Amphotericin B (AmB) is the gold standard for antifungal therapy; however, its poor solubility limits its administration via intravenous infusion. A promising formulation strategy to achieve an oral formulation is the development of amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) via spray-drying. Inclusion of surfactants into ASDs is a newer concept, yet it offers increased dissolution opportunities when combined with a polymer (HPMCAS 912). We developed both binary ASDs (AmB:HPMCAS 912 or AmB:surfactant) and ternary ASDs (AmB:HPMCAS 912:surfactant) using a variety of surfactants to determine the optimal surfactant carbon chain length and functional group for achieving maximal AmB concentration during in vitro dissolution. The ternary ASDs containing surfactants with a carbon chain length of 14 ± 2 carbons and a sulfate functional group increased the dissolution of AmB by 90-fold compared to crystalline AmB. These same surfactants, when added to a binary ASD, however, were only able to achieve up to a 40-fold increase, alluding to a potential interaction occurring between excipients or excipient and drug. This potential interaction was supported by dynamic light scattering data, in which the ternary formulation produced a single peak at 895.2 dnm. The absence of more than one peak insinuates that all three components are interacting in some way to form a single structure, which may be preventing AmB self-aggregation, thus improving the dissolution concentration of AmB.

Bronchial premalignant lesions (PML), precursors of lung squamous cell carcinoma, have distinct molecular subtypes. The proliferative subtype, enriched with bronchial dysplasia, had decreased expression of an antigen-processing/presentation gene coexpression module in progressive/persistent versus regressive PMLs, suggesting a functional impact of these genes on immune evasion. In this study, we performed miRNA sequencing, miRNA in situ hybridization, and spatial proteomics of bronchial biopsies from patients at high risk for lung cancer. An miRNA–gene network analysis identified hsa-miR-149-5p as a potential regulator of the antigen presentation gene module. Staining on adjacent biopsy tissue showed that hsa-miR-149-5p was predominantly expressed in the epithelium and upregulated in progressive/persistent proliferative lesions. Targets of this miRNA, the transcriptional coactivator of MHC-I gene expression, NLRC5, and the genes it regulates, were downregulated in these lesions. Decreased NLRC5 expression reduced both IFNγ-induced MHC-I surface expression and CD8 T-cell cytotoxicity in lung squamous cancer cells. In PMLs, basal cells with high levels of NLRC5 were in close spatial proximity to CD8 T cells, suggesting that these cells exhibit increased functional MHC-I gene expression in vivo. These findings indicate a functional role for hsa-miR-149-5p in PML progression/persistence and suggest this axis as a potential therapeutic target for PML immunomodulation.

Weakening negative memories often requires first remembering those events. To bypass this distressing process, Zhu et al. elicited forgetting by subliminally reactivating negative memories near in time to retrieval suppression of unrelated memories. Casting an amnesic shadow over harmful, reactivated memories thereby brings new therapeutic possibilities, and questions, to light.

Weakening negative memories often requires first remembering those events. To bypass this distressing process, a team of researchers (Zhu and colleagues) had participants suppress unrelated memories - and prompted them to subliminally recall negative memories between them. This 'amnesic shadow' technique brings new possibilities for treatment, as well as important questions, to light.

Everyday experiences often overlap, challenging our ability to maintain distinct episodic memories. One way to resolve such interference is by exaggerating subtle differences between remembered events, a phenomenon known as memory repulsion. Here, we tested whether repulsion is influenced by emotional arousal, when resolving memory interference is perhaps most needed. We adapted an existing paradigm in which participants repeatedly studied object–face associations. Participants studied two different-colored versions of each object: a to-be-tested “target” and its not-to-be-tested “competitor” pair mate. The level of interference between target and competitor pair mates was manipulated by making the object colors either highly similar or less similar, depending on the participant group. To manipulate arousal, the competitor object–face associations were preceded by either a neutral tone or an aversive and arousing burst of white noise. Memory distortion for the color of the target objects was tested after each study round to examine whether memory distortions emerge after learning. We found that participants with greater sound-induced pupil dilations, an index of physiological arousal, showed greater memory attraction of target colors towards highly similar competitor colors. Greater memory attraction was also correlated with greater memory interference in the last round of learning. Additionally, individuals who self-reported higher trait anxiety showed greater memory attraction when one of the overlapping memories was associated with something aversive. Our findings suggest that memories of similar neutral and arousing events may blur together after repeated exposures, especially in individuals who show higher arousal responses and symptoms of anxiety.

