GCI-Health

NIH R01 grant funds study of physical activity and binge eating in children

Heather Carroll — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 18:12:51 +0000

NIH R01 grant funds study of physical activity and binge eating in children Heather Carroll Mon, 09/14/2026 - 14:12

Key Takeaways

A five-year NIH R01 grant will fund 91�� researcher Tyler Mason’s study of physical activity, self-regulation, and binge eating in children.
The study will follow 200 children starting at ages 10 to 12, examining long-term changes and moment-to-moment behaviors in daily life.
The research could inform new approaches to eating disorder prevention, including whether and how physical activity could reduce the risk of losing control of eating.

Early signs of binge eating can emerge as children enter adolescence, signaling risk for eating disorders. 91�� researcher Tyler Mason is investigating whether physical activity could improve self-regulation and, in turn, reduce that risk.

Tyler Mason, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies. Photo provided.

With a five-year, R01 grant from NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, Mason will use wearable technology and other real-time assessments to study children during a pivotal developmental window, with the goal of better understanding how eating disorders develop and how to intervene earlier.

Mason, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at the College of Public Health, is leading the project with co-principal investigator Kathryn Smith, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.

“Many people overeat, but we’re focused on what is called ‘loss of control eating’—that sense that you can’t stop eating and feel like you have to continue,” Mason said. “The loss of control is the part that can be distressing and associated with eating disorders.”

Previous research has linked physical activity with improved mood and cognitive functioning, aspects of self-regulation that can influence eating behavior. “If physical activity improves aspects of self-regulation, then perhaps it could reduce overeating because of loss of control,” Mason said.

Over three years, researchers will study 200 children in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area starting at ages 10 to 12, a phase when several factors converge: puberty begins, autonomy grows in eating choices, and physical activity tends to decline while sedentary behavior increases.

The study will capture both long-term changes and moment-to-moment shifts in participants’ lives. Garmin wristbands will measure physical activity, while smartphone-based cognitive tests and real-time surveys will track self-regulation, emotions, cravings, and eating behavior. Participants will also undergo functional MRI (fMRI) scans and clinical interviews assessing eating disorder symptoms.

The approach builds on Mason’s work as director of the BREAD Lab at George Mason, short for Biobehavioral Research on Eating and Appetite Dysregulation, within the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.

With the National Institutes of Health study, Mason said the goal is to find ways to intervene earlier in problematic eating by understanding whether and how physical activity plays a role, including how its effects unfold in daily moments.

In addition to Mason and Smith, the research team for the study—titled “Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Activity and Loss of Control Eating in Children”—includes Shan Luo, Genevieve Dunton, and Megan Herting of the University of Southern California.

Thumbnail photo by golubovy via Adobe Stock

Topics

Nutrition Research

Childhood Obesity

CPH research

Childhood obesity prevention

NIH grant funding

National Institutes of Health

Research

College of Public Health

GCI-Health

Research in Motion

Katarina Benson — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:20:15 +0000

Research in Motion Katarina Benson Wed, 08/26/2026 - 12:20

At 91��, learning and research aren’t limited to the classroom or the lab. Researchers, coaches, clinicians, and students are working across disciplines as a part of the university’s Living Lab, a space where real-world questions become opportunities for discovery, innovation, and care.

Noelle Saine leads a VO2 Max test on a student-athlete. Photo by John Boal Photography

From the training facilities used by NCAA Division I student-athletes to the rehearsal studios where School of Dance students spend hours perfecting their craft, George Mason researchers are studying how bodies perform, recover, and thrive under intense physical demands. This research has an immediate impact: helping athletes avoid injury, improving recovery and sleep habits among dancers, and shaping evidence-based practices that can influence health and performance far beyond campus.

These projects reflect George Mason’s distinctive approach to research—bringing together academic expertise and hands-on practice in ways that directly benefit the health and well-being of the university community. Here, students are not only learning from research—they are living it.

Keeping Athletes in the Game

One way that George Mason’s Intercollegiate Athletics and the College of Education and Human Development keep our athletes in top form is through evidence-based practices and science in the Patriot Performance Lab.

“We’re not just a research lab,” says Margaret Jones, director of the Patriot Performance Lab. “Providing health services to athletes is also critical. It’s what makes the partnership work.”

For example, postdoctoral research fellow Erica King, BS Bioengineering ’21, PhD ’25, a former student-athlete in swimming and diving, led a recent nine-month study that assessed the load demands on volleyball players’ knees using wearable sensors for tracking load during practice, counter-movement jump testing, wearable and clinical ultrasound devices, MRIs, and surveys.

Erica King, right, works with a student-athlete. Photo by John Boal Photography. Photo by John Boal Photography

“At the end of the season, we were able to show the coaching staff the average number of jumps athletes complete in a 15- to 16-week period and the direct effects of that from a joint adaptation standpoint,” Jones says. “Now they can tailor practice sessions to better support the players and help alleviate strain that could lead to injury.”

Athletes, coaches, and athletic trainers often come to the lab with ideas and questions for study. Last spring, George Mason’s swim team approached the lab to conduct a blood lactate study and applied for and received an Office of Student Creative Activities and Research grant to fund the study.

Researchers collected data from blood draws, heart-rate monitors, DEXA scans, and jump testing. An early review suggests a swimmer’s stroke specialization and maximal power generation capabilities significantly impact accumulation in blood lactate levels during all-out swim bouts.

“We couldn’t do what we do without the support and trust of the coaching staff,” says PhD student Noelle Saine, BS Kinesiology ’22, MS ’23. Saine, who was a student-athlete in track and field, understands the importance of strong communication between sport scientists and athletes.

“The sports management field as a whole is starting to ask how we can make good management decisions around athlete health and performance data,” says Chris Green, director of the Center for Sport Management. “The Patriot Performance Lab is already doing this work. It’s one of the things that makes us unique, and it’s what makes our work impactful.”

Helping Dancers Stay Ready for the Stage

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

When Jena Hansen-Honeycutt, the athletic trainer for George Mason’s School of Dance, started seeing an influx in injuries among dance students, she approached Professor of Kinesiology Jatin Ambegaonkar and then-student Kelley Wiese, PhD Kinesiology ’25, hoping to find a solution.

Dancers are “aesthetic athletes,” meaning they have high workloads and high injury rates like traditional athletes. “They dance for at least three hours a day in classroom practice alone,” says Hansen-Honeycutt. “And that doesn’t account for their extracurricular work: rehearsals, choreography, or additional practice.”

“We can recognize there’s a correlation between fatigue and injury, but you need data in order to make a stronger case for implementing cultural and systemic changes,” says Wiese.

