Hearing loss and tinnitus are the two most common service-related disabilities among U.S. veterans, affecting more than three million people nationwide.

Knowing military service members are routinely exposed to noise that can cause lasting auditory damage, which can make school harder for active duty and student veterans, Karen Doherty, senior associate dean for faculty affairs and professor in the in the, and Tammy Kordas, associate teaching professor also in CSD, set out to learn how tinnitus may be impacting veteran students on campus.

When the two certified audiologists initially went looking for existing research on the prevalence of tinnitus—a ringing or other noise in the ears that isn’t caused by external sound—among veterans on college campuses, they found almost nothing.

So they, along with two of their doctoral students, Marissa Merrifield and Joshua Deus, surveyed service members and veterans currently enrolled at Syracuse University to explore the relationship between self-perceived hearing difficulty and listening fatigue and self-perceived hearing difficulty and tinnitus severity.

The two faculty members have collaborated on research in the past, though this is their first project focused on veterans. Together, they bring complementary expertise to the project. Doherty contributes a research perspective, while Kordas brings a clinical perspective and specialized training in tinnitus management through her work with patients at the .

Doherty says the sparse literature on student veterans and tinnitus wasn’t entirely surprising. Most tinnitus research focuses on older veterans, the demographic that arrives at VA medical centers in their 60s and 70s, ready for hearing aids for diagnosed hearing loss.

Student veterans, meanwhile, appeared to occupy a different and largely unexamined space.

“You might have ‘normal’ hearing yet have a lot of difficulty hearing in background noise as well as challenges in trying to deal with the secondary effects of tinnitus,” Doherty says.

To get a sense of how much tinnitus impacts student veterans, they sent out the survey with the help of��retired U.S. Army Colonel��, executive director of the .��

Determining the Prevalence—and Impact—of Tinnitus

The research team developed a survey combining standardized outcome measures for determining self-perceived listening difficulties and the severity of a person’s tinnitus. Original questions about the students’ past noise exposures, such as firearms, explosions or piloted aircraft, were included.

“Tinnitus is one of the most common service-connected injuries affecting members as they transition out of military service,” Novack says. “It affects your quality of sleep, your concentration. It affects stress levels for you, either up or down, depending on the acoustics in the environment in which you’re operating. It affects your ability, or a student’s ability, to fully engage in learning environments.”

For student veterans, experiencing tinnitus could mean difficulty focusing during lectures or increased fatigue, with background noise in a classroom forcing them to work twice as hard to hear the lesson.

“The tinnitus itself wears on anyone,” Novack says. “It can increase anxiety in what we would like to see and experience as a quiet learning environment. And veterans may not come right out and tell someone they have this problem. They’re going to go into a classroom, and they’re going to find a way to navigate that invisible disability potentially without an accommodation, because they don’t think it’s a big deal. So they might be recording the whole entire lecture and then come back and take notes at their own pace and cadence.”

The research team sent the survey to 270 student veterans in the fall and 97 responded. Of those students, 82% reported experiencing tinnitus.

Students who reported experiencing tinnitus went on to complete a standardized test measuring the severity. Forty percent reported bothersome tinnitus, which indicates it is affecting quality of life. Only about 10% of the general population in the same age range experiences bothersome tinnitus.

“We went into this with certain hypotheses, one of them being that exposure to loud noise during military service would be associated with higher rates of tinnitus,” Doherty says. “But we didn’t know it was going to be more than twice those of traditional college students. We were really surprised.”

A Starting Point

Kordas, Doherty and Novack all agree that identifying the scope of the problem is only the first step toward developing meaningful support and solutions.

“It gives us more of an opportunity to move from an anecdotal awareness on campus, toward a more data-informed understanding of how this issue really affects student veterans at the University,” Novack says.

Doherty and Kordas aim to implement interventions for student veterans with listening difficulties and tinnitus, including using hearing assistive technologies in the classroom that improve signal-to-noise ratios in lecture settings. This would potentially reduce fatigue and listening effort.

The researchers also hope to bring student veterans into a clinic setting to assess whether their tinnitus is accompanied by measurable hearing loss.

“You can manage and treat tinnitus, so knowledge is power,” Kordas says. “I think providing them with informational counseling about this condition would be beneficial as well.”

Many student veterans may already be eligible for treatment or other interventions for their hearing difficulties through the VA medical center.

“‘I need assistance,’ that’s what our veterans need to say,” Novack says. “Once they do that, we have the here on campus and we have the VITAL program where we can help knock down barriers and facilitate care for our veterans who might need accommodations, need to have this tinnitus addressed and put in a care plan to assist them.”��

First for Veterans

The University’s infrastructure for veterans made this research possible in a way few universities could replicate, Doherty says.