Everyday experiences often overlap, which can make it difficult to maintain unique memories. One helpful way that our brain enhances uniqueness is by exaggerating small differences between memories - a process called memory repulsion. In our experiment, we tested how memory repulsion might affect emotional memories. Participants learned pairs of items that went together: a household object and a specific face. Each object had two different-colored versions (e.g., a light red and dark red backpack) that were paired with separate faces, allowing us to create overlapping memories. Importantly, we played either a normal tone or an irritating burst of white noise immediately before one of the item pairs (e.g., the dark red backpack). This happened over several learning rounds. To measure distortions in memory, participants were tested on the color of the objects. We found that participants who were more reactive to the white noise (i.e., showed greater pupil dilation) recalled the two object versions' colors as more similar than they actually were. Also, people who reported higher trait anxiety showed a greater memory attraction effect when one of the objects had been linked to the aversive white noise. Our findings suggest that memories of similar ordinary and aversive events may blur together over repeated experiences, especially in people who show greater reactivity and symptoms of anxiety.

Emotion often enhances memory for emotional stimuli relative to neutral stimuli. This emotional memory enhancement effect has been studied extensively with visual and verbal stimuli, yet little is known regarding emotion’s effects on memory for nonverbal (or environmental) sounds, such as dog snarls and infant cries. Additionally, emotion’s enhancing effects on recognition for visual and verbal stimuli are selective to recollection (recognition with contextual retrieval) rather than familiarity (recognition based on memory strength), but whether this is also the case for nonverbal sounds is unknown. We examined recognition memory for negative and neutral nonverbal sounds, predicting that memory would be enhanced for negative sounds and this enhancement would be specific to recollection. Participants incidentally encoded negative and neutral sounds, and memory was tested with a remember-familiar recognition memory task after a 15-minute delay. As predicted, recognition memory was enhanced for negative sounds, was better for higher versus lower arousal negative sounds, and was specific to recollection. These findings suggest that key aspects of the emotional enhancement effect also extend to nonverbal sounds. We discuss how current theories of emotional memory which focus on memory for visual and verbal stimuli can be extended to accommodate findings with nonverbal emotional auditory stimuli.

People often remember emotional events better than neutral events. However, this effect has mostly been studied using pictures, words, or scenes. In contrast, little is known about emotion's effects on memory for sounds in the environment. We also don't know whether the information surrounding emotional sounds is better remembered, or whether emotional sounds are merely more familiar to us. In this experiment, participants heard 6-second clips of both negative sounds (e.g., a crying baby) and neutral sounds (e.g., footsteps). After a 15-minute delay, participants then heard these sounds again, in addition to similar new sounds. In this surprise phase, they were asked to rate their memory for the sound on a 6-point scale ranging from "definitely new" to "definitely old." As predicted, participants recognized negative sounds more often than neutral sounds - especially negative sounds that were more intense. This effect was specific to memory that included surrounding information (e.g., about the participants' feelings or thoughts at the time of the sound's presentation). These findings suggest that key aspects of the emotional memory effect also extend to sounds.

Our memories do not simply keep time — they distort it, stretching and compressing the past to reflect the structure of experience. Here, we combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; n = 32) with eye-tracking (n = 28) to test whether activation of the dopaminergic system, known to influence encoding and time perception, expands mnemonic representations of time between contextually distinct events. Participants encoded item sequences while listening to tones that typically repeated over time, but occasionally changed, creating salient event boundaries. We found that tone switches significantly activated the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the magnitude of these responses predicted greater time dilation between item pairs spanning those switches. At a longer timescale, increased blinking also predicted greater time dilation in memory, but only for boundary-spanning item pairs. Together, these findings suggest that dopaminergic processes are sensitive to event structure and contribute to distortions of remembered time that may help segment continuous experience into distinct episodic memories.

Our memories do not simply keep time - they distort it, stretching and compressing the past to reflect the structure of experience. Here, we combined brain imaging with eye-tracking to test whether activation of the dopamine system, known to influence memory and time perception, expands our memory for time between distinct events. Participants viewed series of items while listening to tones that typically repeated over time, but occasionally changed, creating noticeable event boundaries. We found that tone switches significantly activated the ventral tegmental area (VTA; one of the brain's key dopamine hubs), and that when this hub activated more strongly, people reported remembering more time as having passed. At a longer timescale, increased blinking also predicted more time dilation in memory, but only for items that spanned event boundaries. Together, these findings suggest that dopaminergic processes are sensitive to event structure and contribute to distortions of remembered time that may help segment our experience into distinct memories.

