CSDE Affiliate Ann Bostrom and an international, interdisciplinary team of co-authors recently published “Scientists’ mental models of microplastics: insights into expert perceptions from an exploratory comparison of research methods” in the journal, Microplastics and Nanoplastics. The article presents results from two complementary studies of the causal beliefs—that is, the “mental models”—microplastic scientists hold related to the risks of microplastics in freshwater systems, an emerging global environmental problem. Study 1 examined core concepts in their mental models from a decision analysis perspective.

CSDE Trainee Zoe H. Pleasure (Health Services) and CSDE External Affiliate Laura Lindberg (Rutgers) have been awarded research funding from the Society of Family Planning to study contraception misinformation. Pleasure and Lindberg will explore how contraceptive misinformation affects contraceptive health outcomes for gender-diverse young people in the U.S. through a nationally representative survey and qualitative interviews. This project builds on a seed grant funded through CSDE. Pleasure also received funding for a second project,

CSDE External Affiliate Joshua Tom (Seattle Pacific) and co-authors recently published an article titled, “Religion and Racial Bias in Artificial Intelligence Large Language Models” in Socius. Tom and co-authors examine if LLMs hold implicit assumptions with regard to religious identities by prompting LLMs to generate religious sermons, specifying different combinations of race and religious tradition of the clergyperson. Evangelical Protestant pastors had easier to read AI–generated sermons,

CSDE Affiliate Karin Martin (Public Policy) and co-authors recently shared an opinion piece in The Imprint on the incarceration of youth, which overwhelming evidence shows does not work and disproportionately affects communities of color. Drawing on their article published in the American Journal of Public Health, Martin and co-authors highlight the recent trend in closure of youth prisons and call on policymakers to redirect resources and attention to community-based alternatives.

CSDE Research Scientist Matthew D. Dunbar, PhD, and co-authors recently published an article in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, titled “The companion dog as a translational model for Alzheimer’s disease: Development of a longitudinal research platform and post mortem protocols.” The authors describe the objectives, infrastructure, platform development, and protocol of the Brain Health Study (BHS). The BHS aims to establish the role of privately owned companion dogs as a translational model for Alzheimer’s Disease research.