“We couldn’t do this without the veteran center being the way it is, and Ron’s support of the project was an integral part of its success,” she says.

Novack says the OVMA is always eager to partner and support “responsible research that helps better inform and understand the lived experience of our veterans.”

“It’s small things like this that move the needle each and every day,” he says. “And our longstanding institutional commitment is what brings transitioning service members to Syracuse, because they know when they come here, they’re going to get taken care of, that this institution has a national reputation for taking care of those who have worn the nation’s cloth.”

What the research team learned and implements as a result of their recent study could serve as a model for other academic institutions with smaller veteran programs and less organized support systems, Doherty says.

“There are a lot of people who have tinnitus and there are ways to treat it,” Kordas says. “It may not go away completely, but the goal is to manage it and reduce how much it affects daily life.”

When prominent content creators met with U.S. policymakers earlier this summer during Creator Row, a first-of-its-kind content creator gathering organized by the , Syracuse University was the only higher education institution represented on Capitol Hill.

Thomas O’Brien, project coordinator for the (CCE), was part of the University delegation invited to help inform and educate lawmakers on the unique challenges content creators face and learn more about potential legislative priorities involving creators.

O’Brien met face-to-face with elected U.S. representatives, content creators and employees from leading platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Meta, Patreon, Substack, Adobe and Rumble, to help advance the conversation around the creator economy as a growing economic sector.

“We’re the first school to create an academic resource center entirely focused on social media content creation and the revenue streams that exist within that industry, so it was fitting and a great honor to be able to represent both Syracuse and the Center for the Creator Economy at these events,” O’Brien says. “We’re paving a path forward and it’s an exciting time for content creators.”

It was the perfect opportunity for O’Brien and the University delegation—consisting of Carrie Welch, CCE launch director, and Cameron MacPherson, senior director of operations and government affairs with the —to share how the CCE helps students build real-world skills in media, entrepreneurship and digital strategy.

The CCE,��a joint initiative between the and the , is a first-of-its-kind academic initiative dedicated to preparing students for careers in the creator economy.

Through meetings with elected representatives, the University’s delegation learned why support for the creator economy has become a priority at the local, state and federal levels, and how Congress is addressing the growing gap between what content creators need to be successful with potential overregulation of this emerging industry.

“The room was full of some of the biggest names shaping the creator economy, from tech companies and platforms to creators themselves, and it’s great that Syracuse University was in it,” MacPherson said of the event. “All in all, it couldn’t have gone much better for the University. It was a fantastic, dynamic event for us to participate in.”

The Creator Row event was organized and hosted by U.S. Reps. Beth Van Duyne of Texas and Yvette Clark of New York.

The blueprint for a better building may be hiding beneath the forest floor.

To design sustainable, weather-resistant structures, is studying the fungal networks that span thousands of acres underground—among the most expansive living organisms on Earth.

Mycelium is the fiber network behind fast-growing mushroom colonies that can span miles. Its underground strands connect to transfer water, nutrients and minerals, helping mushrooms grow and eventually emerge aboveground.

Qin’s research explores how these natural fibers can be harvested, grown and engineered into high-performing materials that could reshape how we construct buildings for generations to come.

“We focus on how these mycelium fibers grow and flourish and how those fibers can be used to replace a lot of the synthetic polymers,” says Qin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the . “We then apply that knowledge to the fundamental mechanics behind designing the internal structures of buildings to make them lighter, stronger and more resistant to dynamic forces like impact from earthquakes.”

From the Forest Floor to the Laboratory

Qin’s team begins its work at the most fundamental level, with a single spore. Researchers introduce mushroom spores into a carefully prepared growing medium then use time-lapse imaging to monitor how the fibers grow, branch and connect.

By adjusting such environmental conditions as humidity, temperature and substrate stiffness, the group can influence how quickly and densely the mycelium network develops.

Once the network reaches maturity, it becomes a natural adhesive.

When introduced to biomass materials like wood chips or sawdust, mycelium fibers grow into the gaps between particles and bind everything together, functioning like a biological version of wood glue without any synthetic chemicals.

“The beautiful thing is you don’t need to use glue or any synthetic adhesive,” Qin says. “Instead, you just use this natural fiber system to bind biomass together, and it spontaneously grows.”

The result is a material that resembles medium-density fiberboard but is produced entirely from natural components.

Qin calls the bonding process “biowelding,” a technique that effectively joins wood components the way welding joins steel, but without heat, chemicals or combustion risk.

To optimize the recipe for these composite materials, Qin’s lab uses artificial intelligence. Because biomass sources vary widely in particle size and chemical composition, no single equation can reliably predict the best combination of pressure, temperature and material inputs.

Instead, the team runs large-scale experiments and uses machine learning tools to identify which variables produce the lightest, strongest and most durable results.

