Research

Interprofessional George Mason researchers awarded more than $1 million to improve outcomes for patients with depression

Jennifer Pocock — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 18:25:35 +0000

Interprofessional George Mason researchers awarded more than $1 million to improve outcomes for patients with depression Jennifer Pocock Tue, 12/10/2024 - 13:25

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Kevin Lybarger

Alison Evans Cuellar, PhD, MBA

Özlem Uzuner

Researchers Farrokh Alemi and Kevin Lybarger receive ��AV’s first Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award to develop innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, including large language models, for improving antidepressant recommendations.

Farrokh Alemi and Kevin Lybarger

AI will soon receive a dose of empathy with the goal of helping to match people with depression to their best-fit medication. A team led by Farrokh Alemi, a professor in the College of Public Health (CPH), and Kevin Lybarger, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), received $1,049,998 in research funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to continue their work on developing an AI system that helps patients find the right depression medications.

With this funding support, Co-PIs Alemi and Lybarger will hone large language models (LLMs) to address known challenges in AI, including mitigating biases, reducing the potential for inaccurate information, and incorporating an empathetic tone, according to Alemi.

The new study will introduce an innovative way for AI to help patients make medication decisions. The AI system will engage patients in natural-language conversations to collect information about their medical history. The system will draw upon more than 10 million patient experiences with 15 different oral antidepressants and a National Institutes of Health All of Us database, which includes records from more than 80,000 participants with major depressive disorders, to help create a plan that is statistically likely to succeed. Alemi and Lybarger believe this will help alleviate the trial and error that can lead to negative patient outcomes.

The researchers will also introduce a first-of-its-kind patient simulator capable of mimicking various medical, linguistic, and behavioral characteristics. This simulator will be used to test and refine the AI system by simulating diverse patient scenarios, including infrequent but critical events such as suicidal ideation, to ensure the system’s recommendations are safe, culturally sensitive, and empathetic.

“This study was selected for its potential to address a high-priority methodological gap in patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook. “We look forward to following the study’s progress and working with George Mason to share the results.”

This is the first PCORI-funded study that George Mason has received. “Depression is a major public health problem and we are excited to see the development of new AI-based decision tools, leveraging the multidisciplinary talents of our college to help tackle it,” said CPH Associate Dean of Research Alison Cuellar.

"This innovative study promises to generate methodologies for using AI for medical decision-support and for empowering patients to make critical health decisions beyond mental health,” says Özlem Uzuner, chair of CEC’s Department of Information Sciences and Technology.

This study is one of the latest funded by PCORI to examine which medical treatments work best, where and when treatment falls flat, and how to address the gaps. These studies deliver results that guide researchers in planning future studies and provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health and health care decisions.

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Depression

antidepressants

natural language processing

Artificial Intelligence

Research using AI to track Amazon rainforest species produces landmark results

Colleen Rich — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 13:47:06 +0000

Research using AI to track Amazon rainforest species produces landmark results Colleen Rich Mon, 11/25/2024 - 08:47

Thanks to the tenacity of a ��AV biology professor, animals in the Amazon have a lot less privacy these days, but that’s good for scientists who to want know what’s going on in the Brazilian rainforests.

David Luther recognizes the importance of playing the long game in research, but even he couldn’t have imagined the hurdles and roadblocks ahead of him following the approval of his 2019 4-VA Collaborative Research Grant proposal, “Species richness resilience to habitat fragmentation and restoration in tropical rainforests.”

His plan was to install recording equipment at 50 sites as part of the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. These audio and video devices were meant to document and measure differences in animal community composition and the rate of animal recovery in secondary forest and forest fragments.

The proposed budget was devoted entirely to purchasing the wide array of materials necessary for the effort — cameras, acoustic recorders, and batteries—along with the international travel needed to bring the project to fruition.

In March 2020, all of Luther’s efforts came to a halt due to the pandemic. Additionally, one of the key members of the planning team, Tom Lovejoy, passed away in December 2021. Lovejoy was recognized as one the world’s leading conservation biologists and often referred to as the “godfather of biodiversity.” With Lovejoy’s passing, Luther lost a mentor and a critical member of the team.

Tens of thousands of animal images, such as this ocelot, have been collected for the project from camera traps. Photo provided

However, Luther stayed the course, revamping his team and rewriting the schedule. Finally, in June 2022, he received the green light to move ahead. Between June and October 2022, 136 cameras and 81 acoustic devices were installed across 50 sites at BDFFP.

Today, to Luther’s great delight, the results have proved far more successful than he could have ever anticipated. Tens of thousands of animal images from camera traps and audio recordings have already been collected.