Schistosomiasis is a devastating parasitic disease in which the infectious stage to humans is released by intermediate host snails. The Senegal River Basin (SRB) is a high-risk area for both urogenital and fecal human schistosomiasis and has extensive rice cultivation. However, occupational risk of schistosomiasis to people working in irrigated rice fields is not well established. We performed intermediate host snail surveys from 2022-2023 in rice fields and irrigation canals throughout the SRB. We discovered human schistosome-shedding snails in rice fields and adjacent irrigation canals during the rice growing and non-growing seasons, establishing a clear occupational exposure risk to rice farmers. Relative to the non-growing season, this risk was higher in the rice growing and harvest season when more people are in the rice fields. Rice-fish co-culturing might reduce this occupational risk to rice farmers if local fish species consume enough snail intermediate hosts to reduce Schistosoma transmission. Our predation trials revealed that local Heterotis niloticus and Hemichromis spp. fish consumed significant numbers of Biomphalaria pfeifferi and Bulinus spp. snails, and separate trials revealed that these same snail species exhibited only moderate avoidance and refuge use responses to fish chemical cues. These results indicate that there is exposure to Schistosoma parasites in rice fields in the SRB and introducing local fish to rice fields has promise for reducing this exposure as well as providing a protein source to rice farming families. We encourage future studies to more fully explore the benefits of rice-fish co-culturing in the West Africa.

Schistosomiasis is a devastating parasitic disease in which the infectious stage to humans is released by intermediate host snails. The Senegal River Basin (SRB) is a high-risk area for human schistosomiasis and has extensive rice cultivation. However, the risk of disease to people working in rice fields is not well understood. We surveyed for snails in rice field ecosystems and discovered ones infected with human-infectious parasites, establishing a clear occupational exposure risk of disease to rice farmers. Rice-fish co-culturing might reduce this occupational risk to rice farmers if local fish species consume enough snail intermediate hosts to reduce Schistosoma transmission. Thus, we tested local fish species and found that African Bonytongue and Heteroris spp. fish consumed snails (i.e., could be predators of snails in the rice fields). These results indicate that there is exposure to Schistosoma parasites in rice fields in the SRB and introducing local fish to rice fields has promise for reducing this exposure as well as providing a protein source to rice farming families. We encourage future studies to more fully explore the benefits of rice-fish co-culturing in the West Africa.

Over 140 million households cultivate rice worldwide. However, rice production contributes to exceedance of planetary boundaries, such as freshwater use and biogeochemical flows. In addition, rice-farming families may face increased risk of contracting schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease transmitted by freshwater snails that contributes to reinforcing cycles of poverty and disease. Here, using data from 405 households in rural northern Senegal, we show that children in rice-farming households had higher Schistosoma mansoni prevalence and Schistosoma haematobium intensities than non-farming peers. To address this environmental health challenge, we integrated native Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and African bonytongue (Heterotis niloticus) into rice fields. The fish thrived, suppressed insects and snail pests, improved soil nutrients and boosted rice yields by >25% with a net benefit of US$1,805–3,415 ha−1 yr−1 (a benefit-to-cost ratio of 7.42). Hence, low-input rice–fish co-culturing offers a sustainable planetary health solution that simultaneously improves agricultural outcomes and rural livelihoods while reducing disease transmission risks.

Over 140 million households cultivate rice worldwide. However, rice production can be unsustainable, and rice-farming families may face increased risk of acquiring schistosomiasis, a devastating disease transmitted by freshwater snails. Using data from 405 households in rural northern Senegal, we show that children in rice-farming households had higher prevalence and intensities of disease than non-farming peers. To address this environmental-health challenge, we integrated native fish, Nile Tilapia and African Bonytongue, into rice fields. The fish grew, suppressed insects and rice pests, improved soil nutrients, and boosted rice yields by >25% with an economic benefit (and a high benefit-to-cost ratio signaling strong potential for farmers to take up the innovation). Hence, low-input rice–fish co-culturing offers a sustainable planetary health solution that simultaneously improves agricultural outcomes and rural livelihoods, while reducing disease transmission risks. 

