Research

Technical assistance grant supports early childhood teachers throughout Virginia

Sarah Holland — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 19:39:48 +0000

Technical assistance grant supports early childhood teachers throughout Virginia Sarah Holland Wed, 07/30/2025 - 15:39

The first few years of a child’s life are some of their most important. Those years, full of learning, exploring, and growing, can shape their future for decades to come. It’s critical, then, that early childhood educators have access to the necessary tools to help children succeed at the early stages of their development, including young children with delays and disabilities.

Christan Coogle, associate professor of special education in �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Education and Human Development and principal investigator of the Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC), is hoping to expand and improve the toolboxes of teachers across Virginia to better support students with delays and disabilities.

Christan Coogle. Photo by Office of University Branding

“There’s an increased need for resources and support in settings in which 2-5 year olds receive their education, particularly related to inclusion of children with delays and disabilities and how to best promote their development through effective interactions and practices,” said Coogle. The number of children with delays and disabilities continues to rise, and birth to five is a “critical window of opportunity” to alter and enhance their developmental trajectory, as well as their everyday interactions with peers, family members, and educators.

Within this window, evidence-based practices—practices with demonstrated effectiveness through rigorous research methods and replication across studies and research teams—are critical. “We know children cannot benefit from evidence-based practices they do not receive. The earlier we can reach children with delays and disabilities and their families, the better outcomes they have,” Coogle explained.

With support from associate director Amber Gant, and coordinators Jacqueline Kilkeary, Alexandra Morris, and Kate Welsh, the TTAC team is bridging the gap between research and practice for educators in the field and building state capacity through differentiated supports which are responsive to school districts’ specific preferences and needs. These include resource banks, professional development sessions, and coming alongside administrators and educators to deliver and facilitate coaching. They have received more than $600,000 in funding from Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) since the program began in 2024-25.

This year, Coogle and her team organized a new method of support. Partnering with early childhood leaders within the VDOE, TTAC delivered three conferences for early childhood educators, hosted in Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, and Roanoke. Attendees included teachers, therapists, administrators, and representatives from VDOE. “This is an opportunity to come together and hear from one another with a commitment to learning from and growing together and disseminating information to the local communities in which we all serve," said Coogle

All of this comes together to help create more inclusive classrooms—as defined by the Commonwealth of Virginia's guide to inclusion—that are supportive of students across a spectrum of ability and development. Through this project, educators have access to quality support whose efficacy and fidelity are backed by data and whose implementation is supported by policy.

“Having a framework in which state agencies, practitioners, and institutes of higher education partner together to reach a common goal is something unique about Virginia,” Coogle said. “Educators, faculty, and administrators often say, ‘we want to do inclusion, but how do we do inclusion.’ This partnership provides a system of support to increasing knowledge, supporting the transition of knowledge to practice, and delivering evidence-based practices.”

George �鶹��Ƶ, Coogle said, is particularly well-positioned to support this work. And this work is part of the university's commitment to advancing 21st-century education for all, as part of the Grand Challenge Initiative.

“That’s one thing I really love about technical assistance work,” said Coogle. “It really is a model of a state agency like VDOE partnering with not only practitioners and educators, but also institutions of higher education to work together to meet a common goal, which is ultimately to increase inclusion and enhance outcomes for young children with disabilities and delays.”

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Engineering better vision: George �鶹��Ƶ professors lead $1.17M NIH project

Martha Bushong — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 19:12:10 +0000

Engineering better vision: George �鶹��Ƶ professors lead $1.17M NIH project Martha Bushong Wed, 07/30/2025 - 15:12

In This Story

Ningshi Yao

Quentin Sanders

Qi Wei

Understanding and treating complex eye movement disorders like strabismus has long been a challenge for clinicians. Now, researchers at �鶹��Ƶ are pioneering a new approach using robotics and artificial intelligence to engineer a better future for vision care.

Ningshi Yao, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been awarded a prestigious $1.17 million R01 grant to lead a groundbreaking four-year project. The award comes from the joint National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) "Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science (SCH)" program.