Wiese, a trained dancer and now an assistant professor of athletic training at Shenandoah University, worked with Ambegaonkar on various studies at the intersection of kinesiology and dance during her doctoral program at George Mason.

Dancers were given biosensors to wear on their wrists 24 hours a day for seven days. They repeated the study four times throughout the semester.

“We wanted to understand the cycles of the body breaking down and recovering as workload increased and decreased throughout their semester,” says Ambegaonkar.

Participating students were also given surveys to provide subjective perceptions of their workload, sleep habits, and energy levels.

Reviewing the data, Wiese found that at peak times throughout the semester, students were spending more than seven hours a day completing moderate to vigorous physical activity between class, rehearsals, practice, and choreographing. As a result, energy levels decreased and fatigue increased, indicating a need for integrated recovery times and programs.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Another key finding from this study was the dissonance between students’ perceived sleep and the biosensor data. While students self-reported great and sufficient sleep, the biosensors reported insufficient sleep.

“Over time, insufficient sleep can lead to difficulty recovering and therefore higher rates of injury,” says Wiese, “particularly when [students are] already struggling to recover.”

As a result, the research team worked together to develop what Ambegaonkar calls “micro-interventions” through improved sleep health education programs. Hansen-Honeycutt has created sleep health resources for students to educate them on the impacts of good sleep on their academic and physical performance and is working with the faculty to incorporate this messaging into their classrooms.

“This study proved to me that us dance majors are extremely active, more than I often realize!” says Sanaa Fairley, BFA Dance ’26. “I learned that I could develop a much more consistent sleep schedule to set up my space, and therefore my mind, in a healthy way each day to prepare for rest.” Fairley says she has implemented other recovery techniques, such as cold showers, into her routine as well because of the study.

T’aja Williams, BFA Dance ’26, also reports she improved her sleep hygiene through a consistent bedtime. The study also made her more aware of how academic, socio-emotional, and physical activities impact her schedule and technology use.

Building good habits now helps George Mason dance students have long and fulfilling careers in dance. And Ambegaonkar and Wiese think this study might help pave the way for further research into the physical demands and impacts of dance.

“George Mason is a pioneer in the field of dance medicine,” says Ambegaonkar. “We’re broadening the scope of what kinesiology is and what it can do in the public health domain.”

Discover more research at George Mason

Five Strategies to Fight Burnout

Katarina Benson — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:17:38 +0000

Five Strategies to Fight Burnout Katarina Benson Wed, 08/26/2026 - 12:17

More than three-quarters of health care workers report feeling stressed or stretched thin, with burnout contributing to problems like higher turnover and staffing shortages that can affect patient care. According to researchers at George Mason’s College of Public Health, the fight against widespread burnout needs to begin with the training of future health care administrators.

Photo by Getty Images

Drawing from existing research and national frameworks on workforce well-being, Debora Goldberg, principal investigator and an associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, outlines several leadership strategies that can help counteract burnout.

1. Build workplaces where staff can speak up.

Health care leaders must create environments where employees can report mistakes, raise concerns, and discuss safety issues without fear of punishment. Clear reporting policies, open communication, and a culture of trust are key for psychological safety. 

2. Redesign jobs to reduce overload. 

Many health care roles involve long hours, heavy documentation, and clunky technology that add to daily stress. Leaders’ decisions about staffing, scheduling, and tools can either ease those pressures or make them worse. 

3. Prevent violence and protect staff safety. 

Health care workers face some of the highest rates of workplace violence of any profession. Leaders can help reduce risks by establishing zero-tolerance policies, training staff to de-escalate tense situations, and putting safety measures in place before incidents occur. 

4. Involve frontline staff in decisions. 

The people delivering care often know exactly where problems arise. When leaders directly involve nurses, physicians, and other staff in decisions about schedules, policies, and daily operations, the changes are more likely to succeed. 

5. Measure and improve workforce well-being.

Health care organizations routinely track patient outcomes and financial performance. Workforce well-being deserves the same attention. Leaders can measure burnout, engagement, and working conditions and use that data to steer improvements. 

George Mason’s John Cantiello and Riva Kamat from Lotus Clinician Well-Being are co-authors on the paper published in the Journal of Health Administration Education.

Global partnership advances injury detection research across skin tones

Heather Carroll — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:16:39 +0000

Global partnership advances injury detection research across skin tones Heather Carroll Wed, 08/26/2026 - 12:16

A new collaboration between 91��’s Injury Analytics Lab and Southern Africa Nazarene University in Eswatini will improve tools to document injuries in underrepresented populations locally and globally, while also strengthening research capacity in Eswatini.

In July, IAL Co-Directors Janusz Wojtusiak, David Lattanzi, and Katherine Scafide and Imaging Coordinator Emily Swann traveled to Eswatini to help launch the partnership with Southern Africa Nazarene University.
Photo by Emily Swann.

If a bruise can’t be seen, it can’t be documented. If injuries can’t be documented, they can’t be treated or taken seriously in clinical or legal settings. Injuries that go undetected may be undertreated, misunderstood, or overlooked entirely, with real consequences for patients and survivors.

This challenge is at the center of a new international collaboration between 91��’s Injury Analytics Lab (IAL) and Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) in Eswatini. Through the Imaging of Naturally Occurring Skin Findings in Eswatini (INSIGHT-ES) project, researchers from both institutions are working to improve injury documentation while expanding research capacity in Eswatini. For years, the IAL has been focused on improving how injuries are detected, documented, and understood across diverse populations, and now the research is expanding globally.

Seeing Bruises

Bruises form beneath the surface of the skin. On individuals with darker skin tones, that can make bruising and similar injuries more difficult to see, and those injuries may also fade more quickly.

Bruises form beneath the surface of the skin, which can make them harder to detect on individuals with darker skin tones.
Image provided by Katherine Scafide.

Researchers at IAL have made significant progress in using alternative light sources to enhance the visibility of bruises across a range of skin tones. By combining computer imaging, artificial intelligence, and clinical data, the team is developing approaches that strengthen injury detection in both clinical and forensic environments.

“What we’re building is not just an AI-based tool, but a way to make injury documentation more consistent and accessible across settings, explains IAL Co-Director and Professor of Health Informatics Janusz Wojtusiak, who leads development of IAL’s injury platform and software systems. “By combining existing health information with advanced imaging, we can build intelligent systems that collaborate with people to improve both the quality of the injury assessments and how they can be used to support care.”