“Using machine learning and AI is a very powerful tool that helps us understand these complex systems and figure out the correlation between this complex structure and the performance of the materials in that structure,” Qin says.

A Greener Way to Insulate

One of the most promising applications of Qin’s research involves building insulation, and Qin has discovered that mycelium insulation avoids many of the traditional negatives associated with current insulation options like fiberglass, cellulose and polystyrene.

Mycelium comes from a renewable source that is petroleum-free and possesses a much smaller carbon footprint than other insulation choices. Qin’s research has also shown that mycelium provides effective insulation while allowing the building to breathe.

“It’s a sustainable source, a green material,” Qin says. “It’s also safer and cheaper for scaled manufacturing purposes.”

In collaboration with mechanical and aerospace engineering colleagues and and , an assistant professor in the School of Architecture, Qin is developing mycelium-based insulation panels specifically designed for building retrofits, targeting older houses across New York state that have proven to be energy inefficient.

In 2024, the University received $846,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop and demonstrate MycoCore, a product aimed at addressing a lack of low-carbon insulated façade systems for deep energy retrofits through a unique panelized solution manufactured with engineered bio-composites using regional agri-waste. Wilson serves as the principal investigator, while Qin, Bing and Jensen are co-principal investigators.

Mycelium research at the University began in 2019 with the interdisciplinary Mycelium Research Group—formed from internal research seed funding—examining mycelium building materials as one objective within the Architecture-led exploratory project.

Filtering the Air We Breathe

When Qin arrived at Syracuse University from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he created the , a research group studying biomechanics and biomaterials to improve the efficiency and performance of building materials.

His research earned Qin a in 2022. But in the beginning, while Qin recognized the benefits of using mycelium as an adhesive, he didn’t realize the mushroom’s unique network structure could also address air filtration challenges.

Working with Zhang and mechanical and aerospace engineering colleague , Qin’s lab is now exploring how mycelium materials can be integrated into heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to capture airborne particles and absorb chemical gases that slowly release from synthetic wood products, furniture and paint.

“Once we start to collect samples and put them in the microscope, we see this unique complex network structure,” Qin says. “Once we do the mechanical testing, we see how this complex network connects to the mechanical, thermal and many material responses. At that point, we start to explore many different applications.”

This work is supported by a Center of Excellence faculty fellowship Qin received last year.

Qin credits the NSF CAREER grant with allowing his team of student researchers to spend four years exploring mycelium’s potential.

“We knew mycelium can be used as an adhesive, but we knew much less about the insulation or the air filtering implications,” Qin says. “The NSF CAREER grant really allowed us to explore the fundamental scientific applications found in mycelium while discovering all of the related applications. It was a game changer.”

Tashia Thomas Neal was born and raised in Syracuse. But despite supporting the city’s��South��Side for years, it��wasn’t��until she set foot on the soil at����to take pictures as part of the��Southside Stories project that she learned about the urban farm tucked in the neighborhood.

She says that moment of community discovery is one of the key strengths of the��Southside Stories, a community storytelling initiative that pairs Syracuse residents with professional photojournalists to document the people, places and programs enriching the neighborhood. The stories and images produced are then published��on��,��the��program’s����and website.

The program launched in spring 2025,��emerging��from��Southside Connections, a collaboration between Syracuse University’s����and 30 organizations across the city’s��South��Side.��Residents��are given��the technical skills to document and celebrate the��community,��and��give greater visibility to��the mutual��aid and everyday resilience happening in the neighborhood, which includes the historic 15th Ward.

For Thomas Neal, who was part of a recent cohort of residents trained through the project, the experience was gratifying.

“I’m gaining skills I can use for my own photography, even if I’m using my iPhone. I’m meeting new people in the group, and I’m also meeting people in the community I wouldn’t have met otherwise,” Thomas Neal says.

How It Works

, co-founder of��Southside Stories, director of the Engaged Humanities Network and associate professor and��Dean’s��Professor of��Community��Engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences, says building up the capacity for residents to tell the stories of their own neighborhood is incredibly important. Not just for communicating to audiences outside the neighborhood but for “telling the story of the community to the��community itself” as a way of building pride��of��place and recognizing the values and skills present.

Nordquist co-directs Southside Stories alongside co-founders Amy Toensing and Matt Moyer ’94, longtime photojournalists and documentary filmmakers who have worked for National Geographic for decades. Toensing previously was a faculty member at the��, while Moyer is currently an adjunct professor. Together they run��, working with��Newhouse graduate��Kayla Breen G’24.