The funded project, "Study Coordinated Human Eye Movement and Strabismus Using a Novel Artificial Muscle-Driven Robotic Eyes," will be conducted in collaboration with co-investigators Qi Wei and Quentin Sanders from George �鶹��Ƶ’s Department of Bioengineering and consultant Joseph Demer in the Stein Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

From leftt: Qi Wei (Bioengineering Department), Ningshi Yao (Electrical and Computer Engineering Department), and Quentin Sanders (Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering Departments). Photo provided

At the core of the research is the creation of robotic eyes powered by artificial muscles that replicate the precise, coordinated movements of human eyes. “Strabismus affects more than 18 million Americans, yet current treatments often fall short, with success rates ranging from 30 to 80%,” said Yao. “Our goal is to use robotic systems and artificial intelligence to better understand how the eyes work—and ultimately improve how we diagnose and treat these disorders.”

The research team will build robotic eyes that closely mimic human biomechanics and use them as tools to study the underlying causes of strabismus. These systems will allow for a level of control and repeatability not possible in human subjects, offering a unique window into how eye muscles and connective tissues—especially the so-called “pulleys”—work together to guide vision.

To make the robotic system truly intelligent, the project will also apply reinforcement learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to discover how humans naturally control eye movements. By training the robots with real patient data and expert-informed objectives, the team hopes to reverse-engineer the strategies humans use—leading to better understanding and new treatment pathways.

In the final phase of the project, the team will integrate patient-specific data into the robotic system to simulate different surgical outcomes. This will allow ophthalmologists to test and refine treatment strategies before operating, increasing precision and improving long-term results.

The project’s impact extends beyond eye health. The robotic muscle actuators and control models developed here could advance robotics, AI, biomechanics, and even the design of soft, adaptive machines.

In addition to scientific discoveries, the research team will build educational tools and training platforms using the robotic eyes, helping to prepare the next generation of vision specialists.

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George �鶹��Ƶ partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members

Shayla Brown — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:39:16 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members  Shayla Brown Mon, 07/28/2025 - 13:39

There are currently more than 80,000 unaccounted-for service members from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and other conflicts. �鶹��Ƶ’s ongoing collaboration with the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is exploring new ways of locating the missing remains of those American service members and bringing closure to their families. 

This partnership, which began December 2020, is finding success, and deeper meaning, as it extends beyond the classroom to the grieving families of prisoners of war (POWs) and missing soldiers, and it showcases George �鶹��Ƶ’s commitment to being a veteran-serving institution.   

John C. Winters, MA History ’13, is a DPAA postdoctoral research fellow at George �鶹��Ƶ’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) whose research includes war, diplomacy, and the 19th and 20th centuries. 

John C. Winters. Photo provided.

“I’ve previously worked on cemetery projects, and my responsibilities were to essentially help not only map the cemetery as it stood, but to identify places where people were not cataloged properly, or were forgotten over time,” said Winters, who has been a fellow at the center since January 2025.  

Winters is also working with the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine with the goal of supporting and expanding a wide range of DPAA operations, from initial case development to field mission planning. 

“The advantage of conducting research at the Center for History and New Media is that the people there are experts in using intricate digital mapping tools. It's really wonderful to see that faculty, as well as graduate students, are so comfortable using these tools to make their research accessible,” said Winters. 

Digital mapping is a critical tool for the agency’s mission as it helps researchers visualize where someone was lost and supports investigation and excavation proposals.   

George �鶹��Ƶ has access to ArcGIS Pro, the mapping program that Winters is currently using to track missing or unidentified soldiers.  

“ArcGIS is a really dynamic program. There are a lot of facets to it including a base-level digital cemetery mapping, and the ability to create informational and visually engaging maps. They're accurate and concise, and they deliver all the information at a glance,” said Winters, who earned his PhD in history from the City University of New York in 2020. 

Jesse Stephen, chief of innovation at Defense POW/MIA accounting agency, said their mission has two goals: to search for, locate, recover, and identify missing-in-action personnel, and to communicate. 

Jesse Stephen. Photo provided.

“These projects are multidimensional and address active casework. They also tell the story of a conflict and of our missing individuals,” said Stephen. “That involves going back into archives and looking for information about a particular case or campaign. It's organizing, reviewing, and analyzing that information we find, and then putting all these different pieces together to build a case.”  

Over the course of the partnership, DPAA has learned more about more than 3,000 unaccounted-for losses. George �鶹��Ƶ Fellows have reviewed more than 1,000 deceased personnel files of people who served alongside the unaccounted-for. 

Throughout the process, DPAA staff, Service Casualty Offices, and family members meet and review the specifics of a loss. Documentation, including maps, is shared with family members, who can see where the last-known sighting of their loved one happened. 