To analyze the data, Luther built a team of 15 George Mason undergraduate researchers, artificial intelligence (AI) experts, and members of Arbimon, a nonprofit organization that specializes in analyzing acoustic recordings from the tropics to identify animals.

The student volunteers on this project included Alexis Lembke, Amanda Jones, Adriana Em, Madison Cheung, Morgan Ellingsworth, and Grace Carriero. Aline Medeiros, a PhD student in environmental science and policy, helped manage the undergraduate researchers working on the audio files. Medeiros will also use the captured data as the basis of her PhD research.

Another set of students helped identify animals in the camera images and entered that information into a large database. Hibo Hassan, Jordan Seidmeyer, Katie Russell, Carolian Sanabria, Adrian Em, Alix Upchurch, Piper Robinson, Tristan Silva-Montoya, and Estefany Umana spent hours creating this treasure trove of records. Emilia Roberts, a master’s student in environmental science and policy, managed these undergraduate researchers.

Discussing the project, Luther explained that, for the acoustic recordings, they built templates for 250 bird species and trained AI models to automatically detect and classify songs for each.

Channel-billed toucan. Photo provided

“The model performed very well in our evaluations. We have already detected 201 of the 250 species,” said Luther, who teaches in the Biology Department of George Mason’s College of Science. “Thanks to our model, new recordings can be passed through it to automatically detect species calls, facilitating long-term monitoring and efficient analyses moving forward. We are now working with local experts in Manaus, Brazil, to apply the same platform for frogs at our study sites in the Amazon rainforest.”

The biodiversity data is being used to assess how each species responds to variations in forest structure and recovery from forest fragmentation. Luther brought on Konrad Wessels from George Mason’s Geography and Geoinformation Science Department to assist with satellite information from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation instrument, which uses high-resolution lasers to provide detail in three-dimensional forest structure. These results will build predictive models to study how the forest structure can forecast mammal and bird diversity and individual species occurrence in tropical rainforests.

In an important finding, the team has determined that the three-dimensional complexity of the forest structure, as measured by foliage height diversity, is the biggest predictor of mammal and bird diversity at this research site, and potentially others, in the Amazon rainforest.

The project continues to gain traction. The team has created a website featuring the results of the acoustic portion of the research, which has been very well received. Some of the acoustic training models have been used by teams competing for the X-Prize, a competition designed to encourage technological developments supporting “radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.”

Building on the 4-VA funded study, Luther also received a $200,000 National Science Foundation grant to continue both the camera and acoustic research. Luther and Wessels recently submitted a grant to NASA to expand on the research findings and apply them to the entirety of the Amazon basin.

“Through 4-VA@Mason, this project is up, running, and delivering fantastic information that will help scientists worldwide better design monitoring schemes for biodiversity in remote tropical forests, as well as those interested the relationship between habitat structure and degradation and species resilience to disturbance,” said Luther.

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AI on call: George Mason and Fairfax County dial up emergency response

Nathan Kahl — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 13:26:41 +0000

AI on call: George Mason and Fairfax County dial up emergency response Nathan Kahl Mon, 11/25/2024 - 08:26

In This Story

Karina Korostelina

Paul Houser

Hemant Purohit

When you have a dire emergency you want help from wherever you can get it. Even if it’s from an AI voice assistant.

��AV received a grant of nearly $1 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for enhancing emergency response, specifically using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve training and other capabilities of the emergency communication systems in Northern Virginia. The funding was made possible through the efforts of Congressman Gerry Connolly, who sponsored the proposal.

“As we strive to improve our emergency preparedness and response capabilities, it is absolutely critical that we recognize the potential of new and emerging technologies—including AI,” said Connolly. “By utilizing this technology safely and effectively in our public safety systems, we can reduce response times, lighten the workload for 911 call centers and first responders, and better communicate with the community during emergency situations. I am so proud to have secured this important funding, and I look forward to seeing these federal dollars put to good use for the betterment of all of us who call Fairfax County home.”

This work will be performed by George Mason’s transdisciplinary Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC) team. “This work is only possible by engaging a unique transdisciplinary team representing three different colleges, toward enhancing emergency communications resiliency and effectiveness with AI,” said Paul Houser, C-RASC executive director. “We thank Congressman Connolly and the George Mason transdisciplinary vision for the realization of this project, and look forward to making a difference in Fairfax emergency management and beyond.”

Linton Wells II, executive advisor to the Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities and to the C5I Center at George Mason, said that the university is actively engaged with the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety and Communications (Fairfax County’s 9-1-1 Center), as well as other emergency management organizations.