IAL Co-Director and Professor of Engineering David Lattanzi, adds, “The goal is a tool that is small, portable, and low-cost, making it easier to document injuries, particularly in remote or resource-constrained settings like those common in Eswatini or more rural areas of the U.S.” Lattanzi leads development of the lab’s computer vision systems and user-centered design.

Advancing the Science While Building Research Capacity

IAL Co-Directors Katherine Scafide, David Lattanzi, and Janusz Wojtusiak join SANU Vice Chancellor Faith Mlotsa-Mngomezulu for the opening of the new INSIGHT-ES research lab at Southern Africa Nazarene University.
Photo by Emily Swann.

Through the partnership with SANU, IAL's work is expanding globally to develop a richer dataset while building research capacity in a country where it is critically needed. “We’re excited to partner with SANU,” said IAL Co-Director and Associate Professor of Nursing Katherine Scafide, who leads the lab’s clinical research. “They will bring to the project much-needed expertise in operating within Eswatini as well as important data related to accidental and violence-related injuries on darker skin tones.”

SANU’s proximity to Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital provides a unique opportunity for data collection. Patients waiting to be seen may choose to participate in the study. That data will help improve future injury documentation on a range of different individuals and contribute to more equitable patient outcomes.

IAL Imaging Coordinator Emily Swann shares her expertise in imaging with the Southern Africa Nazarene University research team during a visit to Eswatini in July.
Photo by David Lattanzi.

Those advances are especially important in Eswatini, where nearly half of women in (48.2%) have experienced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime (UN Development Program) and 41% of reported perpetrators are intimate partners of the survivor (Swatini Action Group Against Abuse). By comparison, the World Health Organization estimates that about one in three women globally have experienced physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime. Improving the ability to identify and document injuries across a wider range of skin tones could strengthen both patient care and forensic documentation for survivors.

“This work comes at a critical time for Eswatini, which has the highest HIV prevalence in the world, with an estimated 25 percent of its adult population living with HIV,” said Kevin Mallinson, a former faculty member in the College of Public Health who is consulting on the project and has worked in the country for decades. “More than 90 percent of HIV care in the country is delivered by nurses, which makes it especially important to strengthen both clinical practice and research capacity within the nursing workforce.”

Building sustainable research capacity is a central goal of the partnership. IAL researchers are providing workshops, mentoring SANU faculty in grant writing and research development, and working alongside them as collaborators, with SANU investigators serving as co-investigators on the project. The team is also helping develop SANU's health informatics program, creating opportunities to strengthen research and innovation long after the current project is complete.

Bongani Sibandze, PhD Nursing ’18, serves as the dean of SANU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and is one of only a small number of PhD-prepared nurses in Eswatini. He will lead the collaboration, which he sees as closely aligned with SANU's strategic goals.

Sibonile Dlamini, a department head and lecturer at SANU, will oversee the project's daily operations. Both Sibandze and Dlamini describe the collaboration as a potential turning point for research in Eswatini—one that could elevate the country's standing in global academic circles and benefit the nation well beyond the two institutions involved.

Southern Africa Nazarene University research partners Bongani Sibandze, PhD Nursing ’18, and Sibonile Dlamini visited the School of Nursing and Injury Analytics Lab in February to prepare for the launch of the partnership between the two universities.
Photo by Danielle Hawkins.

Overcoming the logistical and infrastructural challenges of conducting this research in Eswatini will itself generate insights applicable on a global scale. Ultimately, this project could serve as a model for interdisciplinary, international research—bringing together nursing, engineering, artificial intelligence, and public health to address inequities in care.

About the Injury Analytics Lab

Launched in 2026, 91��’s IAL brings together researchers from clinical science, engineering, artificial intelligence and health informatics to advance ongoing research focused on injury detection, assessment, and documentation. The lab serves as a hub for interdisciplinary projects that build on years of research to improve patient care, investigations, and legal proceedings.

IAL is directed by an interdisciplinary team including Katherine Scafide (School of Nursing, College of Public Health [CPH]), who leads the lab’s clinical research; Janusz Wojtusiak (Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics, CPH), who leads development of the injury platform and software systems; and David Lattanzi (Volgenau School of Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing), who leads development of the computer vision systems.

Learn more about George Mason's Grand Challenge Initiative

Key Takeaways

Bruises can be more difficult to see and may fade more quickly on darker skin tones, creating challenges for accurate injury documentation.
Injury Analytics Lab researchers are developing portable, affordable technology that combines advanced imaging, artificial intelligence, and clinical data to improve injury documentation in clinical, forensic, and resource-constrained settings.
Through a new international partnership, researchers from the Injury Analytics Lab and Southern Africa Nazarene University will expand injury detection research across darker skin tones while strengthening research capacity in Eswatini.

In This Story

Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAFS

Janusz Wojtusiak, PhD

David Lattanzi

Topics

The Invisible Front Lines

Katarina Benson — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:15:40 +0000

The Invisible Front Lines Katarina Benson Wed, 08/26/2026 - 12:15

Nearly 12 million Americans provide unpaid dementia care for loved ones. Researchers at George Mason are building new models of support to help them cope, connect, and carry on.

For 12 years, Lily Liu cared for her mother, who had Parkinson's disease, in her Washington, D.C., apartment. She handled every meal, every bath, and every sleepless night as her mother’s Parkinson’s-related dementia advanced.

Photo by Getty Images

“I was doing it all by myself,” she says. 

Relief arrived through Mason Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support (CARES), an evidence-based virtual support program developed by 91�� researchers to help family caregivers manage stress and burnout. Over nine weeks, caregivers participated in guided breathing exercises, journaling, and group discussions designed to build resilience and connection.

For Liu, the greatest benefit was the realization that other people understood what she was going through.

Researcher Megumi Inoue, a professor in the Department of Social Work who served as a co-investigator on the project, says that was the goal.

“They learn they’re not alone. There are people wearing the same shoes, so they can exchange information and experiences,” she says.

That support translated into measurable results. Using a standardized caregiver burden score that measures exhaustion and emotional strain, researchers found a 15 percent reduction in stress levels among participants.

“That’s a pretty big deal,” says Gilbert Gimm, associate professor of health administration and policy, who led the data analysis. “Even modest reductions mean relief.”

Across the country, nearly 12 million people provide unpaid care for relatives or friends living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. Roughly 80 percent of that care takes place at home, a reality that has created mounting pressure on family members as the population ages. Researchers estimate that by 2040, 110 million people worldwide will be living with dementia.

