhere and around the globe. So it was my first target to create opportunities to put research into practice.

Leah Nichols (04:54):
I reached out to Dr. Greg Farley, who's the director of sustainability, and he and I really jived on this idea. We really liked this idea and wanted to lean into it. So we looked at what all was going on already on campus and how faculty and students were utilizing the campus for research. Um, and learned that there was a lot going on. Our faculty are innovative and they wanna see their research put into practice. Um, but all of those projects were being, being done on an ad hoc basis. The wheel was being reinvented over and over again. And so Greg and I put our heads together along with Frank Strike, vice president for, uh, facilities and operations, campus operations, and Andre Marshall, vice president for research, to really develop a program that standardized protocols that effectively built a bridge between the research community and the facilities and operations communities. So this type of research activity could go on much more smoothly, be amplified. We also created a data sandbox to capture the data that was being collected about the university so that it could be shared across units with others who are interested in, in similar sorts of research projects.

President Gregory Washington (05:57):
Well, let's talk about scale and, uh, be a little more pragmatic. Can you gimme an idea of what kinds of projects have gone through this process? You know, just talk high level in terms of what they are and what they, what they're supposed to do.

Leah Nichols (06:12):
They do range and scale, and we have provided seed funding to, to support some new projects. Uh, they and those typically are on the order of, you know, tens of thousands, um, or so to support students and faculty who are getting ideas off the ground. Some of them are very large projects, not ones that we supported, but ones that we definitely amplify as the, that are international recognized arboretum, which has a massive amount of data about the trees on campus. Um, and like I said, internationally recognized, but we also supported very smaller scale projects. One of our very first ones that came through the new program is the Cherry Blossom Monitoring. And the math department has stood up a, a global competition where they're working with students who, um, to do statistical analysis to predict when the cherry blossoms are gonna bloom here in DC at �鶹��Ƶ, I think in Japan, there's a couple of other international sites.

Leah Nichols (07:04):
It's, it's, it's now taken on a life of its own, but we were able to put in place working with facilities, cameras to monitor the, the, the blooms there. We also have a small project that we just funded this year that I'm, I'm quite excited about. Dr. Changwoo Ahn is taking on analysis of a corner of the campus that used to be an intermittent wetland. It's now turning into, um, a permanent wetland. And that transformation process is something that's not well studied. Um, so it creates opportunities there, but it's also of interest to the, the campus operations. Understanding this change process will help them better manage the, the wetlands and the ecosystem that's, that's emerging in this space. So, very exciting.

President Gregory Washington (07:42):
So Liling?

Liling Huang (07:43):
Yes.

President Gregory Washington (07:44):
While your smart grid lab is independent from ISE, if I'm not mistaken, right? The project is working towards a similar goal. Right? So we got two living lab concepts. So talk to me about each one of you. What does it mean to be a living lab?

Liling Huang (08:03):
To me, a living lab, it is the platform to close many, many gaps between the industry and academia, within the academia, between the students, the faculty, the staff. It's, it is a platform can bring everybody together as a community, and especially at �鶹��Ƶ to achieve education and research.
President Gregory Washington (08:31):
Talk a little bit about how the project support experiential learning of our students.

Liling Huang (08:37):
It's bring our student, uh, career ready and build their teamwork problem solving, and it builds their confidence because they operate, they experience that they bring the theory into practice. I think it's very, very important to our students, not only to recruit, but also to retain and to advance. And I think it also will put �鶹��Ƶ as a leading position in all the aspect. It's a very, very important tool for, for �鶹��Ƶ and for our students.

Leah Nichols (09:15):
I would agree. Uh, a lot of faculty do take their students out of the classroom and utilize the ecosystems, the campus grounds to gather data. And while their students are learning about the tools and the data collection methods and the analytical methods for studying these types of systems, and, you know, with our lab. But we're hopeful we, we have some faculty who are already feeding this data that their, their students are collecting in courses into the data sandbox that starts to create a longitudinal data set of, um, similar sorts of data collection, um, over time. But the more that we can get, um, and encourage our faculty to get our students out utilizing the campus to develop their research skills, to develop their understanding of, of socio-environmental system theory, et cetera, is, is really exciting.

Liling Huang (09:56):
And to me, I think the, the living lab, what I see, it's beyond the lab. It is a living community, uh, living society. We can have student actually have a startup, a model startup to run this community, to run the lab, to collect the data, uh, and then to, to hire student, to be the operator. So I think this is, uh, even beyond lab, you know, like, and it, it also bridge, uh, brings in multidisciplinary collaboration between engineering, science, business and policy.

President Gregory Washington (10:33):
Well, the problems that we have to deal with today, especially in the energy space, are all multidisciplinary, right?

Liling Huang (10:41):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Yes.

President Gregory Washington (10:41):
They have the technical aspects. Which are very clear. You have the social economic aspects, which in my opinion are very, very clear. And you got the political aspects which are not as clear <laugh>, uh, at least on some things, but are still clearly there, right? So, Leah, your role at the ISE is specifically around developing connections across communities to put George �鶹��Ƶ's research and scholarship into action in support of a sustainable world. So what does it look like to build those bridges across discipline?

Leah Nichols (11:17):
Yes.

President Gregory Washington (11:18):
And talk a little bit about the receptivity on campus to building those bridges amongst our faculty and, and our, and our researchers and the like.

Leah Nichols (11:27):
Sure. Um, I was gonna say, I'm gonna go one step further and say we're building bridges across academic disciplines, but we're also working to bring external partners, people who are interested in co-designing, co-developing solutions, um, that they're experiencing in their, in their lives with local governments, local, you know, local businesses.

President Gregory Washington (11:44):
Yeah. Sometimes they can be, for lack of a better way of putting it, easier to build relationships with than the entities right here on campus.

Leah Nichols (11:51):
That can be true.

President Gregory Washington (11:53):
A couple of nights ago I had dinner with one of the founders of Nvidia. And at that dinner, they were talking, of course, they were extolling the virtues of their AI chips and the super computers that you can build from these AI chips. And one of the things that he talked about really piqued my interest that just immediately came to mind listening to you all talk about bridging the divide. Their belief is that some solutions are hyperdimensional, right? Meaning there's so many layers of possible connection that we just may not be able to see. It may not be able to draw the connection to inner city social science issues and next generation solar. Right. But that computers, especially those equipped with, uh, uh, AI generated tools, can actually explore well beyond our realm of seeing an actual problem. And so I just wanna get your reaction to that relative to this transdisciplinary work and finding solutions that right now aren't obvious to us.

Leah Nichols (13:03):
So you really hit on something I'm also excited about. One, one of the things I was doing while I was at the National Science Foundation and was trying to fund science that would advance our understanding of these complex system interactions. And the advances in the technology have really unlocked that ability. You know, science hundreds of years ago through relatively recently, was focused on a reductionist, like, let's break it down to the smallest, smallest, smallest parts to really understand what's going on. Valuable, but at like, now, we can really look at systems and try to interrogate what's the causality? Can you explain causality within systems? So these types of tools really allow us to interrogate these complex systems in really new ways, which could very much reveal opportunities to adjust to, to where to take action, how action in some spaces will potentially propagate into action. Uh, you know, this is a new area of science. I'm not, I'm not saying that we're gonna be able to explain every complex system, but what an exciting avenue of science is, is to be interrogating the complexity instead of the smallest pieces.

Liling Huang (14:03):
Yeah. I, I think that we, a a unit, an institution, we have a very limited time to learn. Very limited view. And yes, AI does provide a potential to be able to look at everything holistically, maybe come up with a good solution. But personally, I always think that, you know, everything has, it's, it's always two folded. On one side, it has one and has a zero. So I think it, it brings opportunity, but also we want to know the challenge that AI bring in to the society. So we still need a human, human in the loop to help AI do a better job. You know, we are human being, we want to have a better life. So we don't want the whole world to become just machine, just AI. So the human in the loop is very important. Uh, and that also, like all the AI computation, again, I'm the power person. So I would like to say the challenge that the AI computation bring in is the humongous energy demand to support those AI computation, and that huge energy demand is part of the challenge to our infrastructure, the impact to the environment. So how do we solve those complex problem? It's very interesting.

President Gregory Washington (15:23):
Oh, I hear you. I hear you.

Leah Nichols (15:25):
I think AI is an exciting tool, but fully agree that you have to use it cautiously. Any type of science, any type of tool, how is it gonna get used and how is it gonna be put into practice and changing the world around us. So things to think about the,

President Gregory Washington (15:37):
The challenge is that cat might be out of the bag right now, you know? So look, you both have work experience outside the academy, right? So Leah, you spend time at National Science Foundation; Liling, you were a certified, uh, professional engineer at Taiwan Development and Trust Corporation before pursuing a PhD. And so talk about those experiences and how those experiences inspire your move into higher ed, but also how those experiences are helpful for you today.

Liling Huang (16:08):
So I think it's a very valuable experience. Uh, like I work in industry and I see the challenge in industry, which the student will be, uh, facing, you know, in their career. So I see the gap between the industry and academia. I remember when I first report to, uh, my manager, I have to learn everything, you know, start from the beginning because it's, I learn all the theory. So I kind of see the importance of hands-on, practical. Uh, and also I see that the, the importance and actually to run the infrastructure, human is also, I would say like the operator. The engineer is very important and very critical part of the infrastructure. So I see the gap and I see the importance of having a skillful engineer workforce. And that's why, uh, inspire me to build a career in academia because I think that, uh, it is a very prestigious position to train and educate a future engineer. And that experience helped me to better embed, improve my teaching, uh, education and research to be able to bring in the practical challenge and experience into the education and research.

President Gregory Washington (17:31):
Interesting.

