(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON, February 19, 2026—The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has announced the selection of 34 exemplary scholars as the 2026 class of AERA Fellows. The AERA Fellows Program honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to, and excellence in, education research. Nominated by their peers, the 2026 Fellows were selected by the Fellows Committee and approved by the AERA Council, the association’s elected governing body. They will be inducted during a ceremony at the 2026 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles on April 9. With this cohort, the total number of AERA Fellows will reach 820.
“We are thrilled to honor the 2026 AERA Fellows as they join a distinguished community of scholars,” said AERA Executive Director Tabbye Chavous. “Their significant contributions to education research demonstrate the highest standards of academic excellence and scholarship.”
The 2026 class of AERA Fellows are:
Audrey Amrein-Beardsley, Arizona State University
Anthony Artino, George Washington University
Robert Balfanz, Johns Hopkins University
Keith Barton, Indiana University Bloomington
Margaret Beier, Rice University
Robert Q. Berry III, Indiana University Bloomington
H. Gerald Campano, University of Pennsylvania
Joseph R. Cimpian, New York University
Timothy Cleary, Rutgers University
Laurie Cutting, Vanderbilt University
Jimmy de la Torre, The University of Hong Kong
Eric Dearing, Boston College
Thurston Domina, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ravit Golan Duncan, Rutgers University
David Feldon, Utah State University
John Ferron, University of South Florida
Megan Franke, University of California, Los Angeles
Brian French, Washington State University
Hunter Gehlbach, Johns Hopkins University
Krista Glazewski, North Carolina State University
Socorro Herrera, Kansas State University
Shouping Hu, Florida State University
Odis Johnson, Johns Hopkins University
James Kim, Harvard University
Matthew Kraft, Brown University
Jessica Nina Lester, Indiana University Bloomington
Xiufeng Liu, University of Macau
Julie Marsh, University of Southern California
Cheryl Matias, University of San Diego
Jennifer Randall, University of Michigan
Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, University of California, Los Angeles
Ivory Toldson, Howard University
Vasti Torres, Indiana University
Lisa Wolf-Wendel, University of Kansas
###
About AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
END
Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center show that two related enzymes, MNK1 and MNK2, act on the brain to regulate different behaviors. Their findings, published in “Molecular Psychiatry,” could help guide development of more precise therapies for neurological disorders.
Structurally, they look similar: MNK1 and MNK2 belong to the same enzyme family and are best known for regulating how cells make proteins. Their starring role in such a crucial cellular function has cast them into the spotlight as potential drug targets to treat nervous system disorders and chronic pain. But would it matter whether a drug targets only one of them?
In a study published ...
SAN ANTONIO — February 19, 2026 — New research by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF-NCAR) has developed a new tool providing a first step toward the ability to forecast space weather weeks in advance, instead of just hours. This advance warning could allow agencies and industries to mitigate impacts to GPS, power grids, astronaut safety and more.
“Understanding where and when large, flare-producing active regions ...
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Ozempic has been making headlines for its remarkable success in treating obesity and diabetes. Yet it is just one in a rapidly growing class of drugs called peptide therapeutics that sits between small molecules (like aspirin) and biologics (like antibodies).
A UC Santa Barbara research team has developed a technique for efficiently synthesizing non-natural amino acids and applying them to peptide construction. They hope that the methodology, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, will significantly advance peptide research, giving scientists greater access to amino acids beyond the 22 found in nature.
“The ...
When you finish a run, your muscles may feel like they did all the work. But researchers at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) have discovered that what happens in your brain after a run may determine whether you gain endurance over time.
Specialized neurons in the brain’s hypothalamus spring into action after a bout of exercise, the team reported in Neuron. Without the activity of these neurons, mice fail to show endurance gains, no matter how hard they sprint on a treadmill. And when the researchers artificially activated the neurons ...
Munich, Germany – 19 February 2026: With careful selection, same-day hospital discharge was found to be feasible and safe in around one-fifth of patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation in a study presented today at the EAPCI Summit 2026.1 The summit is a new event organised by the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), an association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a minimally ...
In a 2023 paper on hypoxia and glucose metabolism, our lab showed how organisms rewire their metabolism to adapt to low oxygen levels—such as those found at high altitudes. One of the most striking observations from that work was a dramatic drop in circulating blood sugar.
That study focused on mice exposed to hypoxia. Looking at epidemiological data from the United States, people living at even modest elevations show the same pattern: lower blood glucose, better glucose tolerance, reduced diabetes risk.
It ...
SAN FRANCISCO—February 19, 2026—Scientists have long known that people living at high altitudes, where oxygen levels are low, have lower rates of diabetes than people living closer to sea level. But the mechanism of this protection has remained a mystery.
Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes have explained the roots of the phenomenon, discovering that red blood cells act as glucose sponges in low-oxygen conditions like those found on the world’s highest mountaintops.
In a new study in the journal Cell Metabolism, the team showed how red blood cells can shift their metabolism to soak up sugar from the bloodstream. At high altitude, this adaptation fuels the cells’ ...
Researchers at Columbia Engineering have developed a new gel electrolyte that both improves the lifetime and safety of anode-free lithium batteries, an emerging battery architecture that could dramatically boost energy density while simplifying manufacturing. Although such design promises higher energy density and lower cost, the approach has long been plagued by short battery life and safety concerns caused by unstable lithium plating and parasitic reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface.
The Columbia team, led by Yuan Yang, associate professor of applied physics and applied mathematics ...
A plume of upper-atmospheric lithium pollution observed in February 2025 has been attributed to the re-entry of a specific rocket stage. The results, published in Communications Earth & Environment, are the first known direct detection of upper-atmospheric pollution from space debris re-entry.
Defunct satellites and expended rocket stages are designed to break up during their atmospheric re-entry. Previous research has focused on the risks of debris reaching the ground, but little is known about the effects that disintegrating space debris might have on the mesosphere (between approximately ...
In a Phase 3 randomized trial, Mass General Brigham researchers found that stereotactic radiation targeting individual tumors led to lower symptom burden, better cognitive outcomes, and better day to day function when compared with whole brain radiation
Researchers from Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute have found that using a form of radiation therapy that targets individual tumors rather than whole brain radiation is more optimal for patients with tumors that have spread to the brain (called brain metastases), even if a larger number of tumors are present. The finding could help improve quality of life and cognitive function for many patients diagnosed with brain metastases each ...