College of Public Health researchers see this growing burden as both a caregiving crisis and a public health priority. George Mason is actively approaching improvements in health systems that advance science, develop talent, and strengthen communities. It’s all part of the university’s Grand Challenge Initiative and its Improving Human Health, Well-Being, and Preparedness solution.

Across disciplines, faculty are developing interventions designed to support caregivers through technology, community-building, and new models of training and care. Their work includes virtual support groups, music-based interventions, artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, and virtual reality (VR) simulations designed to deepen empathy and improve caregiving experiences.

The Invisible Backbone of Dementia Care

Catherine Tompkins. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“Caregiving is one of the most stressful roles imaginable,” says Catherine Tompkins, principal investigator of Mason CARES.

The toll caregiving takes on families is profound. Participants in the Mason CARES study entered the program with stress levels well above the threshold associated with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and worsening physical health. In a separate analysis led by Inoue, nearly three-quarters of Alzheimer’s caregivers reported living with at least one chronic condition themselves.

Gimm believes the strain reflects a broader policy problem in the United States, where “aging in place” has become the preferred model for dementia care without a corresponding investment in caregiver support.

“The U.S. saves money by keeping more people at home,” he says, “but it’s on the backs of family caregivers. That’s not sustainable.”

According to Tompkins, for aging in place to succeed long term, caregivers need far more support than they currently receive. Family caregivers urgently need access to training, resources, programs, and respite, she says.

Turning Research into Relief

The pandemic reshaped how researchers approached that support. Mason CARES launched during the pandemic and was delivered entirely over Zoom, ultimately reaching 97 caregivers across the country—an unusually large sample for dementia research.

Historically, Tompkins explains, many caregivers struggled to attend in-person programming because they could not leave their loved ones alone. Virtual delivery unexpectedly removed that barrier.

“We ended up with people from all over—Texas, Louisiana, Northern Virginia,” she says.

Some of the most meaningful interventions are also among the simplest. Within Mason CARES, researchers incorporated elements of Music and Memory, a national program that uses personalized music playlists to help people with dementia reconnect with memories.

Research has long shown that familiar music can prompt moments of recognition, speech, movement, and joy in people living with dementia. George Mason researchers wanted to understand how those moments also affect caregivers.

“The idea is that if the person living with dementia is happy, it can reduce resistance, and caregiving becomes more positive,” Inoue says.

Researchers found that caregivers used the technology in very different ways. Some never found time to use the MP3 players they received, while others discovered deeply meaningful moments of connection. One caregiver told researchers that listening to a song from her wedding helped briefly restore a sense of partnership with her husband after dementia had left him emotionally distant.

In a follow-up study, Inoue and Tompkins are now examining those types of nuances to understand what made the program effective and where it fell short. 

For some Mason CARES participants, the relationships built through the program outlasted the research itself. Liu’s support group continued meeting even after the program ended.

“Five of us kept it going,” says Liu, whose mother passed away two years ago. “We’ve seen each other through loss and grief. This program built a sense of community, and that meant a lot for our little group.”

Technology Designed for Human Connection

Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

As caregiving demands increase nationwide, George Mason researchers are exploring how technology can create more accessible, culturally responsive, and personalized support.

With a $3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, health administration and policy researcher Y. Alicia Hong is refining Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers (WECARE), an AI-enhanced digital intervention for dementia caregivers.

The seven-week platform combines multimedia education, quiz games, social networking, personalized feedback, and tailored caregiving resources. The goal is to create technology that feels responsive to caregivers’ daily realities.

“WECARE is one of the first personalized digital interventions for dementia caregivers,” says Hong. "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.”

Another George Mason researcher, School of Nursing Professor Kyeung Mi Oh, is using AI to help families reconnect through storytelling and memory.

Oh is serving as co-principal investigator on a $2.9 million National Institute on Aging grant to refine the LifeBio Memory app, an AI-powered storytelling platform that helps older adults capture memories and share them with caregivers and family members.

The project builds on reminiscence therapy, an approach that uses personal memories to strengthen mood, cognition, and social connection for people experiencing memory loss.

“We want to see how storytelling technology can improve quality of life and relationships for both the older adult and the caregiver,” says Oh. “When people talk about their past, they often smile. It strengthens social support and emotional closeness.” 

Over the next three years, Oh’s team—including co-principal investigator Lisbeth Sanders, founder and CEO of LifeBio—is conducting usability testing followed by a randomized controlled trial with 84 caregiver–care recipient pairs.

Earlier versions of the app used in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities showed greater engagement and fewer symptoms of depression among residents. The new phase of research brings the technology into homes and community settings while expanding it into English, Spanish, and Korean.

Researchers hope the platform can eventually become a scalable and affordable support tool for families caring for loved ones at home. “We’re working to make LifeBio Memory accessible for people of different languages and cultural backgrounds, so older adults can tell their life stories in their own voices,” says Oh.

Building Empathy Through Virtual Reality

For George Mason researcher Li-Mei Chen, the potential of virtual reality (VR) became clear the moment she experienced a dementia simulation developed in Japan. At a conference on aging, Chen put on a VR headset and suddenly found herself inside the perspective of a person living with dementia.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The simulation cast her as an older adult experiencing confusion and delusion, frozen in fear at the end of a hallway as the floor appeared to disappear beneath rising floodwaters. “There was no actual flooding,” Chen recalls, “but I could feel the panic.”

Chen, who teaches in the Department of Social Work, immediately saw how the technology could transform dementia training for professional caregivers.

Working with Japanese company Jolly Good, and with support from the Virginia Center on Aging, Chen launched a pilot program for certified nursing assistants at a Northern Virginia nursing home. The training combined immersive VR experiences with online lessons and group discussion.

The VR scenarios, adapted for English-speaking audiences using AI-generated voiceovers, allowed participants to experience the confusion, fear, and sensory disorientation often associated with dementia. For many participants, it was their first dementia-specific training.

Beyond improving patient care, the researchers hope the project can also support workers in a field marked by high turnover, low wages, and emotional exhaustion.

Both Inoue and Chen bring a global perspective to their work, shaped by their years of studying aging and dementia care in Japan, where nearly one in three citizens is over 65. 

“In Japan, dementia is seen as a community issue, not just a family one,” says Chen. She points to dementia-friendly neighborhood cafés, school-based dementia education, and trained community volunteers as examples of a more collective approach to care.

Chen emphasizes that VR is not as a replacement for human caregiving; it’s a tool for building empathy and strengthening relationships between caregivers and the people they support.

“It’s about understanding the person and building a connection that’s beyond client and provider,” Chen says.

Mary Cunningham, Katie Pearce, and Taylor Thomas contributed to this feature.

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of improving human health, well-being, and preparedness.