The partnership also employs George �鶹��Ƶ students as interns and to date has given nine interns real-world experience in managing data, giving presentations, and project management. Beyond service to students, research partner fellows are encouraged to give presentations at museums and other venues on the mission and how unaccounted-for are found.  

“These were people who gave their lives while fighting to protect democracy, so I see the important work I’m doing at George �鶹��Ƶ as a public service and it’s relevant to a very large body of veterans in the Northern Virginia area,” said Winters. 

Currently, more than 150 Virginian service members are unaccounted for. 

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George �鶹��Ƶ PhD champions coral reef conservation through research and mentorship

Katarina Benson — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:36:41 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ PhD champions coral reef conservation through research and mentorship Katarina Benson Thu, 07/24/2025 - 14:36

As a doctoral student at �鶹��Ƶ, Jordan Sims has spent the past several years immersed, literally and figuratively, in the underwater ecosystems of Honduras, where her research is helping solve real-world challenges in coral reef conservation.

Jordan Sims working with coral samples in the lab. Photo provided

As a marine microbial ecologist, Sims studied the invisible world of microbes living in and around coral reefs, exploring how these tiny organisms influence the health of one of the most vulnerable ecosystems on Earth. Much of Sims’s dissertation work involved coral settlement to help conservationists improve restoration techniques. She also investigated genotyping corals in restoration programs to ensure their genetic diversity supports long-term survival.

“It’s good science, and it’s important science,” said Sims, who graduated with a PhD in Environmental Science and Public Policy in May. “But it’s also applicable science. That was really fulfilling to me in my dissertation.”

Sims’s connection to Honduras came about through George �鶹��Ƶ’s SCUBA Club. The club had taken students to Honduras for years, building strong relationships with local researchers and conservationists. When Sims joined the club as a PhD student, a single trip turned into an ongoing collaboration.

“I got to go on a trip and build those relationships, and then I continued working with them independently,” she said.

With her advisor, Environmental Science and Policy professor Jennifer Salerno, Sims nurtured those partnerships beyond the initial group trips, returning to Honduras on her own to work with the Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences, where she mentored undergraduate interns involved in reef research.

Collecting reef samples in Honduras. Photo provided

Sims shared that one of her most memorable experiences at George �鶹��Ƶ was mentoring a student through the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, offered by the university’s Office of Student Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR). The student developed a passion for reef work during a field trip to Honduras, later joined Sims on a research project, and ultimately returned to George �鶹��Ƶ to pursue a master’s degree. “Watching that journey unfold was incredibly meaningful,” Sims said. “Being part of someone discovering their path was deeply rewarding.”

Sims earned her bachelor’s degree at Rice University, where she first developed an interest in marine biology and coral reefs. When considering graduate programs, she knew she wanted a PhD that combined science with policy. “In coral reef science, applied work is so important,” she explained. “Corals are dying, and we have such limited resources, so everything we do should contribute to the bigger picture.”

In 2022, Sims was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which she credits as a turning point in her academic career. After spending two years as a teaching assistant, the NSF support allowed her to shift to a research assistantship. “I was able to focus fully on my research, and I like to think I helped the reefs more because of that.”

Now, Sims is preparing to take the next step in her career: a postdoctoral position at the University of California, Berkeley. “I love doing research. I love mentoring students,” she said. “So, I’m looking for a place where I can be very hands-on with the reef but also help bring up the next generation of scientists.”

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I-Corps in 3D: Streaming toward better telehealth

Nathan Kahl — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 14:19:57 +0000

I-Corps in 3D: Streaming toward better telehealth Nathan Kahl Thu, 07/17/2025 - 10:19

In This Story

Bo Han

A team in �鶹��Ƶ’s Computer Science Department is taking part in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) I-Corps program to study the effectiveness of 3D streaming in telehealth environments.

Bo Han, an associate professor of computer science and expert in computer networks and security and privacy, received $50,000 for his project, Translation Potential of Next Generation Telepresence Enriched by Immersive Technologies. Nan Wu, the entrepreneurial lead on the team, said, “The idea is to build a system for immersive telepresence over the internet. It’s essentially a 3D video stream but the technical improvement is how it saves bandwidth by using user-motion prediction and content sampling, improving the quality of the experience.”

3D telehealth services may help remote patients in urgent need of care. iStock photo.

