Curious by Nature

Today I’m very happy and touched to speak with Jeff Grabmeier who recently retired as the Senior Director of Research Communications at Ohio State University. Jeff spent decades working to help turn complex research into stories that informed and connected with the media and public readers. 
Jeff is a goldmine of information and knowledge about research communications. But also, he has changed the lives of many researchers through his amazing communications efforts. If you are a researcher, scholar, or leader in higher education, Jeff is the type of person you want to be close by. 
Today, we’ll talk about the future of science communication, the rise of AI, and why great storytelling still needs a human touch.

Everyone tells athletes and performers to “stay calm under pressure.” But what if the secret to peak performance isn’t staying calm at all?
High-stakes moments, from championship games to career-defining opportunities,  don’t just test skill, they test how well we handle the pressure. And yet, mental performance training is still one of the most overlooked tools in the playbook.
Luca Ziegler is a PhD candidate at West Virginia University and mental performance consultant . He studies how psychological flexibility, basically staying open, aware, and in control under stress, can help athletes hit flow and clutch states when it matters most.

The Super Bowl isn’t just a battle of talent, it’s a dangerous game. By this point in the season, bodies are banged up, fatigue is real, and hidden injuries can quietly tip the scales in the biggest game of the year. Even a split-second tweak, like an ACL tear, can change everything in an instant.
Today, we’re joined by Dr. Bruce Stamos, orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Hackensack Meridian Ocean University Medical Center,, to pull back the curtain on what players are really dealing with behind the scenes. From bruises that don’t make the highlight reel to the careful science of keeping star athletes on the field, Dr. Stamos explains how medical teams turn injury management into a high-stakes game of strategy.

Most people will encounter alcohol or other substances at some point in their lives. For many, that use remains occasional and manageable. For others, it becomes something far more disruptive. Understanding why that difference exists — why substance use leads to severe challenges for some but not for most — has become a central question in addiction research. The answers appear to lie in the complex interaction between our genes and our environments, unfolding over time from childhood into adulthood.

By identifying genetic risk factors and tracing how they shape mental health and addiction outcomes across the lifespan, researchers hope to improve both prevention and treatment. Here to explore that work is Dr. Danielle Dick, director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center

Every January, we promise ourselves this will be the year we finally change. Better habits, bigger goals, stronger willpower. And yet, by February, most of those resolutions are already gone. So what’s really going on? 

We are joined this week by Dr. E.J. Masicampo of Wake Forest University to talk about the psychology behind why New Year’s resolutions fail, and the surprisingly simple strategies that actually make change stick. If you’ve ever wondered why motivation fades or how to work with your brain instead of against it, this conversation is for you.