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A New Pathway for Mental Health Professionals

Katarina Benson — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:32:20 +0000

A New Pathway for Mental Health Professionals Katarina Benson Thu, 08/13/2026 - 14:32

As behavioral health shortages grow nationwide, George Mason is training students to bring evidence-based, culturally responsive care to the communities that need it most.

When Gracie Pak, MSW ’26, sat down with clients at the Inova Cares for Women and Children clinics, she quickly learned that healing begins with trust.

Some of her conversations with young patients required translators. Others required patience, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to listen carefully for what was left unsaid.

George Mason alumna Gracie Pak said the fellowship fundamentally expanded her understanding of adolescent mental health. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“Therapy is an extremely vulnerable experience, and there’s a lot of open communication involved,” Pak says. “It’s very difficult for a lot of people to be honest, especially if they come from a cultural background where therapy is stigmatized.”

For Pak, who completed her master of social work degree at 91�� in May, those moments became some of the most meaningful parts of her fellowship experience. Pak was part of a training program designed to address one of the country’s most urgent public health needs: the shortage of behavioral health professionals serving children, adolescents, and young adults.

George Mason’s Interprofessional Behavioral Health Training Program for Youth Serving Professionals, funded through a four-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration, prepares graduate students to work in communities where mental health services are often hardest to access. Through clinical placements, interdisciplinary training, and community partnerships, the program is building a pathway for professionals who are equipped to meet the growing demand for youth behavioral health care.

That demand is staggering. Nationwide, there is roughly one mental health provider for every 340 people in need, according to Mental Health America. In Virginia, the ratio is even higher.

“This grant opportunity was a perfect fit,” says Christy Esposito-Smythers, director of George Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health (CEBBH) and the program’s principal investigator. “Our center is dedicated to increasing access to evidence-based behavioral health care in community settings through research as well as behavioral health workforce training and consultation for emerging and licensed behavioral health professionals.”

In addition to CEBBH, the program brings together multiple George Mason academic units and centers, including the Center for Community Mental Health in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Center for Health Workforce in the College of Public Health, led by Robyn Mehlenbeck and Caroline Sutter, MSN ’01, DNP ’12, respectively, who are also co-investigators.

To further improve outcomes, this program also draws on the expertise of community leaders working to strengthen the interdisciplinary behavioral health workforce and improve access to care through such organizations as the Virginia Mental Health Access Program, the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority, Claude Moore Opportunities, and the Inova Kellar Center.

The program’s design reflects a broader shift happening across health care, one that emphasizes integrated, collaborative models of treatment. Students in George Mason’s clinical psychology, nursing, and social work degree programs train together, mirroring the team-based environments they will enter after graduation.

Each year, 10 fellows like Pak complete supervised practicum experiences within partnering primary care clinics, including Inova Cares for Women and Children, the university’s Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, Capital Area Pediatrics, Fairfax Pediatric Associates, and the Pediatric Group, among others.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“[When choosing fellows] we look closely at who the applicants want to serve,” says Debora Goldberg, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy and co-principal investigator. “Their goals and prior experiences help us place them in primary care settings where they can grow and make the greatest impact.”

In addition to advanced training, fellows receive a stipend, which may come with tuition support, to help remove financial barriers to participation. They may also earn micro- and macro-badges recognizing demonstrated competencies as they transition into the workforce.

For many students, the experience is transformational both personally and professionally.

Learning to Meet Patients Where They Are

Pak arrived at the training program with years of experience working with children. She volunteered in classrooms, worked as a substitute teacher, and even gave horseback riding lessons—an experience that sparked her interest in equine-assisted psychotherapy.

Still, she says the fellowship fundamentally expanded her understanding of adolescent mental health. “This experience brought a whole new perspective for me on a much broader level and the challenges that [teens] go through,” Pak says. “A lot of their situations force them to live in survival mode and grow up faster than they should have to.”

Just as valuable as the clinical training was the interprofessional collaboration. “Being in the fellowship with diverse medical personnel was really beneficial for learning how to communicate with one another,” Pak says. “Social work is very unique, so figuring out how to work alongside other medical personnel was essential.”

That collaborative spirit is central to the program’s design. Fellows don’t simply study behavioral health in isolation; they learn how psychologists, nurses, social workers, and physicians work together to support patients and families navigating complex emotional and medical challenges.

Pak is carrying those lessons into her new role as a child and adolescent behavioral health therapist with Healthy Minds Therapy. “I am taking everything I’ve learned throughout the fellowship and the practicum and applying it to my real-life job as a professional therapist,” she says.

From Cameroon to Community Care

For doctoral student Luther Achu Njweipi, MSN ’21, serving as a fellow in the training program strengthened a career already rooted in service.

Njweipi immigrated to the United States from Cameroon after attending schools in underserved communities, an experience that shaped both his worldview and his approach to health care. Today, as a nurse practitioner, he works as a clinical manager at Caregivers Home Health Services in Northern Virginia, supporting patients and families through hospice and palliative care.

In addition to earning his doctorate, Luther Achu Njweipi hopes to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“I saw a need in my line of work that required some behavioral counseling with families that are going through a difficult time with a loved one in serious condition,” says Njweipi, who is working on a doctor of nursing practice degree at George Mason.

In hospice care, conversations often center on grief, uncertainty, and loss. The training program helped him develop new tools to guide families through those moments with empathy and clarity. “It is difficult talking to the family about the dying process and about their expectations going forward,” he says. “No matter how many times I’ve gone through this, it impacts me every time.”

Njweipi’s fellowship placement was at the MAP Clinic in Falls Church, which serves uninsured and economically vulnerable patients across Northern Virginia. There, he witnessed how integrated care models can help close gaps for patients who might otherwise go without services. “I saw close to 10 to 15 people a day in this free clinic that accommodates individuals and families who don’t have any health insurance but are in dire need of health services,” he says.

The training in motivational interviewing and behavioral health assessment broadened the way he thinks about patient care. “Everybody needs mental health counseling at some point because we all go through crises,” Njweipi says. “I really appreciate that our training focused on services across the board—for different ages, cultures, and illnesses.”

Now, in addition to earning his doctorate, he hopes to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.

Paying It Forward

The training program aligned perfectly with doctoral student and fellow Irene Regalario’s academic and clinical interests. “My focus is at the intersection of mental health and physical health—caregiver health, chronic illness, or chronic health conditions—so this integrated, interdisciplinary component was such a perfect opportunity for me,” says Regalario, BSN ’18, MA Clinical Psychology ’21.