Leah Nichols (17:31):
So while I was at the National Science Foundation, one of my primary roles was to help build and design these multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary types of funding programs to fund different types of science. Again, focusing predominantly on socioecological systems and the, the role of, of those systems and how those are changing. And then toward the latter part, while I was engaged with an advisory council, they gave us very strong advice. Like we're, we've been describing the challenges of the world for a while, quite a long time in the socio-environmental systems. What do we start doing about it? And that really helped drive me to think about like, what type of science needs to be done so that we can start taking action to address these grand challenges, these wicked challenges. And as a, a program officer, I was facilitating those sorts of dialogues across disciplines so that I bring back to the table here at �鶹��Ƶ, getting lots of people with very different worldviews in the same room to come to a, a common understanding of need and opportunity and ways that we can support, uh, science to develop solutions in these space. I was also often one of the voices in the room saying, how do we bring the spaces of research use into the, the scientific questions or the science that we're funding? How do we get use-inspired science where community partners or industry partners are, are deeply engaged in development of the science itself or the co-design of the science.

President Gregory Washington (18:50):
So one of the solutions in our grand challenge initiative is George �鶹��Ƶ at the center of building a climate resilience society. Now, you two sit in different components of that spectrum, right, of building a climate resilient society. And so as two researchers dedicated to innovation and sustainability, what does climate resiliency mean to you? Right. And what do you see as the grand challenge in your space?

Leah Nichols (19:18):
So a climate resilience society, I, I will say, you know, we are in the throes of climate change. We are now experiencing more intense storms, greater and in longer, and durations of heat, shifts in seasonal, um, patterns. However, a lot of our communities, as, as, uh, Liling was saying earlier, a lot of our infrastructure was built decades, if not centuries ago, uh, well before climate change was even underway or understood to be underway. And so there's vulnerabilities, and we need to start accounting for how the changing climate and the, the information that we're receiving, um, now about how the ecosystems are working and the physical systems are working into managing those, the infrastructure and the, the systems that comprise communities. That means understanding and like really looking at where are the risks? What types of changes in the flood patterns or the rainfall patterns or the heat indices, where are those gonna cause the most damage?

Leah Nichols (20:18):
And then how do we start, um, mitigating that type of damage? What interventions do we need to put in place so that when events happen, when significant rainfall happens and floods occur, infrastructure and people are outta the way not damaged? Or what can we do to make sure that those systems are, can sort of go down for a short while and then come right back up? They're not being destroyed. So identifying where there's risk, identifying opportunities to make changes to ensure that our, our systems are sustainable and can withstand the consequences or the, the more extreme weather and the, the different weather and climate effects that we're experiencing now is, is really important.

Liling Huang (20:58):
And to me, I think Leah meant, you know, the cause--it's very, very important, like to build a climate, uh, resilient society, we need to understand and the cause and to observe the pattern, and from the engineering perspective, from the energy infrastructure, we need to know if we are part of the cause, how do we improve that? How do we reduce that from the design operate perspective to support that? And also, when this type of extreme weather occurred, how can we continuously provide reliable energy? Because that's the backbone of everything, of our daily life. So to build a resilient climate, uh, you know, uh, society, I, I see that all our six grand challenges touch this topic. And this is actually the core to connect all the six challenges together. We need the 21st century workforce, uh, to build a climate resilience society. We need the digital, we need the AI, we need a healthcare system, we need everything. And then our grand challenges right on top of that.

President Gregory Washington (22:11):
Okay. Well, let's <laugh> let's dive into this a little bit. This whole concept of building a climate resilient society really is not about understanding climate change from the perspective of whether it's manmade or whether it's just a natural artifact of the changing cycles in the way our planet is progressing. It's really about saying whatever's causing it, we have some challenges, right? We have major challenges on both coast <laugh>. One can't get enough water and it's burning, and the other one is literally getting too much. And, you know, we've had multiple 500, uh, year biblical floods in a number of locations. This is about what happens as we deal with the aftermath of climate change, building a climate resilient society. Our climate is changing. Our society has to change in order to accommodate it. And so, yes, everything you guys highlighted, we need faculty, we need folk trained properly in order to manage this.

President Gregory Washington (23:25):
Right? But what I'm getting at here is: talk a little bit about deal with the political issues that may be dividing us on the causality aspect of this problem. How do we get away from that and focus on the fact that, look, I don't care what your belief is, you're flooding and we need a solution for that. We need a a new home type system for that, or we need a solution to help you mitigate that, or a warning system to keep you out of that. Or communications framework that helps you to understand when these things are coming so you can react. Talk about that a little bit.

Leah Nichols (24:04):
The, what you were just saying is essential. We need to address the problems of today, as you just said, coasts are being inundated, communities are being destroyed, literally, um, quite literally. Um, and in a repeated way, both from wildfires and extreme like downpours and flooding in, in places that you would not expect floods to happen. And it, it's happening outside of the floodplains that we understand from before. Severe wind and tornadoes are taking down, you know, there's a lot of damage to infrastructure and people and livelihoods all across the country. So we do need to be addressing the challenges that we're experiencing today. I think one of the things that we need to do differently is a lot of the, like I said, the, the prior infrastructure and the risk assessments are typically looking retrospectively. Like what has happened in the past that we need to plan for now.

Leah Nichols (24:52):
Like you, you mentioned 500 year floods. In the past, those types of floods did happen once every 500 years or so. Now, the science is able to, to, to provide some predictions about what the future trends are going to be in these areas. And so in order to plan and, and address infrastructure challenges of today, we should be looking at what the best available science is telling us about where things are going so that we can start accounting for that in, in the way that we build our infrastructure systems. I mean, you might say climate science, but you, you might also just say, this is best available science of how many floods are gonna happen.

President Gregory Washington (25:27):
Or, this is just community planning now, right? Look, if, if the flood plain is shifting and it's going to be here now, it's not build the homes there, let's shift them and build them a mile two miles away, where it might've been a problem previously, but maybe it's not that now you, you, you get what I'm saying?

Leah Nichols (25:47):
And it's, some of it's the floodplains that themselves are shifting, but a lot of what's happening now is this heavy, heavy, heavy downpours, you know?

President Gregory Washington (25:53):
No, I, I get it. I get it. I mean, places that were flooding previously, this is what happened with the young people in, uh, in, in Texas. Texas, right?

Leah Nichols (26:04):
Yes, that was terrible.

President Gregory Washington (26:04):
You know, look, the reality is is that the, the area always flooded. And that's why nobody really worried about it too much. But we live in a different time now. We need tools to predict that. We need tools to say, Hey, based on our predictive models, what's coming is not what you saw five years ago, 10 years ago. This is different. Get out. Right. And so that's the kind of thing that I want us to get to as we build a climate resilient society. Liling, I I know I interrupted you. Go ahead.

Liling Huang (26:36):
No, no, you're good.

President Gregory Washington (26:38):
Uh, I, I, you know, because youre, you're in the, you're, you are literally in the core space of this with energy production.

Liling Huang (26:44):
Yes. As long as they are human activities, we impact the environment, but there's no way we'll go back to live in the cage, uh, without electricity, going back to, you know, millions years back. So how do we better design and, and live in the environment to reduce the impact? And President Washington, you mentioned, like, to design a climate resilient society is not just the science, not the engineering, but it's the society. My experience, my view is a lot of community, they do not have the access to the data, to the fact people make decision based on the feeling, their perspective, a very limited perspective on maybe just economy or maybe just political or, you know, they, they all look at a smaller set of their view and, which cannot solve the problem. Uh, you, you see, like even the energy policy, you roll out the energy policy for the next five years, and all of a sudden you change, and then who knows, then next five years it change again.

Liling Huang (27:56):
I think what the, the challenge is, uh, to have a holistic view of the multidisciplinary: from the social, from the business, from the political, from engineering, from science. And again, the core is the community, is the human. So I think that's actually what I see, the, the challenge. And then I think that we have the responsibility to deliver the message, uh, to deliver the holistic fact and data to inform that, you know, this is going to happen if you don't take this action. And then I think everyone is responsible, you know, on the building the resilient society.

Leah Nichols (28:39):
I was also gonna add, 'cause I, I, I didn't talk much about mitigation of climate, the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but that is something we might wanna be very, very thoughtfully considering as we address climate resiliency. Things that keep me up at night are, um, you know, we have trajectories and the science is starting to tell us that some systems are going to start collapsing. And we're talking about like ocean systems and sea level rise, and well, what's gonna happen to our agriculture system? I mean, there's some of these existential challenges that might be on the horizon that we're still working on getting the science about when is that gonna happen? Is that gonna happen? Those sorts of things. But there is signals that we do really need to be addressing how much carbon dioxide we're putting into the atmosphere so that we hopefully keep us below some of those tipping points. We'll see.

President Gregory Washington (29:24):
As we move forward here. And, and if you were to be having conversations with our young people today, as you do in the classroom and beyond, or even with our faculty as, as we end, what are some of the ways individuals can help create climate resilient communities and ensure sustainable future?

Leah Nichols (29:43):
One of the most effective ways of, of creating resiliency within a community is, is actually reaching out to your, your neighbors and your community. Understanding where people are vulnerable, helping them address those vulnerabilities if and when possible. Recognizing that you, you might wanna go up the street and check on somebody in, in the context of a disaster so that you can help them create some resiliency. The more that we connect and create community, the stronger those communities are, regardless of the infrastructure. Though, ideally you also are engaged in the processes that will upgrade and, and increase the resiliency of the critical infrastructures of those communities.

Liling Huang (30:18):
Yeah. Uh, for me, I always encourage my student and emphasize the importance of having a critical thinking skill. They are the future, uh, generation. They're the future engineer to build the system, to operate the system. So critical thinking, skill and teamwork, it's very important. Uh, one person cannot solve a problem. You need a team. You need people from different skillset, from different perspective. Also, to be able to work with a team to drive the innovation and critical thinking. Uh, you don't always believe what you hear. Right. You have to be able to critically evaluate before you accept it. I think that's very, very important. Not just, you know, uh, receive what we were told and then execute that. I think critical thinking, very important. So you don't be influenced or misled easily.