Wu explained that the technical adjustment is made based on the receiver’s movements. “Since I’m looking at the front side of you, the streaming only needs to send me the front side, not the back. I don’t need to see all around you, even though it’s 3D. Moreover, when you’re farther away, a lower-resolution stream is enough since I won’t notice the difference. And if you’re hidden behind other content, there’s no need in sending what I can’t see.”

I-Corps is, according to the NSF website, “an immersive, entrepreneurial training program that facilitates the transformation of invention to impact. This seven-week experiential training program prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the university laboratory—accelerating the economic and societal benefits of NSF-funded and other basic research projects that are ready to move toward commercialization.”

Since the program began in 2012, I-Corps has ushered 2,500 teams, and nearly 1,400 of them launched startups that cumulatively raised $3.16 billion in subsequent funding.

A portion of the I-Corps mentoring is devoted to customer discovery. Teams must interview at least 100 potential customers to determine market interest. According to Wu, the team didn’t find a robust market for using the technology the way they initially envisioned because staff shortages is the biggest pain point in the field, not technical shortcomings. “We thought nurses could monitor patients in 3D and save time, but there are many AI tools already doing that, monitoring 40 patients at once,” he said.

Wu said they’ve shifted to using the technology emergency situations, believing the tools will be useful in high-pressure trauma care or emergency cases. “We are thinking of a situation where there is a remote expert connected to a patient in a rural area, for example, where there is no expert on site.” Wu said that more interviews are needed to determine the market demand for such use.

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Telehealth

I-Corps

National Science Foundation

immersive technologies

Research

Are there upsides to “overboarding”?

Nilesh Patel — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:13:26 +0000

Are there upsides to “overboarding”? Nilesh Patel Mon, 07/14/2025 - 13:13

In This Story

Sebahattin Demirkan

How many board seats is too many for one director? That’s the question on many investors’ minds, as they confront the possibility of “overboarding”—directors being spread too thin to do their work effectively. BlackRock, for example, voted to oust one of Twitter’s board members in 2022 because he sat on the boards of six other companies.

However, new research from Sebahattin Demirkan, associate professor of accounting in the Costello College of Business at �鶹��Ƶ, suggests there may be upsides to board directors holding multiple seats at the same time. His paper in Asian Review of Accounting finds that deeply networked boards are more flexible and creative when it comes to a key competitive area: open-ended strategic alliances.

The paper’s co-authors are Robert Felix of The Catholic University of America and Nan Zhou of University of Cincinnati.

The researchers used a metric called “board centrality” to quantify the total social capital held by a company’s board of directors.

“Centralized directors are leaders who have been in the industry a long time,” says Demirkan. “They sit on multiple boards. And they are deeply connected within an industry, such as if Nvidia and Intel have a relationship and that person is working as a board member for both.”

The researchers used the SDC strategic alliances database to capture new alliances formed during the period 1998-2011. Their data-set comprised 18,412 firm-year observations.

First, they divided the alliances into joint ventures and incomplete contracts. Joint ventures, which involve setting up an entirely separate business entity, entail much less complexity and uncertainty than do contractual alliances, which by definition cannot account for all the surprising challenges that may lie ahead. The paper finds that centralized boards were more likely to embark upon both types of strategic alliances, but the effect was strongest for contractual alliances.

Demirkan stresses that the two types aren’t mutually exclusive; a contractual alliance can be a precursor to a successful joint venture. “I always use marriage as a comparison…Some cultures do arranged marriage because families know each other very well, because they were neighbours and so on and so forth. It’s trial and error but you don’t want to make too many errors because these arrangements may hurt your parent company business. That’s where board capital comes in. Centralized board members know which strategic alliances will work for this particular company.”

Further, centralized boards took on more strategic alliances when their CEOs were relatively new, underscoring boards’ customary advisory role. Similarly, diversified firms, which normally require more guidance from the board, saw a stronger relationship between board capital and propensity for strategic alliances. The same was true of firms with more intangible assets—in other words, innovative companies engaging in heavy R&D.

The researchers also looked into whether the enhanced alliance activity paid off for these firms. Their analysis confirmed that the special ability of centralized boards to form successful strategic alliances was associated with higher market performance, steadier returns and lower audit fees.

This strikes an interesting contrast with some of Demirkan’s earlier publications on similar topics. For example, a 2014 paper in Journal of Business Research found that firms with contractual alliances suffered from lower earnings quality, making them a riskier bet for investors. A 2016 paper in Contemporary Accounting Research linked contractual alliances to higher audit fees.