Background and Hypothesis
Though linked to paranoia in the general population and high-risk groups, neighborhood deprivation remains underexplored in serious mental illness. Paranoia also varies by demographic subgroup, potentially reflecting exposure to place-based disadvantage. Advances in the measurement of neighborhood deprivation and momentary experiences of suspiciousness could shed light on these relationships. This study uses neighborhood-level data to examine associations between area deprivation and paranoia in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) and bipolar disorder (BD).

Study Design
Data from 293 participants with SSD (n = 148) and BD (n = 145) from three US sites were analyzed. Neighborhood disadvantage was quantified using the National Area Deprivation Index (ADI). Clinician-rated paranoia was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; momentary feelings of threat/suspiciousness (MFTS) was measured across 30 days of Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs). Analyses examined the relationships between ADI and paranoia and tested if ADI explains observed demographic differences in paranoia. To assess specificity, hallucinations were examined in parallel.

Study Results
Greater neighborhood disadvantage was associated with higher clinician-rated paranoia and MFTS; no association was observed for hallucinations. Participants with SSD and those with racial backgrounds other than White had higher ADI scores and higher paranoia. The ADI-paranoia relationship did not differ in strength across clinical or demographic groups, nor across study sites. Area Deprivation Index significantly mediated the association between racial background and paranoia.

Conclusions
Neighborhood deprivation is associated with paranoia but not hallucinations, supporting a specific link between environment and paranoia. Improvement of neighborhood-level conditions may offer a pathway to reducing paranoia and improving functioning.

There is a well established link between environment and paranoia in the general population and in people at high risk for psychosis. What hadn't been directly tested is whether that same relationship holds in people already diagnosed with serious mental illness. This study used data from 293 participants with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder across three sites; we found that worse neighborhood conditions, measured by the Area Deprivation Index, were linked to higher paranoia both in clinician ratings and in daily phone check-ins. The pattern did not show up for hallucinations, suggesting something specific about the environment-paranoia link. People from racial backgrounds other than White had both higher neighborhood deprivation and higher paranoia, and the neighborhood conditions explained a significant portion of that racial difference in symptomatology. The takeaway is that paranoia isn't just an internal symptom, it also reflects where someone lives, which means improving neighborhood conditions could be a potential pathway to reducing it.

Study Design
Improving Thinking through Everyday Self-Assessment Training combines 16 weeks of daily mobile task-based training in IA with weekly individual coaching in applying IA to everyday behaviors. Sixty individuals with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder participated in an open trial of iTEST with assessments at baseline, 8, 12, and 16 weeks. Primary outcomes included IA on 2 trained tasks (mobile verbal learning and facial emotion recognition tests) and 3 untrained tasks (verbal memory, emotion recognition, and executive functioning).

Study Results
Improving Thinking through Everyday Self-Assessment Training showed strong feasibility, retaining 86.7% of participants, and strong adherence with an average daily mobile-training completion rate of 87%. In linear-mixed models with intent-to-treat data, statistically significant IA improvements were observed over time in both trained tasks and in 2 of the 3 untrained tasks (Cohen’s d’s = 0.5-1.28). Significant improvements were also observed in secondary outcomes of real-world function, positive symptoms, and depression.

Conclusions
This project provides the first data, to our knowledge, to demonstrate that IA in schizophrenia can be improved. Improving Thinking through Everyday Self-Assessment Training also represents one of just a few blended digital health interventions, including remote cognitive training, and may therefore serve as a blueprint for future intervention development.

https://canva.link/itestinfographic -  People with schizophrenia are more likely to miscalculate how well they're doing on everyday tasks, sometimes overestimating their memory or social skills, sometimes underestimating them. This self-awareness problem, called introspective accuracy, predicts daily functioning even more than actual cognitive ability does. Until now, nobody had really tried to fix it directly. iTEST is a 16-week program with two parts. Participants do short daily exercises on a phone app where they complete a memory or emotion-recognition task, guess how well they did, and get feedback on their accuracy. Alongside this, they meet weekly with a coach for the first six weeks, with occasional booster sessions after that. The pilot included 60 people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder across UTD and UCSD, with no control group since this was an early-stage trial. Engagement was strong, with 87 percent retention and completion, and 86 percent of participants reporting they were very satisfied. Improvements on the trained phone tasks were large, and the gains transferred to two of three untrained tasks, suggesting they were getting better at self-monitoring more broadly. Positive symptoms like delusions and depression also decreased, and interpersonal relationships improved. The main limitations are the lack of a control group and a relatively stable outpatient sample, so the randomized trial of 201 participants already underway will be the real test of the interventions potential. 