Fairfax County's 9-1-1 center receives around 400,000 emergency calls annually. Photo provided by Fairfax County

“We talked to public safety officials around Fairfax and the most receptive entity was the 9-1-1 call center,” he said. “We were invited to join operators on the call center floor and observe them taking calls and dispatching people, which was very impressive. They really are interested in training and would like to spend more time talking to the community about what they do.”

Wells added that AI can improve public safety effectiveness in numerous ways.

“It could help reduce delays in processing calls, enhance caller experiences, and improve dispatching efficiency, for example. The plan is to begin by using it to improve training, which is an excellent place to get immediate gains and learn more about how it best can be used.”

George Mason will work with local communities to make citizens more aware of what’s being done in emergency preparedness and will provide feedback to public safety officials. The technology can also help officials interpret public sentiment as a disaster is occurring, supporting another goal of the project, which is to improve stakeholder engagement and enhancing support to underserved communities.

Karina V. Korostelina, professor and director of the Sustainable Peace Lab at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, said that the university will work with local officials on further outreach and communication efforts in support of the project.

“Our task is to create a systemic community engagement plan that involves Neighborhood and Community Services, Immigration Services, Fairfax County Public Schools and libraries in educating community members about the use of 911 and the role of AI," Korostelina said. "We also will conduct multiple focus groups and townhalls to understand community concerns and facilitate participatory approaches to the improvement of public safety and communications." Her team, which includes PhD student and a post-doc, will implement cutting-edge practices of co-creation and community empowerment to enhance collaboration between communities and government agencies in Fairfax.

Other project investigators from C-RASC and CEC include Kathryn Laskey, professor emerita of Systems Engineering and Operations Research, and Hemant Purohit, associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology, who will closely work with a CEC doctoral student and industry partners to design an AI assistant to enable personalized conversation-based training for call-takers to go through various real-world scenarios at their own pace while accounting for complexities such as varying incident descriptions and multilingual callers.

“Since 9-1-1’s inception in 1968, voice communication has been the cornerstone of 9-1-1 emergency services,” said Andrew Clarke, assistant director of operations in the Department of Public Safety Communications, Fairfax County 9-1-1. “However, with the rise of smartphones, smart homes, and AI, our community has moved beyond traditional voice-based interaction.”

Clarke said this new partnership with George Mason will allow Fairfax County to reimagine workflows, not just improving service, but setting a new benchmark for community engagement. "We are transforming the 9-1-1 landscape to ensure we are as innovative and forward-thinking as the technologies that surround us today.”

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Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities

Artificial Intellgence

Research

National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST

Determining quality in forensic injury imaging - ��AV secures NIH AIM-AHEAD funding to advance equity in AI-driven injury detection

dhawkin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 18:21:21 +0000

Determining quality in forensic injury imaging - ��AV secures NIH AIM-AHEAD funding to advance equity in AI-driven injury detection dhawkin Fri, 11/22/2024 - 13:21

In This Story

Janusz Wojtusiak, PhD

Katherine Scafide, PhD, RN, FAAN

David Lattanzi

��AV has been awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through its Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) program.

This initiative encourages more people from historically underrepresented groups in researching and developing of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models. AIM-AHEAD aims to leverage the growing volume of data generated through electronic health records (EHR) and other biomedical research to address health disparities and inequities.

Janusz Wojtusiak. Photo by the Office of University Branding

The newly funded project, led by Janusz Wojtusiak, builds upon the Equitable and Accessible Software for Injury Detection (EAS-ID) initiative aimed at building artificial intelligence tools for collecting, assessing and analyzing injury data. The new funding specifically addresses the problem of measuring equity and quality of imaging documentation.

In addition to Wojtusiak, an interdisciplinary research team comprising Katherine Scafide and David Lattanzi is joined by Health Informatics Assistant Professor Eman Elashkar, Research Assistant Professor Jesse Kirkpatrick, who is also the acting director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, and Amin Nayebi Nodoushan, a postdoctoral researcher at Mason.

Their research focuses on using AI methods combined with Alternate Light Sources (ALS) to improve bruise detection, addressing visibility issues for individuals with darker skin tones who often encounter challenges in accurately assessing injuries sustained from violence.

Current literature highlights that skin color significantly influences the accuracy of AI-based tools in healthcare. Studies have documented disparities in the performance of medical devices, such as pulse oximeters and smartwatches, which frequently yield inaccurate readings for individuals with darker skin. These discrepancies can lead to delays in critical medical interventions, exacerbating existing health disparities.

The proposed research will focus specifically on bruises, the most common type of soft tissue injury experienced by victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Statistics indicate that approximately one in three people in the U.S. have experienced IPV, with racial minorities reporting disproportionately higher rates. Survivors with darker skin tones have noted that their bruises are often invisible, resulting in significant delays in seeking necessary medical care.