“The market doesn’t like companies with contractual alliances,” Demirkan says. “It discounts their stock prices, because the information environment is not good; it’s quite complex and the boundaries are not well defined.”

However, the new paper indicates that centralized boards act as a reassuring signal to capital markets that offsets some of the inherent risk of contractual alliances. “Boards with high social capital may manage this better, because they are much more knowledgeable,” Demirkan says. “They know which contractual alliances are good, and the market also trusts them to pick these alliances wisely.”

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Research

George �鶹��Ƶ educators improve middle school mathematics education with data-driven decisions

Sarah Holland — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:50:36 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ educators improve middle school mathematics education with data-driven decisions Sarah Holland Fri, 07/11/2025 - 16:50

Education is an ever-evolving field. With each new cohort of students, teachers must adapt to different learning preferences and needs. And at �鶹��Ƶ, researchers are developing tools and techniques to support K-12 educators and improve student outcomes.

Associate Professor Courtney Baker, MEd Curriculum and Instruction ’08, PhD in Education with a mathematics education leadership concentration ’14, specializes in mathematics education and teacher development. Her current research, initially supported by a seed grant from the College of Education and Human Development, focuses on mathematics specialists in K-12 schools and how they can best support student learning.

“It’s hard to study what’s happening with math specialists because it’s a complex phenomenon,” Baker said. Not only do their roles vary greatly from school to school, person to person; they interact with and influence both teachers and students in unique ways. “You have to understand the ecosystem.”

For the past three years, Baker has worked with Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) in Maryland to study the role of math specialists in middle school mathematics education. With four middle schools, FCPS offers a rich and diverse context for research, with math specialists bringing a wide range of experiences and fulfilling varied roles across the district.

Varier (top center) and Baker (top right) present their most recent findings to FCPS. Photo provided.

There’s history there, too. Deb Crawford, MEd Education Leadership ’92, and PhD in Education with a mathematics education leadership concentration ’15, secondary mathematics coordinator for FCPS, was in the same PhD cohort as Baker and has worked with George �鶹��Ƶ researchers on numerous other projects.

“When we first discussed the project in June 2022, our math scores weren’t where we wanted them to be,” said Crawford. “We saw this as an opportunity for growth.”

To conduct the study, Crawford and Baker recruited Divya Varier, George �鶹��Ƶ associate professor of educational psychology and research methodology, and Johnna Bolyard, PhD Education ’06, associate director of the School of Education at West Virginia University. Varier is a mixed method researcher, using both qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate how educational programs work. Bolyard served as a consultant and collaborator on the project.

For this project, they utilized surveys and interviews with teachers, math specialists, and administrators in Frederick County’s four middle schools, as well as conducted frequent data reviews to discuss their findings.

“We want to be as close to the study context as possible,” said Varier. “In research practice partnerships, that's the expectation.”

“They are very embedded in the culture of the school division,” said Crawford.

In large systems like a school district, or even a school itself , multiple factors contribute to student outcomes. Understanding context, then, is necessary in order to shape the course of the research. After an investigative first year speaking with leadership, administrators, and teachers, the team decided to narrow their research to the assessment methods used to track student comprehension and progress through the curriculum: from exit tickets to quick in-the-moment knowledge checks that provide teachers with a better sense day-to-day, minute-to-minute of how students are learning.

And because of their findings, FCPS is making changes. They committed resources to hiring dedicated math specialists for each school after the data showed improvement in student outcomes as a result. Additionally, some assessment tools have been discontinued after the results showed that the tools were not providing teachers or students with what they needed. And the data compiled throughout this project has been used to update the schools’ Comprehensive School Improvement Plans.

Baker (left) and Crawford pose with their Program That Works plaque. Photo provided.

"All of this goes toward helping students have rich, relevant, and rigorous mathematics experiences to help prepare them for the future,” said Baker.

As a testament to their dedicated and sustained work, the program was named a 2025 “Program That Works” by the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition. Their work is an example of how George �鶹��Ƶ is transforming education to break barriers and to create inclusive and accessible learning opportunities for the workforce of the future, empowering communities worldwide.

“Ultimately, I want members of the school community to recognize their own agency and feel empowered to contribute to research-based, data-informed decisions,” said Baker. “My hope is that they see their ability to help shift the status quo in meaningful and positive ways.”