President Gregory Washington (31:16):
Understood. Understood. Well, look, this has been fantastic. Last point. Just quickly, lightning round. What's given you hope for the future?

Liling Huang (31:27):
I think the, the hope of the future, uh, is our next generation. It is here, �鶹��Ƶ, our faculty, our student. I think that's the future. And then the infrastructure side, you know, the research, and again, our theme, like our living lab that give us hope of the future.

Leah Nichols (31:48):
What gives me hope is, is the amount of people who are working hard to solve these types of problems. You know, faculty as well as students in the next generation, despite significant headwinds in some contexts. There's, there's a lot of people in the world in the United States and, and far beyond that are really committed to, and digging into solving these sorts of challenges. And that's the only way things are gonna get done, is we just keep on working, keep on designing. I think there's, there's a lot of opportunities to innovate. I just look for the people who are doing things, good things, um, and there's a lot of them through the living labs and through the Institute for Sustainable Earth, always wanting to help and support those individuals here in the �鶹��Ƶ community and beyond.

President Gregory Washington (32:31):
Outstanding. Outstanding. Well, we're gonna have to leave it there. Liling and Leah, thank you both for joining us today.

Liling Huang (32:39):
Thank you.

Leah Nichols (32:40):
Thank you so much for having us.

Leah Nichols (32:41):
Thank you so much. I am �鶹��Ƶ President Gregory Washington. Thanks for listening. And tune in next time for more conversations that show why we are all together different.

Outro (32:56):
If you like what you heard on this podcast, go to podcast.gmu.edu for more of Gregory Washington's conversations with the thought leaders, experts, and educators who take on the grand challenges facing our students, graduates, and higher education. That's podcast.gmu.edu.

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PiVoT Peace Lab transforms conflict into connection

Sarah Holland — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:35:41 +0000

PiVoT Peace Lab transforms conflict into connection Sarah Holland Fri, 10/17/2025 - 09:35

Look at any newsfeed in the United States, and it won’t take long to find an article, op-ed, or think piece on the growing divide between Americans. Left vs right, liberal vs conservative, blue vs red: political polarization has become a hot topic in American media as both a cause and a symptom of growing tensions across the country.

But what’s missing from the conversation is the solution. How do we find common ground and bridge these growing gaps to create a more peaceful future?

In the Polarization and Violence Transformed (PiVoT) Peace Lab in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, researchers and practitioners are developing methods for peace-oriented responses to the negative impacts of extreme polarization and conflict around the globe.

Daniel Rothbart. Photo by Creative Services/Office of University Branding

“Most protracted violent conflicts are identity-based, meaning that the militants of one identity group are in a violent engagement with the militants or civilians of another identity group,” said Daniel Rothbart, Druscilla French Chair in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and director of the PiVoT Peace Lab. “That type of destructive polarization that encourages dehumanization is often at the center of these conflicts.”

The lab hosts a number of student- and researcher-led projects diving deeply into polarization: its causes, its consequences, and its possible solutions.

“It’s created for me this exciting opportunity to not only explore these important issues, but also to work with amazing students at all levels of our program,” said Rothbart.

One of those students is PiVoT Peace Lab manager Randy Lioz. Lioz, a master’s student in conflict analysis and resolution, developed an interest in the study of polarization in 2016, when conversations with friends and family about the 2016 presidential election highlighted contrasting viewpoints.

“I thought that what we’re missing are the tools and skills to have these conversations that could bring us into better understanding with one another,” he said. Since pivoting his career from the automotive industry to peacebuilding, Lioz has worked with practitioners and academics to develop methods and strategies for engaging opposite sides in relationship building that can break the cycles of dehumanization that fuel negative polarization.

“We need to understand what forces exist and how they push people toward radicalization, extremism, and alienation,” Lioz explained, “and then we need to figure out the best interventions.”

“Our mission as peacebuilders is to not only understand violent conflicts, but to help change the relationship among antagonist groups and help them transform,” said Rothbart.

As part of the peace lab’s mission to develop methods of reducing or eliminating the negative impacts of polarization and to foster this transformation, one of Lioz’s ongoing projects is leading the Depolarization Labs and Trainers Alliance (DeLTA). DeLTA brings scholars and practitioners together to build connections and explore pathways for bridging the growing divide.

Randy Lioz. Photo provided.

“Putting nonprofit partners in the same room as academics gives folks who are working in this field a place where they can talk about their research and connect it back to practice on the ground,” Lioz said.

DeLTA’s upcoming conference on October 27, “Pathways Forward: How Can We Restore Trust and Faith in America?” will give students, scholars, and practitioners the opportunity to learn about intervention techniques from national nonprofit leaders and university professors across the greater Washington, D.C., region.

“Right now, our faith in our institutions has been shaken, and this is existential for us. We need to rebuild our social capital and our trust in each other,” said Lioz. “I want people to get inspired by the work that’s being done to bring us all back into community with one another, particularly students who might want to pursue this field as a career. I want this to motivate us to tackle this existential problem of our time.”

But still, the question posed by the media remains: Can we come back from this?

Lioz and Rothbart believe so.

“Just as the forces of polarization have increased, I see the forces of depolarization are also intensifying. I see it in the strength and resilience that all over the nation, in how people are protecting the most vulnerable populations,” said Rothbart. “We talk about polarization as if it’s an inevitability; polarization is not inevitable, nor is it irreversible. There are so many reasons to be hopeful.”

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Center for Community Mental Health partnership provides behavioral health training

Katarina Benson — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 21:33:19 +0000

Center for Community Mental Health partnership provides behavioral health training Katarina Benson Wed, 10/15/2025 - 17:33

Since 2010, the Center for Community Mental Health’s (CCMH) mission has been twofold: train �鶹��Ƶ students to become behavioral health care professionals, and provide evidence-based, accessible, and affordable mental health care to members of the Northern Virginia community.

The center’s latest partnership checks both boxes.

From left: Claude Moore Opportunities CEO Bill Hazel, George �鶹��Ƶ Center for Community Mental Health director Robyn Mehlenbeck, ConnerStrong Foundation president and founder Tom Worosz, and George �鶹��Ƶ PhD student Lucy McClellan. Photo by Jerome Boettcher/CHSS

The center, in conjunction with nonprofits Claude Moore Opportunities and the ConnerStrong Foundation, hosted a four-day training in September led by Sources of Strength, a nationally renowned, evidence-based suicide prevention program, for nearly 30 trainees, including more than 20 George �鶹��Ƶ students. The goal is for the Sources of Strength curriculum to be implemented in local schools across Virginia, to improve mental health among youth populations.

“This was an incredible opportunity to bring together impactful partners to meet both aspects of our mission,” CCMH director Robyn Mehlenbeck said, “to be an integral part of expanding the youth mental health workforce here in Virginia while also providing our George �鶹��Ƶ undergrads some really unique opportunities to both be trained and then credentialed to give them career paths.”

In addition to the Sources of Strength training, 12 Youth Mental Health Corps members through Serve Virginia, and seven Youth Mental Health AmeriCorps members—all George �鶹��Ƶ or Rappahannock Community College students—are participating in a two-semester course at George �鶹��Ƶ titled Special Topics: Supporting the Youth Mental Health Workforce. By taking the course, all 19 students will meet requirements for state certification.

George �鶹��Ƶ students receive Sources of Strength training at the Center for Community Mental Health. Photo by Jerome Boettcher/CHSS

Five of the AmeriCorps students and the 12 Youth Mental Health Corps students will seek certification as a Qualified Mental Health Professional-Trainee through George �鶹��Ƶ. Two Youth Mental Health AmeriCorps members will receive certification as a Behavioral Health Technician Assistant through Rappahannock Community College. Both certifications are through the Virginia State Board of Counseling and provide more job options for these students.

“It is an exciting opportunity through multiple lenses,” said Lucy McClellan, a George �鶹��Ƶ clinical psychology PhD candidate who is teaching the course. “There is an ongoing youth mental health crisis. Engaging these motivated and passionate students will be a step toward addressing that. It can be challenging to find mental health service experience as an undergraduate so this experience is really integral.”

Bill Hazel serves as the CEO of Claude Moore Opportunities, which, in collaboration with Danville Community College and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, sponsored the seven AmeriCorps members. Hazel was previously the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources and senior advisor for innovation and community engagement at George �鶹��Ƶ.

Since leaving his role as the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources in 2014, Hazel jokes he has been on his atonement tour to address all the areas he “couldn’t or didn’t fix” while in his post. He said lack of “meaningful support” through behavioral health care remains a growing issue, especially for younger generations.

“What is important about this group is they are a potential workforce to deliver the service,” Hazel said. “When you get to be a certain age, maybe you lose touch with the younger generation. These trainees are as near to peers as you can get to dealing with teens. Our hope is that this training will be personally beneficial, as they look at their own situations and their own goals in life and that it will provide them career opportunities they will enjoy.”

George �鶹��Ƶ students and AmeriCorps members before Sources of Strength training at the Center for Community Mental Health. Photo by Jerome Boettcher/CHSS

Tom Worosz, president and founder of the ConnerStrong Foundation, has sponsored Sources of Strength training and implementation in approximately 20 schools in Virginia. Worosz founded the ConnerStrong Foundation in 2017 after his son, Conner, died by suicide at 17. The foundation’s mission is to bring awareness to mental health issues and suicide prevention and to change the discussion about mental health, especially for teenagers and young adults. The foundation has partnered with the CCMH for the last five years.

