What if your body is quietly guiding your food choices in ways you don’t even realize?

Jeff Brunstrom is a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol, where he studies how our brains, behavior, and environment shape the way we eat.

His research suggests that we’re not just passively consuming food, we may have “nutritional intelligence,” where our bodies push us toward certain foods to meet our needs. But in today’s world of ultra-processed meals, that system can be disrupted, leading us to eat more without realizing why.

Why is brain cancer so hard to treat, and what if the brain itself is helping it spread? 

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, not because it forms a single tumor, but because it spreads like invisible threads throughout the brain, making it nearly impossible to remove completely. 

Dr. Sheila Singh is a Professor of Neuro-Oncology and Neurosurgery at King’s College London, Co-Head of the School of Cancer (with Pharmaceutical Sciences), and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, while also serving as a part-time Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry at McMaster University. Her research uncovers how brain cells may actually be helping cancer grow and spread, and how existing drugs could be repurposed to stop it.

Every year, researchers publish discoveries that could improve our lives, from health to technology to public policy. But much of that work never reaches the people who could benefit from it. It stays behind paywalls, written in technical language, and shared mostly within academic circles.

Dr. Quan Xie is an associate professor of digital advertising at Southern Methodist University. Her research explores how scholars can better share their work using storytelling, digital platforms, and tools like AI to bring research beyond the journal and into the real world.

How do you know if you have a genetic condition that increases your risk of certain types of cancer? 

For people with inherited conditions like Lynch syndrome, the risk of cancer is much higher, yet most don’t even know they have it. 

Dr. Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez is a physician-scientist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, working on new ways to stop cancer early, including a vaccine designed to train the immune system to recognize and fight it. 

Newswise’s Jessica Johnson shares highlights from a recent trip visiting communications teams and researchers across universities in the southeastern United States.

Below are some of the research stories featured in this episode.

• ARPA-H PRINT Program Supports WFIRM-Led Award to Create on-Demand, Bioprinted Kidneys, Published by Wake Forest University
• How Studying Yeast in the Gut Could Lead to Better Drugs, Published by North Carolina State University
• How health risk communication best practices can improve community flood risk communication, Published by RTI International
• Healthy habits can make your brain age more slowly, study finds, Published by University of Florida
• New FAU Research Strengthens Evidence Linking Alcohol Use to Cancer, Published by Florida Atlantic University
• Efficacy of Service Dogs with Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Community Reintegration, Published by Nova Southeastern University
• The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Selected as U.S. Site for Neuralink Clinical Trial, Published by University of Miami – Miller School of Medicine

New Study Could Show How TikTok’s Algorithm Affects Youth Mental Health, Published by Georgia Tech

February brought a wide range of compelling research stories from universities across the country. From the University of Utah’s powerful study, “Banning Lead in Gas Worked. The Proof Is in Our Hair,” to the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine’s findings in “Pink Noise Reduces REM Sleep and May Harm Sleep Quality,” scientists are uncovering insights that directly impact our daily lives.

We also saw Binghamton University, SUNY publish “Record-Breaking Antarctic Drill Reveals 23 Million Years of Climate History,” the University of Nebraska–Lincoln explore business strategy in “Research Shows Companies Can Gain Advantage by Prioritizing Customer Privacy,” and Johns Hopkins Medicine report on long-term brain health in “Cognitive Speed Training Linked to Lower Dementia Incidence Up to 20 Years Later.”

Let’s take a closer look at what made these stories stand out this month.

Jeff Grabmeier who recently retired as the Senior Director of Research Communications at Ohio State University. Jeff spent decades working to help turn complex research into stories that informed and connected with the media and public readers. 

Jeff is a goldmine of information and knowledge about research communications. But also, he has changed the lives of many researchers through his amazing communications efforts. If you are a researcher, scholar, or leader in higher education, Jeff is the type of person you want to be close by. 

Luca Ziegler, PhD Candidate at West Virginia University and Mental Performance Consultant, studies how psychological flexibility helps athletes and performers succeed under pressure.

Everyone tells athletes and performers to “stay calm under pressure.” But what if the secret to peak performance isn’t staying calm at all? High-stakes moments, from championship games to career-defining opportunities, don’t just test skill. They test how well we handle pressure.

In this episode, Ziegler explains how psychological flexibility, staying open, aware, and in control during stressful moments, can help athletes reach flow and clutch states when it matters most, offering insights that apply not only to sports but to high-pressure situations in everyday life.

Dr. Bruce Stamos, Orthopedic Surgeon and Sports Medicine Specialist at Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center, treats athletic injuries and studies how players recover and stay on the field during high-stakes competition.

The Super Bowl isn’t just a battle of talent, it’s also a test of endurance and physical resilience. By the end of the season, many players are dealing with fatigue, lingering injuries, and the constant risk that one sudden movement, like an ACL tear, could change the course of the game.

In this episode, Dr. Stamos pulls back the curtain on what professional athletes are dealing with behind the scenes, explaining how medical teams manage injuries, monitor recovery, and make strategic decisions to keep players performing at the highest level.

Dr. Danielle Dick, Director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center and Professor at Rutgers University, studies how genetics and environment interact to influence substance use and addiction across the lifespan.

Most people will encounter alcohol or other substances at some point in their lives. For many, that use remains occasional and manageable. For others, it becomes something far more disruptive. Understanding why substance use leads to severe challenges for some but not for most has become a central question in addiction research.

In this episode, Dr. Dick explains how the answer may lie in the complex interaction between our genes and our environments, unfolding from childhood into adulthood. By identifying genetic risk factors and tracing how they influence mental health and addiction outcomes, researchers hope to develop better strategies for prevention, early intervention, and treatment.