The University of Florida has awarded Adam Woods, Ph.D., one of two UF Foundation Term Professorships for 2022-23. The three-year professorship, which comes with a $25,000 award, is presented in support of the university’s preeminence goals to further advance faculty research efforts.
Woods is an associate professor and associate chair for research in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions department of clinical and health psychology. He also serves as the associate director of the Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory in the UF McKnight Brain Institute. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, which is delivered by a safe and weak electrical current passed through electrodes placed on a person’s head. Over the past five years, Woods has established one of the largest and most well-funded neuromodulation laboratories in the United States.
“Dr. Woods joined UF in 2013 as a newly-minted assistant professor,” said Beth A. Virnig, Ph.D., M.P.H., dean of the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions. “In a little less than a decade, he has achieved more than many faculty achieve in a 30 year-long career. He has created a world class laboratory and center that continues to grow each year by leaps and bounds.”
Woods’ current research projects include the Augmenting Clinical Training in Older Adults: The ACT Study, an ongoing study of 360 older adults that pairs tDCS with cognitive training designed to improve working memory and processing speed. He serves as one of the principal investigators for the Revitalize Study, the largest trial of its kind to examine the effects of applying near-infrared light noninvasively to the scalp through a cap placed on a participant’s head. He is a study site principal investigator for the Preventing Alzheimer’s with Cognitive Training, or PACT, study exploring whether computerized brain training exercises can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease in older adults. And he is one of the principal investigators for a study that uses artificial intelligence technology to evaluate 16 million datapoints captured from participants in the ACT Study.
Woods is consulted by organizations around the world regarding his expertise in non-invasive brain stimulation and aging and he serves as founder and director of a tDCS training workshop that has trained more than 2,000 people, leading to the first textbook for tDCS. He maintains ongoing collaborations across multiple countries and has given dozens of invited talks around the world.
Woods will be recognized at the UF Foundation board meeting on Saturday, Oct. 15.