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When the mosquitos bite, the Biomedical Research Lab bites back

Sarah Holland — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 19:45:51 +0000

When the mosquitos bite, the Biomedical Research Lab bites back Sarah Holland Thu, 07/03/2025 - 15:45

It’s summer, and with those longer days come backyard cookouts, outdoor activities and—ouch!—bug bites. Mosquitoes love Northern Virginia’s infamous hot and humid summers. And as the world’s deadliest animal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they’re more than just a nuisance at the family barbeque: They’re a health hazard.

Farhang Alem. Photo by Creative Services

But in partnership with Prince William County, �鶹��Ƶ’s Biomedical Research Laboratory (BRL) is working to prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases.

Since 2016, in response to the Zika virus outbreak, the county and the university partner each year to collect mosquito samples and test them for diseases like West Nile virus.

“West Nile is endemic in the United States, and infections can be lethal,” explained Farhang Alem, MS Biology ’15, PhD Biosciences ’19 , associate director of the BRL. Alem has led the mosquito testing program since 2019.

“Eighty percent of people will have no symptoms,” he said, “but about one in every 150 cases of West Nile is severe.” It’s a neuroinvasive disease, meaning severe cases can damage the nervous system, resulting in high mortality rates and a high likelihood of disability if survived. Even those with non-neuroinvasive West Nile virus, though most likely to make a full recovery, could experience symptoms for weeks or months.

“We want to prevent the spread as much as possible,” Alem said.

Testing season starts in late spring and runs through the fall. Each week, samples are collected at more than 60 sites across Prince William County, and the mosquitoes are sorted by species. Vector species—meaning those that carry disease—are sent to the BRL for testing. Researchers extract RNA from the mosquitos and check for the markers of West Nile virus. They then send their report to county officials. If mosquitoes are positive for West Nile virus, the county will follow their larvicide and adulticide spraying protocols to eliminate the threat at the site where the mosquitoes were trapped.

“It allows us to more precisely target areas before they become a concern for the local community,” said Eli Hosen, environmental project manager for the mosquito and forest pest management branch of Prince William County Department of Public Works. “The lab provides us with a quick turnaround so we can respond as soon as possible.”

The program has been effective, Alem said, in reducing the number of West Nile carriers in the region. "Spraying is definitely working to control the spread."

Alem is in conversation with other counties in Northern Virginia to see if there’s interest in expanding the surveillance program. The BRL is also hoping to learn best practices on mosquito trapping from Prince William County to implement in other areas of research.

George �鶹��Ƶ epidemiologist Amira Roess is looking into the possibility of a similar surveillance program in India for dengue fever, for example. And if deployed, researchers hope what they learn in India can be useful to their research here as well.

With almost 10 years’ worth of data from the ongoing testing, Alem is hoping the lab can one day look at trends in disease occurrence and correlating environmental factors.

“It's leading to new avenues of research for us,” said Alem.

Learn more about the Biomedical Research Lab

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Amira Roess, PhD, MPH

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George �鶹��Ƶ faculty member helps NASA astrobiology task force shape future goals

Colleen Rich — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:40:55 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ faculty member helps NASA astrobiology task force shape future goals Colleen Rich Wed, 07/02/2025 - 11:40

�鶹��Ƶ researcher Anamaria Berea was selected to serve on NASA's Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy (DARES) Task Force 1.

Anamaria Berea. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

This group of experts was charged with shaping the future of NASA’s astrobiology research over the following decade. As one of only 13 scientists chosen from across the United States, Berea contributed to identifying key research priorities, synthesizing community input, and guiding the development of NASA’s long-term strategy for exploring the origins, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe.

With an interdisciplinary background as a computational data scientist and artificial intelligence researcher, Berea, who is an associate professor in the Department of Computational and Data Sciences, brings a unique perspective to the task force. Most recently, she led the ASPIRE ONE Lunar Record project, a digital time capsule that preserves Earth’s cultural and scientific heritage and offers future lunar visitors a glimpse of life on Earth in the early 2020s. In March, the payload made a successful moon landing, a historic milestone for NASA’s Artemis program.

The astrobiology task force worked through more than 120 community-submitted papers to recommend nine major themes for the project. These themes, which range from detecting life on other planets to workforce and career development in astrobiology, were discussed and shared with the public at a two-day workshop in May. Phase two of the initiative will invite another task force to take these themes and compose a formalized strategy to support and advance the evolving needs of the field.

“We have rovers on Mars. We had probes on Venus to sample its atmosphere. But in the next era of space, it looks like there will be a focus on human spaceflight. And if we have humans in space, then how will this change the landscape for astrobiology research?” Berea said.