Diagnostic disclosure can impact social perceptions during first impressions. We aimed to explore the effect of diagnostic labeling on first impressions of individuals with schizophrenia. In a 2x3 factorial design, we showed 18 videos of individuals with schizophrenia or healthy volunteers paired with three randomly assigned labeling conditions (true label, mislabel, no label) to 222 undergraduate students who rated each video using the First Impressions Scale (FIS). While the main effect of labeling was not significant for any FIS item, individuals with schizophrenia were consistently rated more negatively than healthy volunteers across all FIS items (p < .05), with partial eta-squared effect sizes ranging from small to moderate. Significant interactions between group and labeling conditions were found for attractiveness, willingness to live nearby, and comfort sitting nearby, even after controlling for knowledge about schizophrenia. Relative to the unlabeled condition, when individuals with schizophrenia were mislabeled as healthy, their ratings improved, sometimes reaching the level of correctly labeled healthy individuals. Conversely, accurate diagnostic labeling of schizophrenia further lowered impressions on certain items, particularly those related to social comfort and behavioral intent. These findings suggest that first impressions of individuals with schizophrenia are shaped primarily by nonverbal and behavioral cues that may differ between affected and unaffected individuals but that diagnostic disclosure can also alter some of these impressions by further lowering impressions of individuals with SCZ and incorrectly labeled healthy individuals.

We showed 222 college students short 10-second video clips of people with schizophrenia and people without schizophrenia. Each video was paired with either the correct label, no label, or the wrong label (for example, a healthy person labeled as having schizophrenia). After each clip, students rated how likeable, trustworthy, attractive, and approachable the person seemed, as well as how comfortable they would feel sitting near them or living nearby. We found that people with schizophrenia were viewed more negatively in first impressions, even before any diagnosis was mentioned. These negative impressions remained regardless of the label shown. However, when someone was correctly identified as having schizophrenia, students felt even less comfortable sitting near them or living close to them. Similarly, healthy people who were incorrectly labeled as having schizophrenia were also judged more negatively. Students who knew more about schizophrenia tended to have slightly more positive attitudes and lower stigma, but the effect was small. This suggests that education alone may not be enough to reduce stigma toward schizophrenia. We takeaway, then, the idea that anti-stigma efforts need to do more to address the quick, automatic judgments people make when first meeting someone.

Semiconductors are used in a lot of modern technology, such as computer chips, LEDs, and solar cells. Most of these materials need to be mined out of the ground, but there is a lot of research into organic (carbon-based) materials that can be used in these technologies. Organics have already seen some success with OLED screens (the 'O' means organic), but even these organics are often derived from fossil fuel products. This work highlights some recent work from our multidisciplinary collaboration at OSU studying pigments extracted from Oregon-native fungi as semiconductor materials, particularly in terms of how these materials interact with light and electricity. We show some of the first evidence of a particular quantum state that is a combination between light and matter that has been studied to improve the performance of organic semiconductors.

Mitophagy is a critically important survival mechanism in which toxic, aged, or defective mitochondria are segregated into mitophagosomes, which shuttle the damaged mitochondrial segments to the lysosome and proteasome for destruction. Cancer cells rely on mitophagy under conditions of high oxidative stress or increased energy demand. Oxidative stress can generate a large volume of damaged mitochondria, overwhelming lysosomal removal. Accumulated damaged mitochondria are toxic and their proper removal is crucial for maintaining mitochondrial health. We propose a new cancer cell mechanism for survival that is activated when the demand for segregating and eliminating damaged mitochondria exceeds the capacity of the lysosome or proteasome. Specifically, we show that tumor cells subjected to oxidative stress by carbonyl cyanide-3-chlorophenylhdrazone (CCCP) eliminate damaged mitochondria segments by bypassing the lysosome to export them outside the cell via extracellular vesicles (EVs), a process termed "secretory mitophagy." PINK1, the initiator of mitophagy, remains associated with the damaged mitochondria that exported in EVs. Using several types of cancer cells, we show that tumor cells treated with CCCP can be induced to switch over to secretory mitophagy by treatment with Bafilomycin A1, which blocks the fusion of mitophagosomes with lysosomes. Under these conditions, an increased number of PINK1 + EVs are exported. This is associated with greater cell survival by a given CCCP dose, enhanced mitochondrial ATP production, and reduced mitochondrial oxidative damage (membrane depolarization). Our data supports the hypothesis that secretory mitophagy is a previously unexplored process by which cancer cells adapt to survive therapeutic or hypoxic stress. Ultimately, our findings may inform new prevention strategies targeting pre-malignant lesions and therapeutic approaches designed to sensitize tumor cells to oxidative stress-inducing therapies.

