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The Florida Senate Committee on Education PreK-12 unanimously supported a bill aimed to help people with autism secure more opportunities to join the workforce on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Amy Wetherby, director of the FSU College of Medicine's Autism Institute, addressed the committee - the first of three committee stops for the bill - in support of the proposed legislation. She told the committee that the bill is a "really, really important as a step" in employing people with autism.

"I think one of the most important things in the life of a person with autism is to get a job," said Wetherby, one of the nation's foremost authorities on the neurological and developmental disorder. "It improves their outcomes as adults. The best outcomes are associated with employment in terms of mental health outcomes, in terms of wellbeing and in terms of quality of life."
 

 

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FSU College of Medicine Associate Professor Gregg Stanwood, Ph.D., a developmental neuropharmacologist and behavioral neuroscientist, has weighed in a study that raises questions about the impact exposure to microplastics is have on health.

"Initial indications from research studies in people, as well as model organisms like isolated cells, zebrafish and rodents, suggest that microplastic exposures contribute to increased risk of serious health conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases," Stanwood said. "It's tool son to quantify the exact degree of those increased risks."
 

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FSU College of Medicine Department of Behavioral Science and Social Medicine faculty members Karen Geletko, MPH and Jon Mills, Ph.D., MBA co-authored an article with second-year medical student John Acosta-Penaloza, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine's open access journal, AJMP Focus.

Acosta-Penaloza, a graduate of the Bridge Class of 2023, was the lead author on the article, "Demographic Characteristics Associated With Adolescent Receipt of Provider E-Cigarette Screening and Advice and the Impact on Harm Perception." The article is a product of Acosta-Penaloza's Bridge research project. Geletko and Mills served as his faculty mentors.

The research examines the frequency medical providers screen adolescents for e-cigarettes and advise against its use during health care visits. The study also examines the associations between provider intervention and adolescent harm perception. Findings from the research reveal that provider intervention was more likely among those aged 13-18, who are male, White and/or non-Hispanic and that provider intervention was associated with the belief that e-cigarettes are equally or more addictive than cigarettes.
 

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Florida State University College of Medicine Dean Alma Littles, M.D., was recently recognized in 850 Business Magazine's Pinnacle Awards' Pinnacle Awards edition. Littles was featured in the section titled Honoring 12 Women of Excellence.