With the ConnorStrong Foundation, Mehlenbeck and George �鶹��Ƶ clinical psychology students hold monthly virtual workshops for parents of school-aged children from K-12 that are available throughout the school year. The workshops address a variety of topics, including domestic violence, social media, artificial intelligence, and graduation.

“Through finding like-minded people in our community—[CCMH] director Robyn Mehlenbeck, her team, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences dean Ann Ardis, Dr. Hazel and his staff over at Claude Moore Opportunities—and others who want to change the way we address mental health, we cover all age groups, but especially getting to our kids early and often has been a blessing,” Worosz said.

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$3 million National Institute on Aging grant will provide much-needed support to underserved dementia caregivers

Taylor Thomas — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:11:07 +0000

$3 million National Institute on Aging grant will provide much-needed support to underserved dementia caregivers Taylor Thomas Wed, 10/15/2025 - 09:11

More than 7 million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), supported by 12 million unpaid family caregivers whose contributions are valued at $413 billion annually. As the U.S. population continues to age, the number of people with dementia and their caregivers will nearly triple by 2050. Innovative solutions to support family caregivers are urgently needed.

Y. Alicia Hong. Photo provided.

Now, with a $3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), �鶹��Ƶ digital health intervention researcher Y. Alicia Hong is poised to change that. Hong led an interdisciplinary team to develop the Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers (WECARE) as a culturally tailored, digital health intervention to enhance caregiving skills and improve the well-being of dementia caregivers. The new grant will allow her team to further refine WECARE using artificial intelligence (AI) and evaluate it with a randomized controlled trial.

“WECARE is one of the first personalized digital interventions for dementia caregivers,” said Hong, a professor in the College of Public Health's Department of Health Administration and Policy. "Though it is designed for Chinese American dementia caregivers, it can be adapted for other groups and serve the growing demand for digital support for dementia caregivers in an aging society

The seven-week program will provide participants with informational ADRD multimedia content, quiz games, social networking with other caregivers, personalized feedback, and additional individualized resources. WECARE’s success will be evaluated by measuring the depressive symptoms reported by participants. The project also intends to identify barriers to and facilitators of WECARE’s adoption and long-term use.

This resource comes at a critical time as the aging population grows, and more people with ADRD require caregivers. Additionally, most family caregivers have chronic conditions due to prolonged and intensive dementia caregiving, causing an increased need for resources that sustain the health of family caregivers.

Hong’s grant titled “WECARE: A Personalized Intervention for Underserved Chinese American Dementia Caregivers” will take place from September 2025 to August 2030, for a total of $3,088,427. WECARE is directly responsive to NIA’s priority of effective interventions for ADRD-affected populations.

Hong studies the intersection of health services delivery and consumer informatics. Her work explores chronic care and self-care solutions through innovative digital technologies to improve patient-centered outcomes and enhance health care accessibility. Hong’s research focuses on implementation and dissemination science and leveraging digital technologies to enhance health services delivery.

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Powerful community partnerships help combat public health challenges

Taylor Thomas — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:06:05 +0000

Powerful community partnerships help combat public health challenges Taylor Thomas Fri, 10/10/2025 - 13:06

The �鶹��Ƶ and Partners (MAP) Clinics’ Empowered Communities program’s success is driven by dynamic partnerships between �鶹��Ƶ and community organizations that are transforming public health outcomes in underserved communities.

Initiatives convene networks of nurses, peer specialists, community health workers, and students to bring acute and chronic health care services, immunizations, school health exams, substance misuse treatment, mental health services, and more to low-income, uninsured, or refugee populations. For example, the Empowered Communities Opioid Project helps people involved with the justice system who struggle with opioid use disorders connect with health care providers and community resources.

Photo by Emily Roscher.

Empowered Communities programs exemplify how college-community alliances can directly improve highly targeted public health issues. These collaborations are foundational to delivering sustainable, person-centered care where it’s needed most. By combining academic expertise with on-the-ground community insight, these partnerships are creating scalable models for building healthier communities.

Prince William County and MAP Clinics partner on several initiatives, including the Jail Medication-Assisted Treatment Program, the Peer Internship Project, and Community MAT efforts. The collaboration is rooted in shared goals of expanding access to treatment, strengthening peer support services, and promoting recovery within justice-involved populations. Their remarkable collaboration was recognized with the Jack Wood Award for Town-Gown Relations in the category of Partnership Initiative.

“Partnerships like these are essential for building coordinated, comprehensive responses to the opioid epidemic, substance use, and behavioral health challenges in Prince William County, City of Manassas, and Manassas Park. By working together, we can leverage collective expertise, align resources, and deliver consistent, person-centered care across systems,” said Sara Wheeler, division manager of the Adult Behavioral Health and Recovery Services in the Prince William County Government.

Harnessing Tech Partners to Improve Health

Sri Vasireddy, co-founder and CEO of REAN Foundation, leads an organization dedicated to using technology to improve access, affordability, and efficiency in health care. Together, REAN and the MAP Clinics created �鶹��Ƶ HealthLink, an AI companion that allows patients to self-manage their own care by connecting them with resources, practitioners, and updated care plans. Their partnership exemplifies the intersection of technology and health care.

“There is tremendous need for what we do and there's a lot that we need to put together. I am a technology entrepreneur, and I have little direct knowledge in health care,” said Vasireddy. "What I know comes from working with organizations and partnerships, meeting people, and learning about their communities’ needs. On the technology side, the technology people process aspects of building a platform. But we need nursing staff and community workers and volunteers to help answer is this contextualized, is this personalized? It’s not just one discipline. We need psychology, we need science, we need technology, we need business in terms of the operations."

These partnerships—between academic institutions, local governments, and technology innovators—are the foundation of Empowered Communities’ success. They demonstrate how collaboration across sectors can drive sustainable public health solutions and improve outcomes for underserved populations.

Over the past two years, the Empowered Communities has hosted a conference that served as a platform for these partners to showcase milestones and reaffirm their shared commitment to providing resources to those most in need.

“Gatherings like the Empowered Communities Conference foster connection, knowledge sharing, and inspiration across sectors. They provide a platform to highlight innovative practices, celebrate progress, and strengthen the collective commitment to recovery, equity, and community resilience,” said Wheeler.

Photo by Emily Roscher.

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George �鶹��Ƶ pathways program introduces high schoolers to quantum

Katarina Benson — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 19:01:23 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ pathways program introduces high schoolers to quantum Katarina Benson Fri, 10/03/2025 - 15:01

Quantum science may operate at the tiniest scales of the universe, but its potential to reshape our world is anything but small. This summer, �鶹��Ƶ hosted the Pathways to Quantum Immersion Program, preparing high school students for careers in the rapidly emerging field of quantum science.

The program welcomed rising seniors from across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and Virginia for an immersive, two-part experience consisting of a two-week virtual course covering the fundamentals of quantum science, followed by an in-person week centered at the George �鶹��Ƶ Fairfax Campus. During the in-person experience students engaged with hands-on learning and saw how quantum concepts are already shaping the world around them. They also visited leading institutions in research, technology, and policy.

Program leads Nancy Holincheck and Jessica Rosenberg. Photo by Zander Leon/College of Science

“Before this experience, I always associated 'quantum' with quantum physics,” said participant Benjamin Fu. “But I’ve learned that quantum technologies power many of the applications and systems we rely on every day.”

The program is led by Jessica Rosenberg, professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of education at George �鶹��Ƶ’s Quantum Science and Engineering Center, and Nancy Holincheck, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development and associate director of the Center for Social Equity Through Science Education.

"We want to give the students a feel for why it is interesting and important so that they consider taking that next step in a field that can be challenging," said Rosenberg. "If we can get these students interested, there will be plenty of time for them to dive into the math and other details that you need to really pursue the field. We also make sure to introduce them to a lot of people with a lot of different backgrounds and experiences to show them the variety of ways they can engage with and make an impact in the field."

Both Rosenberg and Holincheck guided students this summer through interactive sessions and field experiences, with many participants citing the visits as a highlight of their experience. For Fu, the visit to the MITRE Corporation, an organization that manages federally funded research and development, left a lasting impression.

“I met so many working professionals, and I admire their curiosity and how well they communicate their expertise,” he said. “They have to work closely with government agencies and serve as a bridge between academic research and real-world policy, and I could definitely see myself doing something like that in the future.”

2025 Quantum Pathways Program participants. Photo by Zander Leon/College of Science

Fellow participant Laura De also liked visiting MITRE. “I’m interested in industry-based applications of quantum and so seeing how people in the workforce implement the technologies, outside of academia, was the coolest thing. I think seeing that helped me envision doing that in the future.”

Participant Colette Cookson described the visit to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as the highlight of the program, where she witnessed aerospace engineering in action and saw the massive machinery used in final-stage rocket testing. The students were shown how the facility uses vibration, sound, and extreme temperatures to ensure a rocket is sound before sending it to space. “I didn’t realize how many people were involved in making a single launch possible and that each step had its own specialist come in to do their part. There’s a lot of collaboration and interdisciplinary work,” she said.

Rosenberg and Holincheck also took participants through George �鶹��Ƶ’s labs and let them see some of the work being done by current George �鶹��Ƶ students.

Participant Horayn Gibson uses a handheld spectrometer to look at the different light waves that make up helium. Photo by Kimberly Cruz-Cruz

“I had no idea George �鶹��Ƶ had so many resources or was investing this much in STEM,” said Cookson. “Every lab we visited was amazing, and it was cool to hear the postdocs talk about their research. One was working on something they said they hoped could cure cancer.”

For Avanthika Thodupunuri, the most exciting part was meeting current George �鶹��Ƶ students whose research connected with her own interests. “I want to know how quantum can be applied to the stock market, and one student was working on a physics-based study in that area,” she said. “This program was incredible. I was surrounded by people who were not only incredibly smart, but also genuinely curious, asking thoughtful questions and interested in the subject.”