Working at the MAP Clinic in Manassas Park, Regalario strengthened her patient consultation skills while learning how culturally responsive, evidence-based care can improve outcomes and build trust. “Those [skills] really helped me to build patient rapport, which makes up a good portion of the treatment,” she says. “I loved being able to reassure [my patients] that we’re here to help and protect them and gain that trust and respect in return.”

As a PhD student in clinical psychology, Regalario says one of the program’s most important lessons has been the value of mentorship and shared learning. Faculty supervisors helped her sharpen her clinical instincts, while at the same time she had the opportunity to mentor undergraduate nursing and social work students at the MAP Clinic.

“We’re still training and learning, so it helps me figure out if I have any blind spots,” says Regalario. “To be a supervisor and mentor to some of the undergraduates and to be able to give them perspective in behavioral health training has been such an amazing experience.”

That cycle of mentorship—students learning from clinicians while preparing to guide the next generation themselves—is exactly what the training program hopes to create.

“A main thing that I’ve learned in this program is how to problem-solve with my peers,” says Regalario, who began a residency at Augusta University in Georgia this fall. “We’re asking what we can learn from each other so that we leave here as better medical professionals to make the greatest impact possible in our fields.”

At a time when behavioral health systems nationwide are stretched thin, programs like this one for youth-serving professionals are doing more than training future clinicians. They are helping shape a workforce prepared to deliver compassionate, culturally responsive evidence-based care in the communities that need it most.

“This is really a beautiful academic community partnership that we're developing here,” says Esposito-Smythers. “Consistent with George Mason’s core value of ‘thriving together,’ through collaborative efforts we are increasing access to behavioral health services in primary care settings, which in turn, may improve outcomes for youth and families within entire communities.”

Learn more about CEBBH

From bioengineering to big bands, George Mason camps focus on well-being

sholla4 — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:12:05 +0000

From bioengineering to big bands, George Mason camps focus on well-being sholla4 Wed, 08/12/2026 - 16:12

Year-round, 91��'s colleges, centers, and labs are taking a people-first integrated approach to human health and well-being that advances science, develops talent, and strengthens communities. That includes the summer, when labs and studios open their doors for the community to learn how innovations in art and science can make our world a healthier place.

From bioengineering to big bands, these summer programs are teaching all ages that George Mason's Grand Challenge Initiative solution of "improving human health, well-being, and preparedness" is about more than numbers in a medical chart.

BioE Buzz summer campers learn about bioengineering by testing exoskeletons and biomechanics while interacting with George Mason faculty and students .Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

BioE Buzz

In its third year, BioE Buzz introduces high school students to the greater field of bioengineering and groundbreaking research at George Mason. Rising juniors and seniors get hands-on experience with bioengineering technologies like 3D printing and ultrasound, learn about nanofabrication and tissue engineering, meet faculty and researchers from the Department of Bioengineering, and compete as a team for a one-week internship in one of George Mason's research labs.

"We love when campers connect with one another over a shared passion for solving problems in biology and medicine," said Khadija Zaidi-Rashid, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing and codirector of BioE Buzz camp.

This year's 24 campers designed cardiac stents, extracted collagen and created polymers from animal tissues, and controlled a hand prothesis with bio signals. They also got a taste of college life: eating in dining halls, touring facilities, and learning team-building at The Edge on the Science and Technology Campus. Current George Mason undergraduates and graduate students serve as coordinators, counselors, and teachers for the camp as well, so campers can see a full picture of what's possible at George Mason.

"Whether our campers select a path in health policy, medical sciences, academic research, or entrepreneurship, they are all united in their passion for making a true impact on humanity," said Zaidi-Rashid.

AI in Health

A new camp for 2026, the AI in Health Camp introduces rising high school juniors and seniors to how artificial intelligence is used in health care and public health and how it can be designed and evaluated responsibly.

"The camp is designed to prepare the next generation to use AI responsibly to improve patient safety, expand access to reliable health information, and make the information more accessible and understandable through inclusive design," said Maria Uriyo, an associate professor in the College of Public Health. "By reaching high school students early, the camp helps them explore emerging careers at the intersection of AI, health care, and public health while contributing to a more inclusive future health workforce."

Over the course of one week, students build foundational skills in AI literacy, practicing user-centered and inclusive design and safe and responsible AI use through daily AI Maker Labs. Graduate students in the Department of Health Administration, Policy and Informatics coach campers through designing and building community health chatbots. On the last day of camp, students present their work at a student showcase.

"We want students to understand that AI can be a powerful tool for health, but it always needs human judgment, safety checks, and inclusive design to provide meaningful and responsible benefits," said Uriyo.

George Mason Jazz Camp

Human health and well-being is more than a matter of science. "Jazz music is said to 'wash away the dust of life,' improve our mental agility, and help us discover our true selves," said John Kocur, an associate professor of jazz studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

George Mason Jazz Camp has existed in various forms since 2005, with its current form in its fifth year. This year, 87 students attended to learn music theory, practice improvisation, work with master musicians, and perform. Each day ends with a concert by a professional musician. The goal: developing the creative capacity of each musician and immersing them in the culture so they can experience the benefits of jazz throughout their lives.

"We hope each student remembers what it feels like to express yourself through your instrument spontaneously while jamming along with others," said Kocur.

And at George Mason Jazz Camp, these experiences are open to all. This year's cohort included 12 adult students, demonstrating how finding wellness through music can be done at any age.

"This music has served vital roles of survival for over a century, and it still has many lessons to teach us about cooperation, personal expression, and peace," said Kocur. "Whether you are an experienced improviser or just getting started, the expert faculty will help you realize your potential and grow into the musician you want to become."

Roxy Coss, the Artist-in-Residence for the 2026 George Mason Jazz Camp with faculty on the Center for the Arts stage, Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

See how George Mason is improving human health, well-being, and preparedness

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Students

Summer Camps

College of Engineering and Computing

College of Public Health

College of Visual and Performing Arts

George Mason Jazz Camp

Bioengineering

GCI-Health

91��’s Injury Analytics Lab receives patent for AI bruise detection system

Heather Carroll — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:11:25 +0000

91��’s Injury Analytics Lab receives patent for AI bruise detection system Heather Carroll Mon, 08/10/2026 - 10:11

Newly patented AI technology helps get bruise detection tools into the hands of clinicians, law enforcement, and researchers

Can new technology make it easier to understand bruises? That's the question researchers at 91��'s Injury Analytics Lab (IAL) are answering with a patented technology that combines artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, and clinical data to give clinicians, forensic professionals, and researchers better information about skin injuries.