Toensing and Moyer originally connected with Nordquist through a different Engaged Humanities Network collaboration with Syracuse University Art Museum, theprogram. Together, the three��came up with��the model of training community members for the��Southside Stories project, which��invites cohorts of participants—from high school-age students to older adults—to��learn the basics of photography and visual storytelling.

The cohorts then pair with the photojournalists for field experiences to cover different stories in the neighborhood. Afterward, they review their work, critiquing it alongside the facilitators, and return to the field to get more images.

“What we’re doing is not only giving the foundation of understanding how composition and light and color and moment are going to influence an image and what it communicates; we’re also talking about the broader stories that exist, and then teaming up with them to give instruction and let them find their own story in this process,” Moyer says.

Toensing says discovery is an important part of the program as the cohort highlights the stories in the community.

“They’re getting outside of themselves, which is important for all of us, to leave our egos behind and become conduits for other people’s stories and to allow people to be seen,” she says.

What Participants Say

For Thomas Neal, the program has aligned with her professional work, but she says the storytelling project has helped her meet people who are doing work outside of her field and typical day-to-day.

“Being able to meet people who are doing great things and see the impact on other people in the community has been fantastic,” she says.

Over a dozen SU undergraduate and graduate students have been involved in projects associated with Southside Connections over the past two and a half years, and two—Destinyi Fernandez ’27 and Sandra Oduro G’28—have played significant roles in shaping the Southside Stories project as research assistants.

Fernandez is studying art photography in the����and serving as the undergraduate research assistant on the project. She��participated��in the Photography and Literacy��program in high school, learning from Moyer and Nordquist before she arrived at the University.��She says the experience with��Southside Stories��challenged��her��in new ways and��helped her gain valuable skills for her photography, pointing to when she took photos at Ze Mart and had to approach and��interview��people.

“That definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, because as a photographer, I’m usually more of an observer,” she says. “This experience encouraged me to engage more directly with people through interviewing and storytelling, giving me guidance for communicating with people and conducting interviews.”

The experience has underscored that she doesn’t want to just produce a “pretty image.”

“I want it to have an impact,” Fernandez says. “I feel like I’ve learned so much from both [Southside Stories and the Photography and Literacy program] and how I can apply that to my academic life and my career moving forward.”

Why It Matters

So far, the program has published five stories on Salt, with half a dozen still in progress. Nordquist says as the program grows, he hopes different forms of storytelling will��ultimately join��the visual, documentary stories.

“Our��intent with��Southside Stories is to celebrate the people and the projects and the businesses and the organizations in��South��Side and the resiliency and the challenges, all of it,” Toensing says.

Ultimately, Nordquist��says the hope��is��the program can become a self-sustaining, neighborhood-run network of storytellers.

“Collective action follows collective storytelling,” he says. “They’re intertwined and inseparable. So if we want to make real, lasting improvement of the city, of the region and of the University, then we have to take storytelling seriously, and we have to respect the power of stories.”

Syracuse University is at the center of a regional effort to develop the energy storage workforce of the future, serving as a core partner in the and spearheading the workforce development portion of its mission through administration of the Generating Regional Opportunities in Workforce (GROW) program.

“Syracuse University brings together research expertise, workforce development skills and community partnerships,” says Vice President for Research . “The Energy Storage Engine lets us put all of that to work for upstate New York by connecting the science happening in our labs to the jobs and training our region needs.”

The Energy Storage Engine was launched in January 2024 as one of 10 inaugural Regional Innovation Engines created by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Its aim: to make upstate New York a national hub for battery technology by bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs and workforce trainers. Led by Binghamton University, the initiative recently entered phase 2 with a $45 million NSF grant.

Crucial Role

, director of strategic partnerships in the , co-coordinated workforce development during the engine’s first phase. “The energy storage sector is going to generate thousands of jobs in upstate New York,” he says. “That’s why workforce development is so important—it’s the bridge between the research happening in our labs and the economic impact we’re trying to create in our communities.”

The GROW program was established in late 2024 with a $2 million subcontract from Binghamton University. Together with Rome, New York-based nonprofit , Syracuse University oversaw the competitive grant program, which seeded battery and energy storage workforce training at institutions and organizations across Central and Western New York and the Southern Tier. A diverse cohort received $1.1 million in GROW awards: YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County; SUNY Broome Community College; Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT); Binghamton University; Alfred University; GreenForce Training Inc.; the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at RIT; and Syracuse University.

These institutions developed programs for a wide range of learners, from middle and high school pupils to college students to community members. Nearly 400 participants have benefited from GROW-funded programs—a number that will increase substantially in phase two.

“Two years ago, training for battery research and manufacturing was essentially fully concentrated in Binghamton at SUNY Broome,” Crampton says. “With funding from the Engine, training was expanded to form a network of curriculum and programs across upstate. Hundreds of people have been exposed to opportunities in battery technology, many of whom would have never before considered it as a career path.”