Katherine Scafide is part of the multidisciplinary team working to advance equity in AI-driven injury detection. Photo by Emma Anderson.

Leveraging the innovative use of ALS, the George Mason research team has demonstrated marked improvement in bruise visibility across diverse skin tones. The team aims to develop methods that ensure that AI-based tools provide equitable and unbiased detection and characterization of injuries. This will involve creating combined technical-ethical metrics to assess the performance of these tools across different skin tones. Engaging diverse stakeholders, including clinicians, forensic nurses, and community representatives, will be essential in the development process to align with ethical practices in AI.

The research team’s two primary aims are to develop metrics that assess equity in AI tools and apply these metrics to improve bruise detection models. They have already collected a substantial dataset of bruise images taken under various lighting conditions, which will be utilized to enhance the AI models’ performance. The interdisciplinary nature of the research team, comprising informaticians, engineers, clinicians, and ethicists, ensures a comprehensive approach to tackling these complex issues.

In alignment with AIM-AHEAD’s goals, this research initiative promises to contribute significantly to addressing health inequities and enhancing the capabilities of AI in healthcare. By focusing on the specific needs of underrepresented communities, the George Mason research team is paving the way for more equitable health care solutions, ultimately aiming to improve the accuracy and efficacy of injury assessments across diverse populations.

This project is led by George Mason’s College of Public Health in collaboration with the College of Engineering and Computing. More information on the project can be found at bruise.gmu.edu.

Topics

Bruise Visibility

Artifical Intelligence

Machine Learning

Machine Learning in Health Care

Research

Drones and Terrorism: Graduating Senior Bahceci Shines at Criminology Conference

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 15:56:17 +0000

Drones and Terrorism: Graduating Senior Bahceci Shines at Criminology Conference Andrew J Schappert Thu, 11/21/2024 - 10:56

Presenting a research poster at a major conference is a big deal for a student, particularly for an undergraduate.

Poster presentations create networking opportunities with experts and peers who often provide constructive feedback; summarizing complex ideas and data enhances communications skills; and, in addition to building confidence, it makes a significant addition to resumés and CVs.

Ayse Selma Bahceci with her poster: ‘Presenting at this level gave me firsthand insight into the many opportunities to further enhance our research.’ Photos provided.

For Ayse Selma Bahceci, presenting her poster in mid-November at the American Society of Criminology’s 79th annual meeting in San Francisco, a conference that draws more than 4,000 attendees from more than 40 countries, was not only thrilling, but also nostalgic.

“I was incredibly excited, as this was my very first conference,” the graduating senior said. “It was also a nostalgic experience because I was born and raised in San Francisco.”

Bahceci presents her poster to a conference attendee.

The government and international politics major in the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV had her dream fulfilled just in time: She graduates in December. It’s an opportunity she was happy to have experienced.

“I had the chance to network with a diverse group of talented individuals in their respective fields, which was truly inspiring,” she said. “Presenting at this level gave me firsthand insight into the many opportunities to further enhance our research.”

The poster was titled “Changing Weapon Types in Terrorist Organizations: Which Groups Have Used Drones?” and reflected the work accomplished at George Mason’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) and its affiliated organizations and tools.

“In this presentation, I analyzed drone use within terrorist organizations using data from the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center [GTTAC] and the Incidents Database [GRID], shedding light on how drones are shifting weapon and logistic strategies among these groups,” she said.

Bahceci, left, with Mahmut Cengiz at the conference: ‘I’m excited to see how the Schar School is preparing young experts to fight terrorism around the world,’ he said.

“Many attendees were intrigued by our Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center data collected at the Schar School, and my presentation on drones received excellent feedback,” she said, adding that the data is open for all to use.

“This was Ayse Selma’s first conference, and she gave an exceptional poster presentation on drones, a timely and important topic,” said Associate Professor Mahmut Cengiz, director of the GTTAC. Cengiz accompanied Bahceci to California.

“Her presentation was excellent and she was very well received,” he said. “I’m excited to see how the Schar School is preparing young experts to fight terrorism around the world.”

Presenting at a conference, Bahceci said, “has always been a goal of mine, and I am especially grateful to my mentor and advisor, Professor Cengiz, who supported me every step of the way in reaching this milestone in my career.

“I made many connections during my time at the conference, both from the United States and abroad,” she said. “I believe these networks are valuable moving forward in my career after I graduate.”

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Mahmut Cengiz

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George Mason researchers receive NEH funding for Connecting Threads project

Colleen Rich — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:49:31 +0000

George Mason researchers receive NEH funding for Connecting Threads project Colleen Rich Tue, 11/19/2024 - 13:49

Deepthi Murali and Jason Heppler of ��AV’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media have received a level two Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), in support of their ongoing global textile history project titled Connecting Threads: Digitally Connecting Collections, Expanding Public Engagement.