This technology reflects years of collaboration among experts in nursing, health informatics, and engineering, who worked together to transform research into a practical tool for injury assessment.

How the technology works

Image by College of Public Health.

The newly patented technology addresses current challenges in injury assessment by analyzing images of the skin alongside relevant clinical and demographic information from electronic health records. Similar to popular plant identification apps that combine image data with location information, the system uses AI to detect and assess bruise lesions.

"Documenting injuries accurately is essential for both medical treatment and seeking justice for victims of violence," said Associate Professor of Nursing and IAL Co-Director Katherine Scafide. "This patent recognizes our innovative approach that combines artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, and clinical data to help professionals make more informed decisions."

The patented artificial intelligence technology is built on a dedicated injury platform, which includes a large repository of injury images used by computer vision systems, and data from electronic health records that work together to support accurate injury assessment and real-world use. Development of the platform that hosts the data and systems, and related software is led by Professor of Health Informatics and IAL Co-Director Janusz Wojtusiak, while Professor of Engineering and IAL Co-Director David Lattanzi leads development of the computer vision systems and user-centered design.

One of the most innovative aspects of the patented technology is its ability to tailor imaging conditions such as light wavelength and camera filter to each individual.

Rather than relying on a standard lighting setup, the system can determine a person's skin color and select the most effective light wavelengths, filters, and imaging conditions for capturing injury evidence. By optimizing imaging for each person, the technology can improve injury detection and assessment across a wide range of skin tones, especially for people with darker skin tones, whose injuries can be harder to identify with traditional imaging.

But the technology goes beyond simply determining whether a bruise is present.

The system can estimate characteristics such as a bruise's age, size, color, and shape while also providing information about the confidence of its predictions. By combining visual data with information such as medical history, medications, demographics, and skin color, the technology can account for factors that influence how injuries appear, resulting in more accurate and reliable assessments than images alone.

Why the technology matters

Janusz Wojtusiak and Katherine Scafide in the Injury Analytics Lab. Photo provided

Bruises and other skin injuries have traditionally been difficult to identify and assess. Factors such as skin tone, lighting conditions, and the age of an injury can affect how visible an injury appears, creating challenges for clinicians, forensic professionals, and researchers.

This patented technology helps address those challenges by providing more objective, consistent injury assessments. More accurate documentation can help clinicians make informed treatment decisions, strengthen forensic evidence, support investigations, and give researchers better data to improve future care. By improving injury detection across diverse skin tones, the technology also has the potential to reduce disparities in how injuries are documented and evaluated.

It was also shaped by the needs of the professionals who will use it in real-world settings. “This technology is the result of a user-centric research process that included countless hours of interviews and workshops with health care providers and forensic professionals,” explains Lattanzi. “These groups told us that they need easy-to-use tools that make documentation faster and more reliable. So that’s exactly what we’re building.”

Built on years of research

The patented technology is supported by a library of more than 100,000 images of bruises and other skin characteristics collected through years of interdisciplinary research and collaboration.

The technology identifies and analyzes a wide range of skin features, including bruises, burns, scars, birthmarks, rashes, eczema, psoriasis, and other conditions. This extensive dataset helps train the system's deep-learning models and enables it to recognize patterns that may be difficult for the human eye to detect consistently.

Moving research into practice

The patent marks an important milestone in IAL's broader effort to develop evidence-based technologies that can improve injury assessment and documentation.

Beyond protecting the intellectual property behind the innovation, the patent creates opportunities for new partnerships, commercialization, and broader adoption of the technology. Researchers envision future applications that support health care providers, forensic specialists, law enforcement professionals, researchers, and patients through interfaces tailored to their specific needs.

As the technology continues to advance, the goal remains clear: transforming cutting-edge research into practical tools that improve accuracy, support equity, and help professionals make better-informed decisions when injury documentation matters most.

About the Injury Analytics Lab

Launched in 2026, 91��’s IAL brings together researchers from clinical science, engineering, and health informatics to advance ongoing research focused on injury detection, assessment, and documentation. The lab serves as a hub for interdisciplinary projects that build on years of research to improve patient care, investigations, and legal proceedings.

Key Takeaways

George Mason researchers received a U.S. patent for technology that helps identify, document, and assess bruises and other skin injuries.
The technology tailors imaging to each individual, helping improve injury detection across a wide range of skin tones, particularly for people with darker skin tones.
The patented technology is the result of interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers in nursing, engineering, and health informatics, demonstrating how expertise across multiple fields can advance injury assessment and documentation.
The patent creates opportunities to bring the technology into healthcare, forensic, and research settings, supporting better clinical care, investigations, and future innovation.

In This Story

Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAAFS

Janusz Wojtusiak, PhD

David Lattanzi

Topics

injury analytics lab

Bruise Visibility

Artificial Intelligence

Research

patent

College of Public Health

College of Engineering and Computing

GCI-Health

GCI-Digital

Rebuilding after trauma: George Mason psychologist hopes to improve early care for survivors of violently acquired spinal cord injuries

sholla4 — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:52:46 +0000

Rebuilding after trauma: George Mason psychologist hopes to improve early care for survivors of violently acquired spinal cord injuries sholla4 Mon, 08/10/2026 - 09:52

A fall from a ladder, a car crash, a gunshot: In the blink of an eye, a spinal cord injury can change someone’s life forever. Adapting to these new circumstances can take some patients years. Leah M. Adams, associate professor of clinical psychology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, is hoping to discover what might make that process easier.

Leah Adams. Photo provided.

Alongside colleagues Renee Madathil from University of Rochester and Chris Hilderbrant of the Rochester Spinal Association, Adams, a clinical rehabilitation psychologist, is researching early psychosocial adaptation in survivors of violently acquired spinal cord injuries to determine what and when interventions are most beneficial. This spring, they received $285,000 from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation to support their research.

Violently acquired spinal cord injuries refer to a subset of spinal cord injuries that are caused by interpersonal violence, such as gunshot wounds, stabbing, or other person-to-person contact. These injuries commonly affect a different demographic than nonviolently acquired spinal cord injuries.

“Violence is the second leading cause for Latinx folks and one of the top two causes for Black folks. Long-term trends suggest that young Black men make up nearly half of all people with violently acquired spinal cord injuries,” said Adams. “They’re also younger, on average, and may be less traditionally established than their counterparts without violently acquired injuries.” Adams also noted that people with violently acquired injuries are more likely to have greater social vulnerabilities due to systemic factors like poverty and the criminal/legal system.