The Quantum Pathways Immersion program is part of QSEC’s K12 Quantum Workforce Development Project, which was funded by an appropriation sponsored by former U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton and aims to inspire the next generation of students to pursue the field while simultaneously preparing a diverse quantum workforce in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.

“As the next generation, I think everyone is going to want to at least have some basic understanding [of quantum], and this program definitely gives you a head start on it,” said Thodupunuri.

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George �鶹��Ƶ researchers awarded $4.65 million NIH grant to explore chronic knee pain

Colleen Rich — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 21:31:42 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ researchers awarded $4.65 million NIH grant to explore chronic knee pain Colleen Rich Tue, 09/30/2025 - 17:31

For millions of Americans, chronic musculoskeletal pain is a daily reality that makes even simple activities like walking across a room, playing with grandchildren, or just getting through a workday feel daunting. At �鶹��Ƶ, researchers at the Center for Advancing Systems Science and Bioengineering Innovation (CASSBI) are leading a new $4.65 million National Institutes of Health-funded R01 study to better understand what shapes those experiences, and how to improve care.

Photo by Getty Images

“Like many people all over the world, I have known close family members living with unexplained chronic pain,” said the project’s lead investigator Siddhartha Sikdar, professor of bioengineering and director of CASSBI. “I have seen firsthand how frustrating it can be to navigate a disjointed health care system that often does not prioritize patient voices. That’s why I’m so excited about this project. It prioritizes understanding each person’s lived experience of pain, so we can come up with better guidelines for personalized management of chronic pain.”

Chronic musculoskeletal pain is one of the world’s most common—and least understood—health conditions. It refers to ongoing pain in soft tissues of the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms, or legs. Lower back and knee pain are leading causes of disability worldwide, disrupting work, family life, and well-being.

Despite its prevalence, the condition is poorly understood. Pain perception is difficult to measure, and each individual’s experience of chronic pain is unique. Findings on currently available diagnostic tests paint an incomplete, and sometimes misleading, picture of the underlying problems. Too often, people with chronic musculoskeletal pain encounter fragmented care, misdiagnoses, or treatments that are expensive, invasive, and ineffective. Many report feeling dismissed or unheard.

The research team will work to solve this problem by studying how physical, biological, emotional, and social factors come together to shape the daily experience of living with chronic knee pain. They will look at whether analyzing multiple symptoms over time can help identify important turning points in a person’s pain journey, and how each individual’s particular mix of stress, biology, and movement plays a role in achieving maximal potential for function.

Siddhartha Sikdar. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding.

Over the next four years, the team will recruit participants with chronic knee pain who are receiving treatment at Optimal Motion, a community-based physical therapy clinic. For one year, participants will be followed closely, with data collected every three months on their biomechanics, physical function, biological health, and psychosocial well-being. A smartphone app will also allow participants to share daily reflections, giving researchers an unprecedented look into the lived experience of chronic pain.

“Chronic pain is not just about an abnormal finding in a single body part,” Sikdar explained. “It’s an individual, day-to-day experience that cuts across physical, emotional, and social dimensions.”

Improving chronic pain management without overreliance on opioids and other medications with harmful side effects is a critical priority for addressing the ongoing public health crisis of opioid and other medication misuse, addiction, and overdose in America. Better understanding the factors that shape pain could lead to more effective personalized care and help reduce the devastating ripple effects of medication misuse and addiction.

This study is different from traditional pain research in three important ways. First, it uses a whole person focus. Instead of viewing knee pain only as a local problem in the joint, the team is taking a holistic approach that considers the entire person and the many factors influencing their pain. Second, it puts patient voices at the center. By using advances in large language models, researchers will analyze patient narratives, stories, and reflections, capturing rich perspectives often overlooked by conventional assessments. Third, it will track change over time. Rather than relying only on one-time snapshots, the study will follow patients’ pain experiences as they shift from day to day and month to month.

The interdisciplinary project will involve medical scientists, community-based medical professionals, engineers, data scientists, neuroscientists, and CASSBI’s chronic pain advisory board of patient advocates and community-based practitioners. George �鶹��Ƶ faculty collaborators include:

Kevin Lybarger, assistant professor, Department of Information Sciences and Technology, College of Engineering and Computing (expertise: artificial intelligence, natural language processing)
Secili DeStefano, adjunct faculty, Department of Health Administration and Policy, College of Public Health (expertise: physical therapy)
William Rosenberger, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Statistics, College of Engineering and Computing (expertise: statistics)
Seiyon (Ben) Lee, assistant professor, Department of Statistics, College of Engineering and Computing (expertise: statistical modeling of complex data)
Samuel Acuña, research assistant professor, Institute for Digital Innovation, Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact (expertise: rehabilitation engineering, human-centered product design)
Cameron Nowzari, associate professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing (expertise: robotics)
Lynn Gerber, MD, professor emerita, medical doctor, Inova Center for Integrated Research (expertise: rheumatology, internal medicine, rehabilitation)

The team is also partnering with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and community-based providers such as Optimal Motion.

The project supports NIH’s interest in advancing the understanding of individual differences in pain with a whole person approach to personalized medicine. It also aligns closely with CASSBI’s mission to bring together scientists, engineers, health care professionals, and community members to drive real-world medical innovation.

For more than a decade, George �鶹��Ƶ researchers at CASSBI have been working across disciplines to better understand chronic pain and this new study builds on that legacy with fresh tools, new partnerships, and functional outcomes that reflect wha patients have expressed is important to them .

“Pain is a uniquely personal perception and experience,” said Sikdar. “Our goal is to listen more closely, understand more fully, and translate those insights into better care guidelines and treatments. Ultimately, it’s about helping people get back to living their lives.”

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Podcast: Are Earth's oceans suffocating?

Sarah Holland — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:58:51 +0000

Podcast: Are Earth's oceans suffocating? Sarah Holland Mon, 09/29/2025 - 09:58

Oceans cover 71% of our Earth. Formed over 3.8 billion years ago, these vast depths could hold some of the answers to our questions about Earth’s long and mysterious history, as well as offer predictions for the future of our planet. And the key might be found in, of all places, rocks.

On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Washington speaks with Geoffrey Gilleaudeau, associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences Department in the College of Science, about the past, present, and future of Earth’s oceans according to the physical and chemical characteristics of sedimentary rocks.

I think that one of the things that's really important to note is that the Earth has been much warmer at times in the past over the course of our planet's entire history. We're actually in a relatively cold interval right now. But the thing that matters is actually the rate of change and the rate at which ecosystems can adapt to climate change. So we have a clear understanding from the geological record that rapid periods of climate change have wreaked havoc on global ecosystems. And what's happening now is a rate of increase of carbon in the atmosphere, a rate of increase of temperature that is off the charts compared to what's happened naturally in the past. So we're seeing lots of different detrimental effects already occurring focused on ocean oxygen levels.—Geoffrey Gilleaudeau

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Intro (00:04):

Trailblazers in research; innovators in technology; and those who simply have a good story: all make up the fabric that is �鶹��Ƶ, where taking on the grand challenges that face our students graduates in higher education is our mission and our passion. Hosted by �鶹��Ƶ President Gregory Washington, this is the Access to Excellence podcast.

President Gregory Washington (00:27):

71% of our Earth is covered by ocean formed over 3.8 billion years ago. These vast depths could hold some of the answers to our questions about the Earth's long and mysterious history, as well as offer predictions for the future of our planet. And the key might be found, in of all places, rocks. It sounds like we're in need of a geologist. Geoffrey Gilleaudeau is an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences in the College of Science. He specializes in the physical and chemical characteristics of sedimentary rocks. His research focuses on the evolution of ocean atmosphere, chemistry, and its effect on biological development throughout Earth's history. Geoffrey, welcome to the show.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (01:27):

Thank you very much, president.

President Gregory Washington (01:30):

So one of your areas of study is, and I don't wanna screw this up, <laugh>, the Proterozoic.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (01:38):

Yeah. Proterozoic, right.

President Gregory Washington (01:39):

The Proterozoic world AKA, the geological age in which the earliest forms of complex right. Life began to take shape. So what criteria do scientists use to define complex life, number one, and why is it important to define it? And then we'll talk a little bit about what these complex life forms are.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (02:00):

Yeah, sure. So we think of all life on Earth as belonging to three different domains: bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes and eukaryotes are special because that, uh, they---we're eukaryotes and, and our cells have a nucleus, that's a fundamentally more complex organization of life than exists in bacteria or exists in archaea. So eukaryotes, uh, first evolved during the Proterozoic. Bacteria, uh, we know were around way back 3 billion years or, or earlier, but eukaryotes only evolved in the Proterozoic. And then in particular when we have things like algae that are single-cell eukaryotes, but we also have multicellular eukaryotes, right? So the first really multicellular eukaryotes that seem to have, you know, more of a complex set of, uh, organization also occur toward the very end of the Proterozoic. And yeah, a big question for a long time has been, you know, why was there such a long delay between the first evolution of bacteria and then finally having something complex that we can actually see as a fossil and is made up of eukaryotes with, with a complex biological structure.

President Gregory Washington (03:09):

So non-complex life are like simple bacteria.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (03:12):

Yeah, exactly. Bacteria and what we call archaea, which are another single cell type of life.

President Gregory Washington (03:18):

Right. But at some point in time, you shift to more complex life. Right. Okay. So gimme the understanding of where those lines occur and how does it relate to what many of us would call complex life?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (03:32):

Yeah, great question. So the first time that we see evidence in the fossil record of a eukaryote, an organism that has a nucleus, is around 1.7 billion years ago, which is kind of a arbitrary number, but, um, but the, as I said, the Earth is four and a half billion years old. So that's already more than half through Earth history before we see the first eukaryote, that, uh, an organism with a nucleus. Right. And then we, we see various kinds of, sometimes multicellular, but still simple eukaryotes for the next billion years or so. And it's not until really the final 10% of our planet's history that we start to see fossils of things that we would recognize like an animal. And it's only around five or six hundred million years ago that we start to see fossils of things that we recognize as animal phyla. Right.