Deepthi Murali. Photo provided

Connecting Threads is a collaborative digital history project by George Mason in the United States and the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Led by Murali, an assistant professor at George Mason’s Department of History and Art History, and Meha Priyadarshini, a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, the project is dedicated to amplifying the contributions of Indian weavers and Afro-Caribbean consumers to global histories of dress.

"We wanted to pursue original research and scholarship while connecting collections that allow people other than us to find information about these textiles more easily, and offer our research and interpretation to a global public audience, particularly those audiences whose histories we were exploring in our work," said Murali.

The digital project includes archival and material sources from more than 12 archives and museum collections, creating a network of institutional data and scholarship on these textiles. In its first phase, the project utilized the work of an interdisciplinary team of researchers to examine the history of the Madras handkerchief, an internationally popular dress accessory made of brightly colored checked cotton.

The project's institutional partners include the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Bristol Museum and Archives in England, the University of Glasgow Archives in Scotland, the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum in New York, and Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans.

Jason Heppler. Photo provided

The NEH grant will allow the project team to complete building the digital infrastructure and processing of collected data, setting up the project for Phase 2 development.

"The data is a mix of things: material compiled by the Connecting Threads team but also data that we’re computationally compiling from museum open data," said Heppler, senior developer at RRCHNM and the technical lead on the project. "Having those materials in our own database allows us to structure data in a way that serves our purposes."

Heppler said they are also building public-facing interfaces for browsing and viewing the data they’ve compiled. "We’ll be making interactive visualizations, primarily timelines and maps, to follow the movement of textile materials over time and space," he said. "To me, this really is the crux of the project—to understand how materials followed people and cultural ideas."

Murali said she is eager to see how they resolve the challenges of mapping these textiles with their fragmented histories. "This is a problem that most of us who work on non-Western art and material culture history face. The incompleteness of data makes it difficult to produce meaningful digital visualizations and networks," she said. "I am really excited by the possibility that we might be able to work out a solution and further make our process accessible to others dealing with the same issues."

In the next phase, the Connecting Threads team will further expand their research into the history of production of these textiles in southern India as well as begin research on the use of Indian cotton checked textiles in Southeast Asia.

The NEH is the nation's largest public funder of the humanities. The Digital Humanities Advancement Grants program supports innovative, experimental, and/or computationally challenging digital projects, leading to work that can scale to enhance scholarly research, teaching, and public programming in the humanities.

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Are U.S. ‘news deserts’ hothouses of corruption?

Jennifer Anzaldi — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:35:27 +0000

Are U.S. ‘news deserts’ hothouses of corruption? Jennifer Anzaldi Tue, 11/19/2024 - 11:35

The March 24, 2021 edition of neighborhood newspaper Northeast News, out of Kansas City, Missouri, contained a surprise for its 9,000 subscribers. Where the front-page news should have been, there was a big, blank white space. This was no printer’s error, but a last-ditch cry for help. After 89 years in operation, Northeast News had found itself on the brink of insolvency due to the loss of key advertisers amid the COVID pandemic. The empty front page was designed to remind the community of what it would lose if its only local paper went under.

The gambit went viral, prompting a flood of online donations that is keeping the paper afloat, for now. Ironically, Northeast News owes its existence to the very force that has fueled the more general decline of local journalism in America—the internet.

Brad Greenwood

As advertiser dollars migrated to Facebook and Google, the business model that supported local newspapers for generations came to the edge of collapse. Since 2004, more than 2,500 American newspapers have ceased publication—around one-quarter of the total. Overall newspaper circulation has declined by more than half since 1990.

To be sure, digital alternatives have rushed in to fill the gap, such as citizen-journalist websites, nonprofit news organs, partisan blogs, etc. So, the question represented by the blank front page of Northeast News resonates: What do communities lose when newspapers fold that online journalism startups haven’t (so far, at least) been able to replace?

In the past, industry observers and researchers have linked community newspaper closure to diminished civic trust and political participation, among other negative effects. New research from Brad Greenwood, the Maximus Corporate Partner Professor of Business at the Costello College of Business at ��AV, builds on this discourse, finding evidence that when local papers topple, political corruption springs up in their wake.

Greenwood’s paper, coauthored by Ted Matherly of Tulane University, was published in MIS Quarterly.

The researchers focused on U.S. federal districts that lost a major daily newspaper during the years 1996 to 2019. They compared the number of corruption charges (bribery, embezzlement, fraud, etc.), defendants, and cases filed in district court before and after the newspaper closure. The results were striking: Overall, the disappearance of a newspaper delivered a 6.9% increase in charges, a 6.8% increase in the number of indicted defendants and a 7.4% increase in cases filed.