Cancer cells are often exposed to stressful conditions that would normally damage or kill healthy cells. One major source of this stress is damage to the mitochondria, the structures responsible for producing energy within the cell. Under normal conditions, cells remove damaged mitochondria through a recycling process called mitophagy. However, the pathway that regulates this process can become overwhelmed under extreme stress, including the conditions commonly seen in cancer. When the mitophagy pathway is overwhelmed, cells typically undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis. Cancer cells, however, are often able to evade apoptosis. Here, we describe a newly identified cancer cell survival mechanism called secretory mitophagy, in which cancer cells package and expel damaged mitochondrial material in particles known as extracellular vesicles. By doing so, they bypass the overwhelmed mitophagy system and maintain cell survival. Through secretory mitophagy, cancer cells reduce cellular stress, preserve energy production, and improve their chances of survival. These findings reveal a new way in which cancer cells adapt to harsh conditions and resist damage, including damage caused by cancer therapies. Understanding this pathway could support the future development of treatments that make tumors more vulnerable to stress and improve the effectiveness of existing therapies by blocking secretory mitophagy.

The aim of this study was to understand who is most likely to download and use smartphone-based digital health interventions during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and what factors drive their engagement. Using data from a large-scale Facebook recruitment campaign and a public survey, we found that middle-aged women were the most frequent users, while messages focused on loneliness, mental wellbeing, and physical activity generated the greatest interest. The study also showed that people who perceived a higher risk from COVID-19 and those with greater trust in institutions were more likely to engage with digital health tools. These findings suggest that digital health interventions can play an important role in future health crises, but their impact depends on tailoring communication strategies to the needs and motivations of different population groups to ensure equitable access and uptake.

Galaxy─galaxy strong gravitational lenses can constrain dark matter models and the Lambda cold dark matter cosmological paradigm at subgalactic scales. Currently, there is a dearth of images of these rare systems with high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and angular resolution. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (hereafter Roman), scheduled for launch in late 2026, will play a transformative role in strong-lensing science with its planned wide-field surveys. With its remarkable 0.281 square degree field of view and diffraction-limited angular resolution of ~0 .″ 1, Roman is uniquely suited to characterizing dark matter substructure from a robust population of strong lenses. We present a yield simulation of detectable strong lenses in Roman's planned High Latitude Wide Area Survey (HLWAS). We simulate a population of galaxy─galaxy strong lenses across cosmic time with cold dark matter subhalo populations, select those detectable in the HLWAS, and generate simulated images accounting for realistic Wide Field Instrument detector effects. For a fiducial case of single 146 s exposures, we predict around 160,000 detectable strong lenses in the HLWAS, of which about 500 will have sufficient SNR to be amenable to detailed substructure characterization. We investigate the effect of variation of the point-spread function across Roman's field of view on detecting individual subhalos and the suppression of the subhalo mass function at low masses. Our simulation products are available to support strong-lens science with Roman, such as training neural networks and validating dark matter substructure analysis pipelines.

Galaxy–galaxy strong gravitational lenses ("strong lenses") are the rare, near-perfect alignment of galaxies in the sky (one right behind the other). The mass of the closer galaxy bends the light from the distant galaxy around it, dramatically distorting and magnifying it. Strong lenses can help solve one of the biggest questions in astrophysics: the nature of "dark matter" which comprises 85% of the matter in the Universe. But today, not many of these rare systems are known, and very few have been observed with high-resolution space telescopes. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope ("Roman"), scheduled for launch in late August of 2026, will play a transformative role by discovering over 100,000 strong lenses and capturing high-resolution, multi-band imaging data of them. We build a survey and image simulation package to predict what Roman's strong lenses will look like. In particular, we investigate the effect of a significant systematic, the variation of the "point spread function," on what Roman's strong lenses will tell us about dark matter.