President Gregory Washington (04:23):

Wait, is this post dinosaur or pre--

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (04:26):

Pre dinosaur. Yeah. And if you think about dinosaurs, right? Again, it's like, are interesting to put this all in perspective, when our planet is four and a half billion years old, right? Dinosaurs were around something like a hundred million years ago up to 66 million years ago. So that's only occurring in like the last 1%, you know, of our planet's history, um, are those things that, that we sort of recognize and learn about when we're kids even, you know, the most simple thing like a jellyfish or a sponge is only really showing up in our fossil record in kind of the last 10% of our planet's history.

President Gregory Washington (05:03):

That's amazing.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (05:04):

Yeah. <laugh>.

President Gregory Washington (05:05):

So for that 90%, it was all simple life or no life.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (05:10):

Yeah. I mean, so that, that's really interesting because the oldest rocks we have on Earth that go back, uh, 3.8 billion years already have evidence for life in them. So we think that that simple life like bacteria evolved very early in our planet's history, probably more than 4 billion years ago when the Earth was very young. So life has been around the whole time, and we have evidence for, you know, ubiquitous bacteria and simple life through Earth history. But it's not that we, you know, we get something that we would recognize as an animal. That comes very late.

President Gregory Washington (05:46):

And so why did it take so long?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (05:48):

Yeah, that's been a, a question that like when I was an undergrad really motivated me. Uh, I learned about that at a paleobiology class. It really struck my interest and I've really dedicated a lot of my career to trying to understand that. One of the big things that I study is oxygen, right? One of the things that we know is that bacteria can do their metabolism based on many other chemical compounds, and they don't necessarily need oxygen, right? But we know that us, as complex life, we need to breathe. And we also know that, um, the process that we do called aerobic respiration, where we use, where we use oxygen in our metabolism, is the most energetically efficient metabolism, and it's probably required to have any type of complex life. So a lot of my research has been in looking at the levels of oxygen in the ocean and atmosphere over the course of Earth history.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (06:42):

So yeah, one idea is that oxygen levels remained quite low through most of our planet's history and only rose, uh, to sufficient levels at, at a later time. We've been investigating that and we're finding that it's not quite that simple actually. And there there are many other things about the Earth's biogeochemistry that really matter, like nutrient levels in the oceans. For example, we have evidence that things like phosphorus, which all life needs, was very, at very low levels in the oceans for much of our planet's history and other nutrients like nitrate may have been important. Another thing that's really important is actually how our planet behaves as far as the plate tectonics and its physical structure. It's actually interesting that we're learning more and more that we may not think that having mountains really matters for life. But mountains are really, really important.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (07:33):

And having active and vigorous plate tectonics, which constantly creates new mountains and exposes new rocks to weathering, putting nutrients into the ocean is really, really important. And we're actually finding that there are linkages between times of really intense plate tectonics and weathering that are linked to some of these early forms of complex life. So it's a complicated picture, but it's, uh, the Earth is sort of working in tandem. And what I'm really interested in is like kind of the biogeochemical feedbacks that, that have led us to this point. So, um, yeah, I think oxygen, it plays a big role, but also tectonics and nutrients for sure.

President Gregory Washington (08:10):

So one of your areas of study is this Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, or T-OAE. Okay. Explain what the T-OAE, is that how it's pronounced:T dash O A E or

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (08:27):

Is it Yeah, the, the TOAE exactly. Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (08:30):

The TOEA.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (08:30):

<affirmative>. Okay. Yeah. I mean, this is now moving forward a little bit in our Earth, in our planet's history, actually to the time that you mentioned of the dinosaurs around 180 million years ago or so. And during this time, something happened where we already had a lot of oxygen in the oceans and atmosphere at that time, complex life was really vibrant on Earth, but there was a short term event where we had something called a large igneous province. And basically what that means is that volcanoes kind of went crazy for a little while, and we had, uh, a lot of input of volcanoes, a lot of volcanic eruptions, uh, over a relatively short amount of time. And what that did is it put a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. It put a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere, and it caused a cascade of effects where what that did was enhance the weather and hydrological cycle, which then ultimately led to warmer conditions, more rainfall, which then led to intense weathering of the rocks on, on land, which then led to a lot of nutrients going into the ocean.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (09:32):

And when that happens, it can have a detrimental effect on the oceans, where basically those nutrients cause like harmful algal blooms and algae will, will produce, you know, lots of organic matter. And when that sinks down, it uses up the oxygen choke. So what.

President Gregory Washington (09:47):

It chokes out, chokes everything out.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (09:48):

It chokes the---everything out, yeah. And basically what happened at that time is what, what you said it caused an oceanic anoxic event or a loss of oxygen from the oceans. Um, and this was something that caused, you know, a, a relatively minor extinction of life in the oceans at this time. So this is really, really important because, um, this provides us as a potential analog for what's potentially happening now with global warming. Um, we, we have a very clear signal from the geological record that times when lots of carbon is put out into the atmosphere relatively rapidly, that can have very detrimental effects on the oceans.

President Gregory Washington (10:28):

This is actually quite fascinating. So you're basically studying the history of the early formation of Earth?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (10:37):

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

President Gregory Washington (10:38):

I mean, I, I, I think that's one good way to kind of look at it. And, and in learning that history of how it formed, you also run into an understanding of the kinds of things that could cause it to decay.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (10:54):

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I think one of the things that's so, uh, important is that, you know, as I said, the Earth is four and a half billion years old, but humans have been around a very short amount of time, right, um, in respect to our planet's history. And we've only been keeping records, you know, detailed records for a very short amount of time, maybe 150 years or something like that. So, you know, we don't really have a, a great understanding based on direct observations of basic things about how our planet works on longer timescales. We haven't been around to see it, so we need to look at the record of the past to have a really, a fundamental understanding of like, how has the Earth responded to climate change in the past? You know, what's going to happen in the future? Because, because we need to look to the past to, to get that information that's gonna make a basic prediction about what the next century is gonna look like.

President Gregory Washington (11:45):

Well, and this is a hypothetical, there was a time when the planet was a much less hospitable place.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (11:51):

Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (11:52):

Right?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (11:53):

Absolutely.

President Gregory Washington (11:53):

And you can reach back into that time and have an idea of what the conditions were like, what the conditions of the oceans were like, what the conditions of the atmosphere was like. So in your opinion, are, are we doing anything that could take us back to that less hospitable time?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (12:15):

Yeah, I mean, I think, I think we are, and I think it's pretty clear. I mean, I think that one of the things that's really important to note, um, is that the Earth has been much warmer at times in the past, um, over the course of our planet's entire history. We're actually in a relatively cold interval right now. But the thing that matters is actually the rate of change and the rate at which ecosystems can adapt to climate change. Right? So we, we have a, a clear understanding from the geological record that rapid periods of climate change have wreaked havoc on global ecosystems. And what's happening now is, you know, a, a rate of increase of carbon in the atmosphere, a rate of increase of temperature that is off the charts compared to what's happened naturally in the, in the past, right? So we're seeing, um, lots of different detrimental effects already occurring, you know, focused on ocean oxygen levels. We're already seeing a decrease.

President Gregory Washington (13:10):

I've heard about dead spots. Areas--

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (13:11):

Exactly. Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (13:12):

Where there's just a lack of oxygen.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (13:14):

Right? And, and, and one of the big things that we have here locally is that's happening in the Chesapeake Bay, for example. And that's related to, you know, the same thing that volcanoes did 180 million years ago is kind of happening again today. And, and one of the other things that's happening is because of the way that humans are using the land surface, um, we're using a lot of artificial fertilizers and things like that, we're clear cutting forests, and that's causing more nutrients to run off into the oceans and causing this, these dead sites: algal blooms, dead zones. So we've got increasing levels of, of lack of oxygen in the Chesapeake Bay every summer. Uh, it's getting worse and worse.

President Gregory Washington (13:52):

You know, just from a simplistic perspective, if, you know, the algal blooms are taking away the oxygen and causing the dead zone, as you see them start to bloom, why not just go in, eradicate the bloom, right? Just get rid of it, develop systems to capture that and then go release it somewhere else or process it. Maybe there's something useful that you can pull out of that life form, right?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (14:23):

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's a lot of very interesting and important research being done on those types of sort of what we would call geo-engineering type strategies, right? Where we would, you know, find artificial ways to cause the oceans to absorb more carbon or try and change the, the ecosystem balance of the oceans in our favor. The problem with that is that, you know, the ocean is a really, really complex thing. And we up until today don't really have a good understanding of what some of the detrimental, maybe unintended, consequences or side effects of some of those proposals would be. Right.

President Gregory Washington (14:59):

Wait, so so you're saying, okay, you go in and you destroy the algal bloom, and you get an outcome that's worse.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (15:07):

Exactly. Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (15:09):

Now, some of these oceans have recovered from, uh, these dead zones, right?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (15:13):

Right.

President Gregory Washington (15:14):

And so that's, that's another thing. How do the oceans naturally recover from dead zone?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (15:20):

Yeah, I mean, what we're, what we're finding is that really it's, it's humans changing the way that we use the land. And there are other parts of the Chesapeake Bay that have really improved in recent years, and there are other areas that dead zones are getting better. And that has come about because, because people have put policies in place to, um, really limit the amount of nutrients that are running off into those areas. So they've been, you know, really success stories of positive policies that have been put into place to figuring out what the cause is, and then trying to mitigate that, that negative thing.