“We looked at federal charges for three reasons. First, the overwhelming amount of statutory enforcement occurs federally. Second, it gives us a uniform definition of what constitutes corruption across every domestic jurisdiction. Finally, and most importantly, federal conviction rates are over 90%,” Greenwood says. “They don’t charge people unless they have a good-faith belief they will prevail at trial.”

Moreover, post-newspaper corruption cases were more likely to go to trial as opposed to resolving in a plea deal, thus incurring greater public costs.

“In an age of misinformation, the solution is not rejecting the professional press, it is embracing it, and ensuring that well-trained and hard-working men and women have both the ability and venue to hold those in power to account."

Greenwood and Matherly also examined whether digital-era upstarts were adequate substitutes for newspapers, in terms of curtailing corruption. They tracked 352 such websites, and found they had no impact on the number of charges, defendants or cases in the districts concerned.

“While it’s hard to say precisely why we don’t see an effect from online news, there are several candidate explanations. Not only do citizen journalists lack the standing and training to tackle questions of public corruption and elevate discourse in the public square, but many of these sites aren’t even legitimate news vendors,” says Greenwood, referencing what are commonly referred to as “pink slime websites.”

Greenwood goes on to suggest that the corruption-preventing power of the defunct papers came not necessarily from journalistic acumen, but rather from the ability to elevate the actions bad actors had taken in public discourse, a process journalism researchers refer to as agenda setting.

Whatever the cause, the ramifications for society are very real. In the Northern District of Illinois alone, corruption-related cases involving more than 1,700 officials cost taxpayers a staggering $550 million per year from 1976 to 2012. The coffers of communities that lose newspapers may suffer more than most, since these cases tend to end up in expensive courtroom proceedings rather than plea deals.

Further, the study only looks at corrupt officials who got caught. Presumably, there are many more whose corruption went unpunished.

All told, these findings suggest that community newspapers should not be regarded as just another business model ill-adapted to digital disruption that should be allowed to fail. Their demise comes at significant public cost, financial and otherwise. “In an age of misinformation, the solution is not rejecting the professional press, it is embracing it, and ensuring that well-trained and hard-working men and women have both the ability and venue to hold those in power to account,” Greenwood says.

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George Mason’s outdoor forensic research lab hosts guest researchers from Louisiana HBCU

Colleen Rich — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:23:31 +0000

George Mason’s outdoor forensic research lab hosts guest researchers from Louisiana HBCU Colleen Rich Wed, 11/13/2024 - 12:23

It wasn’t the glut of unsightly maggots blanketing every inch of the large pig’s carcass from head to toe, but the combination of that and the unforgiving smell amid the stifling heat that initially gave student Brittney Sylvester reason for pause.

SUNO students Brittney Sylvester and LaTavia Williams examine the burial site of the decomposing pig they buried earlier this summer. Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding

A senior forensic science and mathematics double major, Sylvester was part of a team from Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), who came to Northern Virginia this past summer for a program that paired aspiring scientists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-serving institutions with George Mason experts in Criminal Investigations and Network Analysis (CINA) Center.

This 10-week program, DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions, ran from June through August and was funded by a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant to meet critical research needs in the national security realm, while also diversifying the criminal justice system.

Sylvester, an aspiring pathologist, was eager to gain hands-on experience in forensic science and was drawn by the chance to engage in the kind of experiential learning that no textbook could provide. The experience included the opportunity to engage in research with some of the nation’s most renowned forensic scientists and work in George Mason’s five-acre Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory on the Science and Technology Campus, one of just 10 locations in the world capable of performing transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human donors.

More popularly known as the “body farm,” and the only one of its kind in the Mid-Atlantic region, the lab opened its doors in Spring 2021 and received its first human donors this past May.

It was the kind of opportunity Sylvester had always dreamed of.

SUNO Associate Professor Meiko Thompson discusses the significance of the forensic research opportunities for HBCUs, while students LaTavia Williams and Brittney Sylvester listen in the background. Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding

“My work on George Mason’s body farm allowed me to see firsthand how a body decomposes based on the environment, as well as the effects of nudity, clothing, or other covering,” Sylvester said. “This unique research experience has given me the confidence to push past my comfort zone and fully immerse myself in forensics.”

LaTavia Williams, a SUNO senior double majoring in forensic science and biology, also came to George Mason to deepen her knowledge and hands-on experience in forensic science.

“We are actively learning to build skills and learn more—not only about forensics and decomposition, but the environmental, entomological, microbiological, and anthropological aspects, which are crucial to our research,” added Williams, who wants to become a forensic pathologist.