Breadth and Inclusion

SUNY Broome expanded a Power and Energy Management seminar series, hosted a residential STEM summer camp for middle and high school students, and trained career and technical education teachers across multiple BOCES districts. The YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County brought battery science to students in Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton, including facility tours and hands-on LEGO robotics activities at the middle school level.

NTID developed a battery technician training program specifically designed for the American Sign Language community, offering a one-day workshop and an 80-hour bootcamp. Forty individuals completed training, with several earning the Northeast New York Battery Technician Credential. GreenForce Training in Buffalo delivered six accelerated production associate courses to individuals facing barriers to employment—including single parents, refugees and returning citizens—achieving an 84% job placement rate.

At the higher education level, RIT developed an 18-hour Li-ion battery curriculum delivered as a three-day immersive workshop for Monroe Community College students. Binghamton University created a new Sustainable Energy Engineering track in its electrical engineering degree. Alfred University launched a credit-bearing course in machine learning prediction of battery lifetime, enrolling 33 students and hosting a summer session that included industry professionals from Raymond Corporation.

Syracuse University’s GROW-funded program brought clean energy and autonomous systems education to 28 high school students from the Syracuse City School District through a six-week summer workshop. All participants—approximately half of whom had no prior coding experience—completed the program, and 27 traveled to Boston for a national competition. A majority reported increased interest in pursuing engineering or computer science majors.

Looking Ahead

With the engine now entering phase two, the workforce development pillar is set to scale significantly. The initiative is targeting a hub-and-spoke model anchored by four regional coalitions—each led by a major research university—to coordinate enrollment growth, transfer agreements, experiential learning and employer engagement. Summer 2026 internship and undergraduate research cohorts are projected to double.

“The groundwork laid by the first GROW cohort has demonstrated that building a regional energy storage workforce is possible, and that it requires meeting learners where they are: in high school classrooms, community organizations and college labs across the region,” Crampton says.

Inside every human cell, a tiny structure called a lysosome acts like a recycling center, breaking down toxic waste, clearing damaged proteins and helping keep the cell functioning properly.

When that recycling center stops working because the lysosome loses the acidic conditions it needs to function, the consequences ripple outward. Waste builds up, proteins accumulate and eventually the cell’s internal systems begin to break down. This type of dysfunction is commonly associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

Newly published research from , assistant professor of biomedical and chemical engineering in the , suggests that nanoscopic particles delivered into the body could help restore the recycling function, and in doing so, slow disease progression at its cellular root.

Instead of just treating symptoms, Zeng’s novel approach uses acidic nanoparticles to restore lysosomal function and repair the cell’s built-in cleanup system. The results of her study, , demonstrate this strategy in both cell and animal models of Parkinson’s disease.

“Rather than simply trying to block damage after it occurs, this approach aims to restore the cell’s own ability to clear toxic material and maintain homeostasis,” Zeng says. “We think this makes it especially promising, because it could be adapted to other diseases in which harmful proteins build up and the cell’s recycling system isn’t working properly.”

The study, published in April, was carried out in collaboration with assistant professor and his lab in the ’ Department of Biology. , part of the , work closely together to better understand the underlying disease mechanisms for conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis.

How the Research Works

Zeng focuses on developing tools to deliver therapies more precisely within the body. One such tool is nanoparticles—tiny spherical structures formed from long, flexible polymer chains.

How small exactly is nanosized? Ten to the power of minus nine, tinier than a cell itself.

“Think of them like long, soft chains that tangle together and eventually form a tiny ball,” she says. “That’s what makes a nanoparticle. Because they’re so small, cells can take them in pretty easily.”

Zeng is applying this nanoparticle-based strategy across multiple disease areas, including metabolic disorders and Parkinson’s disease, with a focus on addressing dysfunction at the cellular level—both to better understand early changes and to deliver more precise, effective treatments.

In Parkinson’s, impaired lysosomal function and toxic protein buildup contribute to neuronal damage. Lysosomes require an acidic environment to function, similar to how stomach acid helps break down food. In disease, this acidity is reduced and the “recycling center” function stops working, allowing waste to accumulate.

“You can think of it like stomach acid—helping break things down,” Zeng says. “Lysosomes need to stay very acidic to work properly. Our nanoparticles go into the cell, break apart, and release acid, which helps restore that environment. That’s how they get the lysosomes working again.”

Her newly published study demonstrated how restoring the pH environment in lysosomes reduced toxic protein aggregation, a hallmark of Parkinson’s, in both cell and animal models, thereby protecting the brain cells responsible for movement that are progressively lost during the disease.

Zeng’s work also suggests that lysosomal dysfunction may be an early indicator of disease, observed across conditions ranging from Parkinson’s to metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.

