When Steve Messier started researching how to best treat pain caused by knee osteoarthritis, there was no cure for the debilitating condition. More than 30 years later, that’s still the case—so the biomechanics expert and professor of Health and Exercise Science at Wake Forest University wants to prevent it. Through a series of clinical studies,…Categories: Experts, Research & Discovery
More time spent standing or stepping while wearing a weighted vest showed positive changes in bone mineral density, according to a new weight loss study from Wake Forest University. It’s encouraging news for people trying to lose weight safely, especially older adults who want to drop pounds without losing bone or muscle mass. The study,…Categories: Research & Discovery, Uncategorized
In January 2026, Wake Forest announced its expanding leadership in the rapidly growing field of neuroarts, where research shows how creative expression can support brain health, strengthen well-being, and deepen human connection. On February 13, artists, scholars, clinicians, service organizations, community members and funders gathered to drum, dance and reframe community conversations about the arts…Categories: Arts & Culture, Community Impact, Research & Discovery
In the social media era, you can look at a university’s Instagram feed and get the impression that every day rates a 10/10 and everyone belongs. But Shannon Brady, a Wake Forest University psychology professor who studies the implications of social belonging, cautions you to look deeper. Smiles on faces and free hoodies emblazoned with…Categories: Experts, Research & Discovery
When William Farfan-Rios hikes through the remote forests of the Peruvian Amazon and Andes, he’s doing much more than feeding his appreciation for the natural world. He’s trying to identify the trees that can survive a warming climate—and, ultimately, save one of the world’s largest carbon sinks from collapse. As a biodiversity fellow in forest…Categories: Experts, Research & Discovery
You might have seen headlines sounding the alarm about the safety of an emerging technology called agentic AI. That’s where Sarra Alqahtani comes in. An associate professor of computer science at Wake Forest University, she studies the safety of AI agents through the new field of multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL). Alqahtani received a National Science…Categories: Experts, Research & Discovery
For many, making New Year’s resolutions is a way to chart a path toward new behaviors or away from old ones. Jan. 1 offers the promise of making changes to improve health and happiness. But setting goals and achieving them is hard. “Making a specific plan can actually free up mental energy to accomplish goals,”…Categories: Experts, Research & Discovery
Perched on a plastic chair overlooking a colony of Nazca boobies in the Galápagos Islands, researcher David Anderson carefully studied the seabirds. Anderson, a research professor and professor of biology emeritus at Wake Forest University, was shocked to discover that female Nazca boobies had hundreds of conspicuous sexual liaisons with multiple males. And, their promiscuity…Categories: Research & Discovery
Students are more likely to attain their degree when they report a stronger sense of belonging in their first year of college, according to a new study by Wake Forest University psychology professor Shannon Brady. A one-point increase on a five-point belonging scale corresponded to a 3.4 percentage-point bump in the likelihood that a student…Categories: Research & Discovery
Jason Fanning has spent a lot of time talking to older adults about leading healthy, active lifestyles. And he knows that the minute he utters the word “exercise,” he loses many of them. Instead, he talks to them about movement across the day, a key component of his current research study, A Mobile Health Intervention…Categories: Experts, Research & Discovery