Joining Sylvester and Williams was SUNO Associate Professor of Forensic Science Meiko Thompson, who served as the principal investigator (PI) on the research assisted by George Mason’s Georgia Williams, an assistant professor in the Forensic Science Program who served as the project’s science mentor.

Thompson said SUNO is one of just seven HBCUs with forensic science programs. She finds collaborations with lab sites like the one at George Mason are valuable for HBCU students, not only for educational purposes, but also for networking, as they worked alongside George Mason students and faculty members who are highly regarded and experienced professionals in forensic science.

The SUNO contingent and George Mason's forensic science team—Georgia Williams, Mary Ellen O'Toole, Emily Rancourt, and Molly Kilcarr—stand in front of the Forensic Science Research Training Laboratory. Photo by Eduardo Macedo/Office of University Branding

“This was an incredible opportunity to be at the forefront of scientific research, especially for minority researchers,” Thompson said.

Throughout their weeks working on the body farm the SUNO students were assisted by George Mason Forensic Science Associate Professor Emily Rancourt and two of her students, Nickolyn Jackson and Molly Kilcarr, who were also conducting research on human and pig decomposition. While their projects were different, these students’ collaborative spirits and shared efforts enhanced both projects, providing them with an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind research experience.

During the program, the aspiring scientists took daily samples, measurements, and pictures. Each visit brought more anticipation than the last as they discovered new smells, new organisms, and new plant growth, all the collective result of the decomposing body becoming part of the soil. Each day’s data was recorded and samples immediately frozen to accurately record the decomposition.

Mary Ellen O’Toole, a former FBI agent profiler and director of the Forensic Science Program at George Mason, often visited the students onsite.

“[LaTavia and Brittney] had no idea they would be transformed after a few weeks at the body farm,” O’Toole said. “They seemed more confident, sure of themselves, and absolutely fearless of the work they were doing. As time passed, they showed no hesitation about being around the wild assortment of bugs they had to touch and move, or the pig they buried and had to swab every day. Their curiosity and excitement about everything they were doing was infectious.”

The SUNO students presented their research findings, and their collaboration with George Mason will continue. Thompson and Williams submitted a follow-on proposal to CINA to complete their analysis and submit their research findings, and they are hopeful the future of this research will assist DHS in its national and transnational work to combat crime and terrorism.

Led by George Mason, the CINA Center is funded by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s Office of University Programs to unite leading experts and researchers to pursue multidisciplinary approaches to disrupt criminal activities across both physical and cyber spaces. George Mason is one of nine within the DHS Centers of Excellence, making it a perfect fit for the SUNO contingent because of its commitment to the advancement of science with cutting-edge solutions.

“This experience has shown me that I’m capable and stronger than I believed before I arrived,” Sylvester said. “As Professor Rancourt told me, ‘As long as your curiosity outweighs your fears, you can accomplish anything.’ I will carry this wisdom with me from now on.”

Want to learn more about the "body farm" and crime scene research? Listen to Mary Ellen O'Toole on the Access to Excellence podcast.

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Research Looks to See How Hidden Costs of Social Security Claiming Takes Toll on Widows

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:52:08 +0000

Research Looks to See How Hidden Costs of Social Security Claiming Takes Toll on Widows Andrew J Schappert Wed, 11/13/2024 - 10:52

The timing of filing for Social Security benefits is one of the most important decisions senior Americans must make. But few think about the implications filing early or late in life has on widowed spouses, a segment of society that represents nearly 12 million women, according U.S. Census data.

Sita Slavov: ‘I would hope that this study can help inform families, financial advisors, and policymakers about this important aspect of retirement security.’ Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

Some two million of those widows live below the poverty line.

In a new and detailed study of the topic, Sita Nataraj Slavov, a professor of public policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV, is diving into a critical issue facing America’s aging population: How Social Security claiming decisions affect the financial security of widows.

It’s important to know that the later in life an individual files for Social Security—between 62 and 70—the larger the monthly benefit. Prior research, she said, has shown that many, if not most, people can increase the lifetime value of their benefits by delaying claiming.

Her new research focuses on the choices made by primary earners as to when to claim Social Security benefits and how these decisions shape the financial landscape for their surviving spouses in later life. A key component of her analysis is to assess how the timing of a deceased spouse's Social Security claim influences these financial outcomes after widowhood.

“If the primary earner passes away first, the secondary earner receives a survivor benefit that’s equal to the primary earner’s benefit, including the gains from delay,” she said. “In other words, by delaying, primary earners can pass on a higher survivor benefit to their widowed spouses. So, the original claiming age of the primary earner in a marriage has major implications for the well-being of the secondary earner, if the secondary earner is widowed.”