“When lysosomes start to lose function and you’re no longer able to clear unwanted material, it can signal that harmful processes are beginning to build up,” Zeng says. “It may serve as an early warning sign.”

For that reason, Zeng and Lo are also working to develop biomarkers that can detect changes in lysosomal pH at early stages.

What’s Next

The next step Zeng is taking with her nanoparticle research is tackling how to make them better at reaching the brain, where they’re needed.

The brain has a built-in security system called the blood-brain barrier, which helps protect the organ from harmful substances but also blocks most medicines from getting through. That means even good treatments may never reach the place they are needed to work.

To address this, Zeng is designing nanoparticles with features that can be recognized by receptors at the barrier, allowing more efficient transport into the brain.

“If you inject a drug, often less than 1% actually makes it into the brain,” Zeng says. “If we can improve how well it gets across the blood-brain barrier—even by several fold—it could make treatments much more effective, or allow us to use much lower doses. That’s why this step is so important.”

Looking ahead, Zeng is working to further validate and refine this approach with an eye toward potential clinical translation.

“There are already a few FDA-approved nanoparticle-based drugs and vaccines, mainly in cancer and infectious diseases, but not yet for neurodegenerative conditions,” she says. “At this stage, we are focused on testing in mouse models and building the foundation for future studies in larger animal models.”

She shares adjacent lab space with Lo, her close collaborator, and together they pursue interdisciplinary research to develop new tools and therapies for inflammatory, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

Students interested in joining the lab are encouraged to reach out.

“We welcome inquiries from motivated students who are interested in our work,” Zeng says.

Wastewater surveillance was hailed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a more comprehensive way to track disease, monitoring entire communities regardless of whether residents had access to a doctor or a test.

But a new study finds wastewater surveillance carries its own built-in blind spots, and the communities bearing the brunt are the ones already most vulnerable.

Researchers at the worked with New York State’s wastewater surveillance network and found that while the system does a reasonably fair job of including vulnerable populations, it struggles in larger populations when an outbreak is starting, which is when it matters most.

The reason is that vulnerable communities tend to be in cities and are connected to large wastewater treatment plants that serve hundreds of thousands of people. When a single infected person sheds a pathogen, it’s diluted across an enormous volume of water. This makes early detection more difficult. Smaller, less vulnerable communities (where wealthier people tend to live) are served by smaller plants where a single case is easier to spot.

, lead author of the study and the professor and chair of the public health department in the Maxwell School, says the system carries an inherent imbalance in outbreak detection. As an example, more than 80% of people living in poverty in New York state lived in areas where an outbreak would have to surpass 10 infections before consistent detection in wastewater.

The findings arrive at a critical moment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Wastewater Surveillance System now faces uncertain funding as emergency appropriations expire. Decisions about which treatment plants remain in surveillance networks are currently being made. The study warns that cutting smaller plants to reduce costs could make existing gaps in coverage considerably worse.

“Outbreaks don’t stay in one location,” says Larsen. “If they are problematic, they spread. Detecting an outbreak in a smaller community could signal a larger outbreak in a more vulnerable community nearby.”

The authors propose several strategies to close the gap. Taking wastewater samples upstream from large treatment plants (at the neighborhood level rather than at the plant itself) can detect outbreaks in smaller sub-communities before dilution makes it more difficult. Expanding plant participation in smaller communities and improving statistical modeling for low-population areas could also narrow these gaps, though the researchers acknowledge these approaches carry significant cost.

New research in the journal����by Maxwell postdoctoral scholar Dustin Hill, Professor of Public Health Dave Larsen and a team of researchers has found a strong connection between the prevalence of genetic variations of the COVID-19 virus and higher community transmission.

Testing wastewater to detect viruses in a community is a well-established scientific practice. But knowing the prevalence of a disease has always presented challenges, with science relying on sheer volume and concentration of virus load found to make inexact assumptions.

The team, which included colleagues from SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY College of��Environmental Science and Forestry and the New York State Department of Health, looked closely at existing data and genomes from wastewater surveillance collected during the COVID-19 emergency, measuring genetic variation through small, insignificant changes in the virus genome, and comparing that to transmission levels.

To put it simply: they found that the more variation in the viral material in wastewater, the more people were infected.

“Not only do infections rise when diversity of the virus increases, infections decline as diversity declines,” says Hill, the study’s lead author. “We tested three different ways to measure diversity of the virus genome in wastewater, and all three measures predicted infections with extremely high statistical power.”

While the study analyzed COVID-19, this connection could change how wastewater surveillance is used not just to detect, but to measure disease transmission with implications for monitoring other diseases, including influenza, measles, polio and future viruses that may arise.