President Gregory Washington (15:51):

Probably about, I want to say maybe nine months ago, I took an extensive trip through the Anacostia.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (15:57):

Oh, cool.

President Gregory Washington (15:58):

And, you know, just uh, environmental excursions.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (16:02):

Yeah. Fun.

President Gregory Washington (16:03):

From what they call it. And they talked about how runoff from development and the, like, basically caused some of the similar kinds. And you get sediment that ran into the Anacostia. In Its case, you, you had that matter coming in and it added on the, the riverbed and it decreased the depth. Right.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (16:24):

Right.

President Gregory Washington (16:25):

So you could no longer get.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (16:26):

Yes, Exactly.

President Gregory Washington (16:27):

Yeah. You could no longer get big ships down in and out, right? Because basically, and I was surprised to see how shallow it had become because of all of that runoff. And they say the runoff primarily came because the vegetation that existed all around the Anacostia was removed And that provided a pathway for all of this matter to make its way into the ocean.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (16:52):

Yeah. I mean, that, that's, that's a, that's a great observation. That's exactly the type of process that we are seeing.

President Gregory Washington (16:58):

But, you know, and, and so you can dredge, right? Or you can, uh, uh Right. But when you dredge, it's a temporary fix.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (17:05):

Exactly. Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (17:06):

You dredge, but if you hadn't fixed a vegetation issue. Then guess what happens over time? It just runs back in. And, and those starts to fill itself back up, right? But if you replant...

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (17:18):

Right.

President Gregory Washington (17:19):

You can slow that process. So then you dredge, then you replant, and that replanting slows that process down. And, and then they put certain wildlife, uh, I think clams or mu, I can't remember which ones that actually have the effect of cleaning the impurities out of the water.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (17:38):

Right? Yeah, absolutely.

President Gregory Washington (17:39):

And, and, and now you can actually now swim in it again.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (17:42):

Right, right, right. And things like that have been a huge success stories. Absolutely.

President Gregory Washington (17:46):

And so my philosophy is, okay, so you, you've seen some things work, right? To me, that's kind of the benefit of the work in which we do here.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (17:57):

Yeah, absolutely.

President Gregory Washington (17:58):

Right. We get an understanding, you understand the solutions, and then you say, okay, we can argue about the political ramifications of what causes this or that, or that, or we can develop pathways to fixing it. 'Cause in the end, everybody wants clean water. You know, people wanna swim in the Anacostia, you know, some folk drinking Anacostia water. You know, people want to do those kinds of things. Yeah. And in order to do that, the water has gotta be clean.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (18:29):

Yeah, I agree.

President Gregory Washington (18:29):

And, and so how do you take what you do, and the knowledge that you've been able to gain and extend it to problems like that, right. Because you're basically gaining an understanding of what causes the development of life and what can cause its erosion.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (18:49):

Yeah, definitely.

President Gregory Washington (18:50):

Right? And so somewhere in that pathway, if we're moving in the wrong direction, right, you're not moving towards development fast enough, or we're moving towards deterioration, putting in place mechanisms to thwart it and send it the other direction to me, seemed to be incredibly helpful. What do you, what are your thoughts about that?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (19:15):

No, I think that's all really, really interesting. And I think that the story about the Anacostia is really powerful because, you know, that was us being able to enact positive change, uh, through actually scientific research. Um, and actually getting clear scientific understanding of what is causing this issue in the, in the watershed. Right. And then how can we actually have sort of practical solutions, right? So I think that, you know, in my view, right, uh, in what I do thinking about things from millions of years ago, right? It's also important for us to think about the recovery of these time periods where there were, you know, negative impacts on life or extinctions or things like that. Right? What happened during the recovery that, for example, we had a major mass extinction, or the biggest mass extinction in Earth history that happened about 252 million years ago.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (20:04):

Um, also because of these volcanic eruptions, but the oceans remained toxic for millions of years afterwards. And there were a, a sort of series of feedbacks that were working to understand, to try and understand why it took so long for the ecosystems to recover. But then there are other, uh, times in Earth history, for example, like this toarcian event that I was talking about, that it seems to be a relative blip, and things sort of came back, um, more quickly, right? So trying to understand that recovery interval in the geologic past is really, really important, right. Because we have learned things like many of the things that are causing problems in the Anacostia River, the same thing happened in the oceans 252 million years ago. Right? There were these volcanic eruptions, for example, there could have been wildfires that cleared vegetation that then led to more erosion, more nutrients, more algal blooms and things like that.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (20:55):

So just knowing that that happened 252 million years ago, and knowing Right. Isolating the effect of saying, wow, the loss of vegetation at that time was really detrimental in this way, leads us exactly to what you said of saying, huh, maybe we should replant the vegetation. Right? That's like totally comes from our understanding of these past events, right? So we can look at, um, the way that the Earth has recovered in the past, what timescale it takes for the Earth to recover from carbon emissions and things like that, to understand like, what are the pathways that, that the Earth kind of needs for that type of recovery?

President Gregory Washington (21:31):

This is cool.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (21:32):

Yeah!

President Gregory Washington (21:32):

Because you're kind of leading me into this whole framework that we've been trying to put together here at �鶹��Ƶ. Right? It's that Grand Challenge Initiative, right? And, and our Grand Challenge Initiative, there's a focus on research on how to build an environmentally and ecologically resilient society. Right. It's one of those challenges, right? Right. It's a challenge that recognizes that something might be amiss here. Something is going sideways here relative to how we are treating the planet and the outcomes that we're getting from nature, so to speak. And how do you make ourselves resilient to being able to slow down those negative processes or reverse them. And areas like yours and the work that you're doing is actually critical to that. I believe, I personally believe, that we are at a inflection point where we have to start developing solutions. and we have to start developing them fast. And, and my philosophy is we don't want to get to a point where one of the things I heard you say was, look, the oceans were toxic for hundreds of thousands of years. Right? Which means that it was reversible. Nature figured out a way. But we don't have a hundred thousand years <laugh>. You get what I'm saying?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (23:03):

That's exactly right. Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (23:04):

And so, so, so for, from our vantage point as humans on the planet, right. Reversibility has to have a much shorter timescale. You, you, you get what I mean. And if our intervention caused it to go more rapidly negative, maybe our intervention can cause it to go back in the other direction.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (23:28):

Yes. Right. No, I absolutely agree. Yeah. I mean, yeah. I think you're getting at a great point, which is the, the timescale of it. Right. And it's as, it's exactly right in the sense that the Earth has natural systems sort of built in for keeping, you know, us a habitable planet. It's really amazing in that way. Right. But those natural systems work on the timescales of tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Right? And it's kind of like, that's not gonna be really super beneficial for us when we're trying to deal with how do we, how do we protect cities against sea level rise, right. How do we, how do we, you know, actually make our society more resilient? And I agree. I mean, I've been very proud and passionate to work at �鶹��Ƶ with the Grand Challenge Initiative. And I definitely am very happy that you're pushing that.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (24:12):

'Cause it is one of the key things. And I do think that the answers here come from all of the different disciplines that are working on research and working on solutions on campus. Right? I mean, I can give us a perspective from what happened millions of years ago, right? But then we need the, the engineering school to, to come, come up with certain ideas of, you know, what are the exact interventions that we can build that will do this? Right? We need the environmental science program, we need even the economics program to under--to try and understand what's the cost of this. Right. So I feel like recognizing that there's an issue and that there's a role for science to play in coming up with the practical solutions, I think that's something that �鶹��Ƶ does a really good job of.

President Gregory Washington (24:55):

Outstanding, outstanding, you know, right now we are still in our respective silos. Not too long ago, sitting in the seat in which you're sitting in now, I had a faculty member, a young faculty member, not unlike yourself, who had developed a way of using, spent coffee grounds, figured out a way to magnetize these and change their polarities, such that you can throw out large quantities of this out into the ocean where there's an oil spill, that would bind itself to oil. And then you use a, a magnet, like, framework to pull up the coffee grounds with oil attached to it. You collect them, you wash them, and then you repeat the whole process by throwing the grounds out again. Right.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (25:45):

That's fascinating.

President Gregory Washington (25:46):

And, and he had developed this process, but he's working in that context, just like you just said. He's in that engineering space. He has this cool idea, he's getting it funded, he's working. You're in a space where you actually understand oceans, <laugh>, and what things that get into the oceans can actually do to life and the water and, and how those changes manifest themselves. There is a combined solution there. That will help us down the pathway. And so the grand challenges are really about how do we catalyze that?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (26:22):

Yeah. Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (26:23):

Catalyze an environment where you all will just go somewhere and sit down and start to engage one another. Because my philosophy is with your knowledge base, you'll come up with an idea if, you know, if we try this, maybe we can solve that problem. And that's the hope. That is the thing that I believe we can bring to bear on a problem. You know, we talk a lot about diversity here at �鶹��Ƶ, and it gets used in only one way. People forget that we have people here who see physical phenomena very, very differently in terms of what's happening in our, you know, there's a diversity of thought there, right. That if you take somebody who's on this side, you take someone who's on this other side here who are both looking literally at the same mass. <laugh> You're looking at the ocean, you're just looking at it from a different vantage point. I wonder if bringing those entities together somehow can create solutions that actually have the possibility of saving the planet. Or really, I mean, advancing the planet.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (27:28):

Yeah, I think that's a very inspiring perspective, because again, yeah, of course we're in the age that diversity gets a negative connotation, but I think that we are, as a university, we're, we're sort of living proof that it's not just about diversity of political, you know, ideology or, or diversity of race or ethnicity. Right. It is about diversity, of knowledge, about diversity of expertise. It's about diversity of perspective. Right. And background, and experience. Right. And, and like, that's what makes a university great, I think, is having that diversity of perspective, experience, knowledge, um, regardless of whims of politics, right. That are sort of leading us to being a unique kind of place that ideas can come together and solutions can come together. And I like, you know, again, the perspective of Right. This coffee grounds idea. Right. I mean, you would hope that that's not gonna be a controversial or politically touchy subject. Right. That seems like a very common sense solution. I think things like that are, are a way of building consensus where you can get everybody on the same page that, that don't necessarily get people riled up about certain political affiliations and things like that.