Adams describes that, with violently acquired injuries, "there's a different buzzing in the atmosphere of the care team." There can be increased safety risks to the patient and the healthcare team even while in the hospital, as well as additional risks to the patient once discharged, that can impact how a patient receives care.

"Our hope is to narrow down what's helpful and what's not for these patients, so providers can offer optimal care at the right time," said Adams.

Using the National Spinal Cord Injury Database, Adams, her doctoral students, and collaborators will look at patients from 2016 to present with violently acquired spinal cord injuries and their progression over the first five years living with the injury.

"We're looking at difference trajectories of adaptation and seeing if we can identify which kinds of factors put people in positions to have better outcomes or potentially worse outcomes," she said. "With that baseline, we can start identifying risk factors and create pathways for earlier and more effective interventions."

This quantitative data will be combined with qualitative data from patient and spinal cord injury specialist mental health provider interviews, the latter of which is a unique addition to the project. Their direct experience in caring for patients over multiple sessions and years means they understand what works well, what kinds of gaps exist, and how health care delivery could be improved.

"We wanted to make sure we got multiple perspectives on the project, which is why we have multiple collaborators," said Adams, “including folks with lived experience with spinal cord injuries as part of the study team.”

This multi-method approach is one that Adams sees as essential. For individuals who have undergone a traumatic and life-altering injury, these varied perspectives help paint a fuller, more vibrant picture of the varied pathways patients might take in their healing journey, she said.

"This population is so important. They face unique stressors and barriers, and they’re deserving of focused attention and support," said Adams. “I'm really hopeful that our work can spotlight some of the strengths and resources and ideas that they have, as well as help medical teams make decisions about where to put their valuable resources.”

This intersectionality is part of Adams' overall research philosophy, reflected in her role as core faculty for the Women and Gender Studies Program. And as a two-time George Mason alum—MA Psychology ’10, PhD Psychology ’14—it's a methodology she's refined through her time at George Mason as both student and faculty in the Department of Psychology.

"Both the tangible and intangible resources have made George Mason a really phenomenal place to study and work," said Adams. "This community respects and invests in research all across the continuum, from basic science to translational."

Learn more about the College of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Research

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Psychology

GCI-Health

George Mason licenses cancer imaging technology to biotech company

ckearney — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:54:52 +0000

George Mason licenses cancer imaging technology to biotech company ckearney Fri, 07/31/2026 - 10:54

SonoVanta™, a patent-pending contrast agent that improves the precision of cancer margin imaging, is the second technology from 91�� to be licensed through the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation’s (VIPC) Lab-to-Launch (L2L) Program, which accelerates the commercialization of promising research breakthroughs emerging from Virginia’s universities.

From left, John Hart, president and CEO of NanOptical; Amy Adams, executive director of Nexus234 Innovation District; Remi Veneziano, associate professor, bioengineering, George Mason; and Helena Kondow-McConaghy, business development manager, PWCDEDT. Photo provided

SonoVanta™ originated from research conducted at George Mason bioengineering researchers Parag Chitnis and Remi Veneziano. NanOptical Biomedical Inc., a biotechnology company working on next-generation contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging, has licensed the technology. Photoacoustic imaging combines laser light and ultrasound to produce high-resolution views of tissue. The effectiveness of the technology depends in part on contrast agents that enhance the visibility of diseased tissue.

Successful commercialization of contrast agents depends on biocompatibility and scalable manufacturing. NanOptical Biomedical's platform addresses these challenges.

“SonoVanta™ was created to address one of the biggest barriers to the broader adoption of photoacoustic imaging,” said Chitnis. “By using an FDA-approved near-infrared dye, we devised a platform that enables disease-specific targeting and makes manufacturing and implementation easier.”

The company anticipates commercial availability this fall as an advanced tool for cell, tissue, and organ imaging, with applications across numerous areas of biomedical research and development. They hope to expand the technology's use in surgical oncology, with the goal of optimizing visualization of breast tumor margins during cancer procedures.

The L2L initiative, developed through a collaboration between VIPC and the state’s six R1 research university partners, aims to significantly increase the number of start-ups emerging from Virginia’s universities and help move technological breakthroughs to the marketplace, through a “fast track license.” Instead of taking months, a licensing agreement can now take weeks.

George Mason bioengineering researchers Parag Chitnis and Remi Veneziano. Photo provided

NanOptical Biomedical's arrival represents an important milestone in bringing university-developed technology into research and clinical imaging.

“NanOptical Biomedical was formed to translate a strong university innovation into a commercially viable platform with meaningful market potential,” said John Hart, president and CEO of NanOptical Biomedical. “Our initial focus is to serve research customers in academia, biotech, and the pharmaceutical sector, while also pursuing the regulatory pathway for future clinical applications in surgical oncology. We believe SonoVanta™ offers a valuable solution to deliver more precise imaging and address a critical need in cancer care.”

"Eight years ago, Dr. Chitnis and I were standing in front of a whiteboard tossing ideas back and forth," said Veneziano. "We’re excited to watch this technology grow from an idea into a new biotechnology company."

NanOptical Biomedical began operations at the Endeavor life science incubator in the Nexus234 Innovation District in Prince William County, Virginia. Hart said the company chose Prince William County as its first operating location to stay close to George Mason and the region's thriving life sciences industry. The company is joining Nexus234, Northern Virginia's first innovation district, which Real FDI named one of the Top 10 Life Sciences Projects globally in March 2026.

“NanOptical Biomedical is exactly the kind of company Nexus234 was created to attract and empower,” said Christina Winn, executive director of the Prince William County Department of Economic Development and Tourism. "This achievement reflects the strength of the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem and the environment Prince William County has built for start-ups, research commercialization, and the life sciences industry."

NanOptical Biomedical's establishment in Nexus234 reinforces the region's commitment to cultivating an ecosystem that helps translate research and entrepreneurship into company success and job creation.

Earlier this year, George Mason was Virginia’s first R1 research institution to commercialize a product under the L2L initiative. In January, the George Mason Research Foundation entered into a license agreement with serial entrepreneur Anthony Fung and his company Valorlox LLC for the patented technology Dynamic Low Visibility Pneumatic Cofferdam, a coastal resilience system designed to protect against flooding.

Learn more about George Mason's Grand Challenge Initiative

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College of Engineering and Computing

GCI-Health

GCI-Health

NIH R01 grant funds study of physical activity and binge eating in children

Key Takeaways

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Research in Motion

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Helping Dancers Stay Ready for the Stage

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About the Injury Analytics Lab

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2. Redesign jobs to reduce overload. 

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91��’s Injury Analytics Lab receives patent for AI bruise detection system