“These findings open up new areas of exploration in genetic epidemiology,” says Larsen. “We will now be able to estimate transmission from sequencing data, something that has previously not been possible.

Key Takeaways From the Study

• Genetic diversity measured in wastewater is highly predictive of community infection numbers, and superior to current methods that use concentration
• Wastewater genetic data can tell us more than just what variants or subtypes are circulating in each community
• Methods can be applied to any pathogen found in wastewater that can have genetic material sequenced

“This is exactly the kind of research Maxwell exists to support—rigorous, evidence-based and consequential well beyond the laboratory,” says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke. “The collaboration between Professor Larsen, Dr. Hill and their partners at the New York State Department of Health is a model for how transformative research unfolds: without a roadmap, assembling the right collaborators, working through what didn’t work and ultimately arriving at findings that can make communities healthier and safer. The ability to move from detection to prediction changes what policymakers can do, and when they can do it. That’s not just scientific progress—that’s the public good.”

The research project grew from a partnership between Syracuse University, the New York State Department of Health, SUNY Upstate and SUNY ESF that began in March of 2020, in the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

As the virus first spread in New York and elsewhere, Larsen proposed using wastewater to detect and monitor the virus at Syracuse University. He assembled a team of researchers from Syracuse and nearby universities to begin developing the wastewater surveillance technology that would eventually become critical to New York State’s response to the disease and developed into the��.

“The wastewater program was further developed in 2022 by the addition of sequencing of the detected virus, work that was undertaken by the 5-site sequencing consortium set up by the Wadsworth Center in 2021,” says Kirsten St. George, director of the Virology Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center and co-author of the study. “The sequence data generated by the consortium provided the information needed for the genetic variation analysis and transmission correlations reported in this study. Initiated to monitor circulating and emerging variants of the virus, the sequence data generated by the consortium has now proven to be a powerful tool for additional applications.”

In 2024, the New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network was designated as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Northeast Region Center of Excellence.

“The valuable partnerships the department and our world-renowned Wadsworth Center have developed with Syracuse University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and SUNY Upstate Medical University are leading to important new discoveries that are advancing our understanding of not only how to detect COVID in wastewater, but also how to analyze those samples to better predict community transmission,” says New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. “The researchers involved in this study remain on the cutting edge of scientific discovery that could change how we look at other pathogens in wastewater, including polio, influenza and measles and establishing wastewater sampling as a reliable public health early warning system for public health threats.”

This latest research, in the article titled “,” appears in the May 14 issue of��Science, a leading outlet for scientific news and research.

Not everyone interested in pursuing a law degree lives in a large metropolitan area or near a bustling college town. In fact, many students enrolled in the College of Law’s hybrid online (JDi) program are located in faraway places, whether a small Alaskan city, an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean or rural areas throughout the U.S.

For many of them, remaining in their communities is not just practical but purposeful due to personal obligations or a long-held desire to serve their communities.

Meet four recent graduates from out-of-the-way places who have successfully joined the legal profession through the JDi program.

Dawnelle Forsythe L’26, Oahu, Hawaii

As a native of Hawaii, Dawnelle Forsythe lives in a small city of 44,000 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Back in the early 2000s, she wanted to become a lawyer, but the only law school in Hawaii was on Oahu, and the travel and expense was prohibitive.

Instead, she went to work for the County of Hawaii Office of Housing and later the State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian Home Lands under the , which helps provide affordable housing to qualified native Hawaiians.

However, in 2019, two pivotal events made Forsythe reconsider law school. She says the first was “fate” when she saw an article about a newly established hybrid JDi program that could enable her to earn a law degree without leaving home.

Around the same time, she accompanied her husband to observe a protest centering around the construction of a massive at the top of Mauna Kea, the Big Island’s highest mountain and an area considered sacred by the native people.

When they arrived, more than 100 protestors had formed a protective human wall in front of the kūpunas (revered elders). The kūpunas had sought to halt the construction of the 18-story telescope atop Mauna Kea and were blocking the road from construction vehicles, while the crowd chanted in support of preserving land put in trust for the Hawaiian people to ensure the continuation of their culture. As Forsythe watched, state troopers began removing those blocking the road.

“Some of the troopers were related to the aunties and uncles they were arresting, and many on both sides were crying together,” Forsythe says. “It was such a somber event, and it made a lasting impact on me. I decided then that I had to go to law school to be an advocate for my ‘Ohana’ (family), the people of my community.”

She quit her job at a hospital to focus on the JDi program.��“Not only would it allow me to stay at home, but I was drawn to its trial advocacy program that would help me become an attorney ready to go into court and advocate for people,” she says.