Astrobiology research has the potential to tackle some of the most profound cosmological questions humanity faces. It deeply explores the origins of life, suggesting that discovering even simple microbial life on nearby planets like Mars would fundamentally change our understanding of how life began on Earth.

These big questions capture significant attention from both the scientific community and the general public, highlighting the broad impact and importance of astrobiology research.

Read about the ASPIRE ONE Lunar Record project

Listen to the episode

Anamaria Berea joined the Access to Excellence podcast to discuss her research on Mars settlements and Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon.

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“Doing well by doing good”? There’s a framework for that

Jennifer Anzaldi — Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:38:03 +0000

“Doing well by doing good”? There’s a framework for that Jennifer Anzaldi Wed, 07/02/2025 - 11:38

In This Story

Russell Abratt

Today’s customers don’t just buy products—they buy into what a company stands for. It is no longer just low prices or flashy marketing that target the latest trends. Stakeholders are asking harder questions: Does this company treat its workers fairly? Are they harming the environment?

In a recent study published in the Journal of Brand Management, Russell Abratt, a marketing professor at the Costello College of Business at �鶹��Ƶ, tackles a key strategic challenge: How companies can move beyond shallow social and environmental messaging to meaningfully shift consumer perceptions. Joining Abratt on this research team are co-authors Emmanuel Silva Quaye of University of Witwatersrand and Nicola Kleyn of University of Pretoria.

Russell Abratt

When a brand is described as being true to themselves, holding values of fairness, a concern for society, and an obligation to goodness, it becomes what they call a conscientious corporate brand. These are brands who are trusted to do the right thing consistently and authentically.

But trust alone is not enough. Companies want to know: Does being conscientious also deliver better business outcomes?

Building on their 2023 work, which introduced a framework for developing conscientious corporate brands, the research team now offers empirical evidence that this framework not only enhances brand trust but also leads to the response companies are hoping for—responsible branding can drive tangible value.

“Firms in order to succeed these days really need to go beyond profits,” says Abratt. “You’ve got to be ethical in whatever you do. You’ve got to be socially aware. And you’ve also got to be very, very conscientious about what you are doing.”

To further investigate Abratt’s 2023 framework and understand what changes stakeholder perceptions, the researchers conducted two experiments with South African participants. Each participant was shown a scenario involving a fictional construction company: the control group highlighted traditional business goals such as efficiency and profitability, and the experimental group emphasized ethical leadership, social impact, and environmental sustainability. The results were striking.

“We saw very clearly the differences between the control group and the experimental group,” Abratt explains. Participants viewed the purpose-driven, socially engaged version of the company as significantly more conscientious, responsible, and authentic than the version focused purely on business efficiency.

Their research identified four elements in a chronological sequence that contribute to conscientious corporate branding: organizational purpose, brand authenticity, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and ethical organizational culture. These are not separate strategies; they reinforce each other.

The first element of this sequence is organizational purpose. A company must begin by defining why it exists beyond just profits. Next is authenticity. “Authenticity leads to trust,” says Abratt. “The more authentic that an organization is perceived to be, the more positive perceptions the stakeholders have.” The paper finds that authenticity acts as a bridge that connects an organization’s purpose to stakeholders’ perceptions of conscientious corporate branding.

Next is the third element: corporate social responsibility. This must be integrated, not performative. “Developing a corporate social responsibility strategy should be part of the organization’s overall strategy,” says Abratt. “It should not be seen as greenwashing, as added on and fake.”

Lastly, an ethical organizational culture is created by top leadership through example and prioritizing ethical values across the organization.

According to Abratt, “In order for a firm to say this is our purpose beyond profits, they’ve got to have a top leadership that says these are our values. This is what we stand for. Then that needs to be typicalized throughout the organization.”

So what does this mean for business leaders? It means that building a conscientious brand is no longer just a marketing strategy—it’s a business imperative. But the real challenge lies in making sure those sustainable actions resonate with consumers to ultimately result in success. Can companies do well by doing good?

Looking ahead, Abratt and his colleagues hope to expand their research to other industries and other countries or regions to test whether their results are generalizable to other contexts.

“Brands that have a purpose beyond profit are the ones that are going to be seen by stakeholders in a more positive light. And if they are seen in a more positive light, those stakeholders, especially customers, are likely to support that particular organization,” Abratt concludes.