President Gregory Washington (28:39):

That's exactly right. Well, I, I believe that's a big part of academia's prospect of solutions to the, to, to the planet. We can bring that to the fold. And we can do it in ways in which other places can't.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (28:53):

Right.

President Gregory Washington (28:54):

So you clearly have a passion for talking about Earth's history and the uniqueness of our planet. So, so talk to me how you are engaging our students with that and, you know, the classroom is one thing, right. But beyond that.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (29:11):

Yeah, that's a great question. As you said, I'm very passionate about sharing kind of the wonders and incredible uniqueness of our planet with students and with the general public. You know, I bring that to the classroom. I've, I've taught many sections of introductory historical geology where I'm, you know, in front of 150 freshmen where 95% of them are computer science majors. Right. And I start by saying, regardless of where we're from, what we're studying, everything that potentially divides us, we literally all have one thing in common. We all live on planet Earth, and we are all citizens of this planet, and it will benefit us to know something about how this planet works, what maintains the habitability and, and our ability to live on this planet. Right. So I tell 'em, you know, I'm not expecting you to devote your life to this or become a geology major, but we're here for two and a half hours a week. Right. Just give me a chance to.

President Gregory Washington (30:08):

No, I hear you <laugh>

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (30:09):

Just give me a chance. Put whatever, you know, sort of preconceived notions you have aside, come here with an open mind for two and a half hours a week, and I promise you, you will learn something fascinating and you will not be disappointed. Right. That's like my sort of contract at the beginning. I'm kind of like, just, you know, you're breathing air right now. You drank water this morning. Right. Think about all of the things that allow you to have this life. They all come from our planet. Right. So just humor me. Right. Two and a half hours a week, come with an open mind, ready to learn, and--

President Gregory Washington (30:41):

Well, you should, you should tell 'em. Look, the reality is, is you both have to deal with silica.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (30:47):

Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (30:47):

For you, it's sand <laugh>,

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (30:49):

Right.

President Gregory Washington (30:49):

For them it's chips.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (30:50):

Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah, of course. There's all those connections too, right? Yeah. And it's like, so I do, you know, I, of course, I, I do that and I'm teaching an upper level course about sort of reading sedimentary rocks and the history that they can tell us about our planet. But I'm involved in a lot of other, other outreach activities. I'm working with, uh, local high schools. Um, one of the things that I think is also pretty amazing is that in this area where we kind of live in the suburbs and in a little bit more of an urban environment in Washington, DC our everyday lives are not as connected to nature. Right. And I think there's a great benefit beyond, of course, the scientific aspect to feeling more connected with the Earth, feeling more connected to nature. A lot of what draws people to geology is spending time outside.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (31:33):

Right. And traveling to, and exploring new places. So I'm very passionate about taking students in the field. We've developed, uh, spring break field trips in our department where we've gone to Death Valley, California and Utah with 20 plus students from our department. Um, I always take students on field trips in my upper level courses. And I'm doing a series of field trips for high school outreach as well as part of some of my NSF funded projects. So I think there's like, also getting people out in nature, it, it sort of fosters that appreciation more. Um, and fosters, you know, maybe just a thought in their mind, right. Even if they're not geologists are gonna go onto that to, wow, this is something special that we should care about. That kind of thing.

President Gregory Washington (32:14):

Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, so what's the key to communicating some pretty heavy science to students who don't have a deep background or may not even be in science at all? Not even a computer sciences. I'm talking--

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (32:25):

Absolutely.

President Gregory Washington (32:26):

--someone in humanities.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (32:27):

Right, right. Right. Yeah. I think, um, you know, one of the, one of the fascinating things...

President Gregory Washington (32:30):

Do those same arguments work?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (32:32):

You know, I think they can, and I think one of the fascinating things about geology, it's very interesting in that like, even though I've, I've dedicated my career to science, I'm also somebody that's very passionate about the humanities and passionate about art and literature and things like that. And geology is a really special science. 'cause it's very, it's kind of based on storytelling in a way, right? We kind of tell stories about the geological past, and in a way, like, our planet's history is one of the greatest stories ever told it. It's a, it's a crazy story with twists and turns, right? And like unexpected developments, right? We've got major mass extinctions and great ice ages, right. And big meteorite impacts and volcanic eruptions. And so there's that component of telling a very compelling story. I think that is very appealing to somebody from the humanities that you can get from geology that you may not get from physics or chemistry, for example. Right? So I think that I try and engage them on that perspective when we sort of get to the part of telling the story, I'm sort of like, all right, sit back and enjoy, you know, this story that I'm gonna tell you that's just, this is really compelling story. So I think there's a component of that in geology, which is appealing to everybody, right. That, that wants to listen to a good story with a lot of twists and turns, right?

President Gregory Washington (33:47):

No, it's a great story. Yeah. I hear you. So as we wrap up here, let's get philosophical for a moment.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (33:53):

Okay. <laugh>

President Gregory Washington (33:53):

I mean, really philosophical, right? So you study the origins of Earth and life on this planet.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (34:00):

Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative>.

President Gregory Washington (34:00):

How has it affected how you think about life in general and what it all means?

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (34:05):

Yeah. I think for me that one of the things that geology gives us perspective on is time. Um, which is different, right? It was sort of like, you know, Copernicus told us that Earth is not the center of the universe and we're just one speck that's sort of circling around, right? So it kind of puts us in a perspective what geology does that with respect to time. We may have a thought that, you know, oh my God, what happened in the 1800s is so long ago, and then you put this perspective of 4.5 billion years. And it's like, it also puts us in sort of perspective of that we are only sort of a speck in time. Right? And I think that they, you know, that some people might see that as sort of diminishing the role of humans, but to me, that makes me all the more thankful to be here in this moment and be able to, you know, because you talked about how how many planets are out there that can't support complex life.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (34:58):

Right? So I feel so thankful to, to be alive in this moment where we have this incredible planet, you know, that is sustaining our life and, right, and giving us, giving us, uh, the chance to, to pursue all of the things that life has to offer. Right. So I think that geology really can give you a perspective on just how thankful we should be to be in this moment, and how many things had to have happened, right, over the millions and billions of years to reach this moment where we've got an atmosphere full of oxygen. We've got a planet full of water. We've got these beautiful landscapes that sustain us. That's pretty special that we have that and we're alive in this moment.

President Gregory Washington (35:41):

Wow. That's amazing. That <laugh> gets about as good of an outro.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (35:46):

<laugh>.

President Gregory Washington (35:46):

As I could have asked for.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau (35:48):

Well, thank you President <laugh>. Thank you, President Washington.

President Gregory Washington (35:51):

Well, we're gonna have to leave it there. Geoffrey, thank you for joining us to talk about the mysteries and the histories of the planet we call home. I am George �鶹��Ƶ President Gregory Washington, and thank you for listening. And tune in next time for more conversations that show why we are All Together Different.

Outro (36:15):

If you like what you heard on this podcast, go to podcast.gmu.edu for more of Gregory Washington's conversations with the thought leaders, experts, and educators who take on the grand challenges facing our students graduates, and higher education. That's podcast.gmu.edu.

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Fall 2025 Peace Week focuses on bridging peacebuilding, development, and security

Colleen Rich — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:57:49 +0000

Fall 2025 Peace Week focuses on bridging peacebuilding, development, and security Colleen Rich Wed, 09/17/2025 - 13:57

Beginning Monday, September 22, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at �鶹��Ƶ hosts its Fall 2025 Peace Week under the theme “Bridging Peacebuilding, Development, and Security.” This semi-annual series, launched in Fall 2020 around the International Day of Peace on September 21, now draws thousands of participants to more than 30 in-person and virtual events each semester.

George �鶹��Ƶ community members attend "Building Meaningful Dialogue about the War in Gaza" during the Fall 2024 Peace Week. Photo provided

This year’s program features seminars, interactive workshops, guest lectures, and discussions on urgent global and local challenges. Highlights include “Cyprus Peacebuilding Project in Collaboration with Rotary,” “San Paco in Colombia: From Pain to Hope, Art and Culture that Transforms Life,” “Addressing Domestic Extremism and Fostering Dialogue Over Division,” “Harnessing Technology for Peacebuilding,” the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 Hub: Advancing Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, and the return of the popular fireside chat “S'more Peace, Please!”

The keynote event, “From Hiroshima to Hope: A Call for a Nuclear Arms-Free World,” will be held Monday, September 22, at 5 p.m. Marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the evening will explore the legacy of nuclear weapons and the enduring power of peace. The program also features the Hiroshima Children’s Drawings and the acclaimed documentary Pictures from a Hiroshima Schoolyard. Special guests include Nobel Peace Laureate Ira Helfand and renowned historian and author Vincent Intend.

Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem reflected on the significance of the program.

Students perform at "Fostering Mutual Understanding Between International and Domestic Students at �鶹��Ƶ Community" during the Fall 2024 Peace Week. Photo by the Office of University Branding

“As we mark 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, we are reminded not only of the immense human cost of nuclear weapons but also of our collective responsibility to prevent such devastation from ever happening again. This Peace Week program blends art, remembrance, and dialogue to highlight how conflict resolution and public engagement can reduce the risks of nuclear weapons. We cannot afford complacency; it is through public awareness, creative collaboration, and determined diplomacy that we can move toward a world where nuclear weapons no longer threaten our shared future.”

All Peace Week events are free and open to the public, but registration is required. For a full schedule and to register, visit the Peace Week site.

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