Forsythe is now thrilled she found “her New York Ohana” made up of the “geniuses in her cohort,” as well as faculty she admires, including Distinguished Professor of Law Nina Kohn and Associate Dean for Academic Programs Shannon Gardner.

Forsythe is committed to soon using her law degree pro bono to help Hawaiian residents, particularly those facing land rights cases who lack money for legal representation.

“It isn’t about making money; it’s about something that will totally fulfill my heart,” she says. “I’m excited to finally reach my goal of becoming a lawyer, and I know that it would not have been possible without Syracuse Law’s JDi program.”

Sarah Frank Roberts L’22, Kenai, Alaska

There are no law schools in Alaska, so when Sarah Frank Roberts decided to pursue a law degree, she knew her options were limited. A mother of six, Roberts lives with her husband and family in Kenai, Alaska, a town of about 5,000 people, most of whom work in the fishing or oil and gas industries.

When Roberts discovered the JDi program, it seemed to be a solution. She could take classes and get her work done after her children went to sleep, and the four-hour time difference between Alaska and New York was manageable. She was accepted into the program’s second cohort since its founding in 2019.

“The experience was rigorous,” Roberts says. “There was no hiding in the back of the room when professors like����could see your face up close on the screen. I certainly got the same high level of education that those in an on-campus program received.”

According to Roberts, there is a huge need for lawyers, particularly public defenders and district attorneys, in Alaska, but with no law schools, people tend to leave to go to school and never return. Roberts was able to stay because of the JDi program, and today she is an assistant public advocate and conflict counselor for the state of Alaska, focusing on family issues like custody and guardianship.

“I get to help people, many of whom have made a lot of mistakes but still deserve representation,” Roberts says.

Megan Poole L’23, Cortland, New York

Megan Poole grew up on a dairy farm in Cortland County, New York, but, knowing the challenges of farming, her parents encouraged her to pursue a different career.

After earning an undergraduate degree in criminology, Poole wanted to be a probation officer but didn’t get the position she originally intended. Instead, she says, “Rejection is divine redirection,” and decided to take the LSAT and pursue law school.

In the meantime, she was offered a job in the Cortland County Department of Social Services (DSS) as a case worker handling foster care, child protective services and adoption cases. She still wanted to go to law school, but she was “too heartbroken to leave” the difficult job of helping families in need. However, when she found the JDi program, she realized she could pursue a law degree while continuing her job with DSS and helping on the family farm.

“The JDi program was certainly just as difficult as an on-campus program,” says Poole, who enjoyed the required in-person residencies, where she was able to interact with fellow students and faculty both on-campus and in various other cities.

After completing the JDi program, she continued to work at the DSS in Cortland. About a year later, the Hon. A.L. Beth O’Connor, a family court judge in the 6^th Judicial District of New York, which includes Cortland County, reached out to Poole about being her court attorney.

“I see both the terrible and the good, but that’s part of the job,” she says. “I think I’m making a big difference in my community, particularly for people who don’t have the resources for good legal counsel, and the JDi program was a big part of making that possible.”

An added bonus of becoming a lawyer was the opportunity for Poole, her mother and sister to turn the family farm into Spring Valley Views, a woman-owned LLC, with plans to expand it into a venue and campground.

Tania Rivera Bullard L’25, Houston County, Georgia

Tania Rivera Bullard earned an undergraduate degree in psychology, figuring she would be a social worker like her mother. Instead, Rivera Bullard decided to pursue a path offered to military spouses to become a paralegal. As she studied for her paralegal certification, she started to think, “Why can’t I be a lawyer?”

Interested in being a public defender or a civil rights attorney, she was accepted into a JD at an on-campus law school that required a four-hour round-trip commute from her home in rural Georgia. However, a complicated pregnancy made it impossible, and she was forced to defer her start. Rivera Bullard began looking for alternatives and found the JDi program, which would allow her to remain with her family while pursuing a law degree.

Not long after, Rivera Bullard, then the mother of a 2-year-old and an 8-month-old, began the JDi program��and found it manageable. “I became a night owl,” she explains. “After the kids went to sleep, I would concentrate on asynchronous work and getting my reading done, and I spent long hours on the phone with my dear friend Nathan McKay L’26, my study partner, who made such a difference for me. It certainly was a careful balancing act, but if you’re willing to find the time, you can make it happen.”

After finishing her law degree and passing the Alabama bar exam, she went to work as an assistant public defender for the Houston County (GA) Public Defenders’ Office.

“As a public defender, you handle felony cases that nobody else wants, and, arguably, you’re experiencing the toughest, scariest times of people’s lives. I get to help them through a system that, to many, feels like it is set up to fail them,” Rivera Bullard says. “At the end of the day, I go home and feel good about the work I’ve done in my community. The Syracuse JDi program really made it possible for me to achieve my goals.”