Using advanced econometric techniques, Slavov is employing difference-in-differences and event study models to trace the shifts in income, labor participation, wealth, and poverty risk that widowed secondary earners experience. She plans to examine how these shifts may be larger or smaller depending on the deceased spouse’s claiming age.

“Social Security is the largest source of retirement income for most Americans,” she said. “Among those aged 65 and over, widowed women have a higher poverty rate than others. The poverty rate in this group is around 16 percent, compared to around 10 percent for all individuals 65 and older.”

Many of these widows, she said, “are secondary earners who are receiving survivor benefits. I would hope that this study can help inform families, financial advisors, and policymakers about this important aspect of retirement security.”

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When CEOs are haunted by memories of past recessions

Jennifer Anzaldi — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 19:43:41 +0000

When CEOs are haunted by memories of past recessions Jennifer Anzaldi Tue, 11/12/2024 - 14:43

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The economy, we’re often reminded, is cyclical. But we all hope our careers won’t be. That means those of us who make it to the very top—CEOs, for instance—may be unduly influenced by memories of prior economic go-rounds. David Koo, assistant professor of accounting in the Donald G. Costello College of Business at ��AV, has found that memories of past recessions, triggered by recent ones, can weigh on chief executives’ decisions, literally for years.

Koo’s paper, co-authored by Isabel Wang of Michigan State University and Shuting Wu of Cal State Fullerton, is forthcoming in Management Science.

David Koo

The paper was inspired by trends in research outside the accounting field. “In the economics area, they have started looking at how executives’ memories of recessions can affect important decision-making right now,” Koo says. “We are trying to connect these emerging trends to the accounting area by focusing on pessimistic bias in their outlook of the company’s performance.”

The researchers adopted the 2008 financial crisis as a key moment for triggering veteran CEOs’ memories of prior financial downturns. They analyzed annual management earnings forecasts for U.S. public companies for the period 2002-2018, alongside the characteristics and career histories of the CEOs who issued them. “We used the first forecast of the year for each year, because on average these are more optimistic,” Koo explains. “Usually, nobody wants to say anything negative at the beginning of a year.” The final data-set comprised 3,678 earnings forecasts from 466 CEOs.

Koo and his co-authors discovered that CEOs who had previously led companies through at least one past recession issued significantly more pessimistic forecasts post-2008 than they had before the crisis. As a general rule, the more recessions a CEO had undergone in their tenure at the top, the more pessimistic their post-crisis forecasts tended to be.

The same pessimistic pattern was not evident for CEOs who had not experienced a recession before 2008. Translating their findings into economic terms, the researchers concluded that one standard deviation of the memory-triggered pessimism effect was equivalent to 0.23-0.29 percent of share price.

Further, the post-crisis pessimism did not make the forecasts more accurate. It’s safe to say, then, that the memory-triggered CEOs were, knowingly or not, displaying excessive caution and conservatism in their earnings forecasts. To be sure, anyone’s outlook can darken with age, independent of their real-world experience. So the researchers performed subsequent checks to determine whether the increased pessimism was more closely related to growing older, or to specific memories of past recessions.

“Our takeaway is, if we have two same-age CEOs, one who has experience navigating recessions as a CEO and one who does not, the first one will become more pessimistic after the crisis,” Koo says.

The more highly skilled CEOs (as measured by a widely accepted scale for managerial ability) exhibited less memory-induced pessimism, while CEOs who led more complex firms with a lot of moving parts were more prone to pessimism. “We expected that the manager-specific effect would be more significant when managers were under more demanding pressure or had more discretion,” Koo explains.

As the 2008 financial crisis itself faded into memory, seasoned CEOs gradually let go of their pessimistic bias. But it took three years, on average, for their forecasts to fully recover. We normally think of past experience as an aid to learning, but here it seems that the opposite was the case: Memories of past experiences with recessions slowed down CEOs’ post-crisis learning process.

“Prior research has found that past experiences can help people more rationally and then more wisely handle an ongoing crisis,” Koo says. “But at the same time, executives are also human beings. They may be scarred by their experiences and that can induce them to be excessively negative or pessimistic when they go through a financial crisis.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the veteran CEOs were less effective at guiding their firms through post-crisis recovery. Koo emphasizes that his findings do not capture whether, and how quickly, companies bounced back from the 2008 recession.

“Memory may not be the most dominant factor in our decision-making, but it still can influence executives even in their managerial decision-making,” Koo advises.

The lesson, then, is one for investors and other market players to store in their own memories for the next economic downturn: Take CEOs’ post-crisis predictions with at least a grain of salt.

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