| Principal Investigator(s) | Study Title | Description & Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| Agarwal | Prostate health awareness: How much do you know about your flow? | Benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, refers to a non-cancerous change in prostatic cells, which results in the gradual enlargement of the prostate. This enlargement may cause urinary symptoms due to obstruction of the urethra. BPH is one of the most common diseases in aging men and medical records have estimated that nearly 70% of men in the United States between the ages of 60 and 69 years, and nearly 80 percent of men ≥70 years, have some degree of BPH. Despite the high prevalence of BPH, there are a variety of misconceptions surrounding prostate health and BPH in particular, with many men unable to properly identify this condition. Our survey aims to evaluate the current understanding of BPH symptoms and treatments amongst men 50 years and older, as well as assess what areas of prostate health need further education efforts. Eligibility: Age 50+ Men |
| Aldrich | Goldy vs. Cancer Day | The University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center invites you to join us at this exciting event! Come support Masonic Cancer Center researchers as they educate and engage fairgoers on everything from Cancer Bio 101 to hands-on laboratory research techniques! Eligibility: Everyone welcome! |
| Alshakhshir & Looman | Find Your Spark: What Makes You Thrive? | What helps youth and teens truly thrive? We want to understand the factors that shape their well-being, relationships, and sense of purpose. In a short 10-15 minute survey, you’ll have the chance to share your thoughts and experiences about social connections, mental health, and spirituality. Your voice is powerful – by participating, you’ll help us explore what supports teens and youth in living meaningful, fulfilled lives. This study aims to uncover how life purpose influences growth and development, offering valuable insights into what helps young people navigate challenges and flourish. Eligibility: Teens & young adults ages 13-26 |
| Bishop | Genetics and medications: what do teens think? | Help us learn about what teens think about genetics and medications! Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is the study of how genes affect the way medication works in the body. There are now lab tests available to help us select medications based on our genetics, but we need your help to assess youth and parent knowledge of PGx and attitudes toward medications to help us determine how best to educate patients who receive PGx testing as part of their healthcare. Eligibility: Youth ages 12-17 and a parent |
| Boissoneault | State Fair on Tap | How and why do people drink alcohol while they’re out and about? Help us find out by taking surveys on your phone while you enjoy the fair! Eligibility: Age 21+ Used alcohol at least once in the last month Have used or plan to use alcohol today Have a smartphone |
| Bonney | Play2Move | Are you interested in seeing how your child coordinates their movements? Help us to discover how different sensory experiences influence the development of motor skills. Children will play active video games in both real-world and virtual reality environments while wearing an awesome head-mounted display. This information will help us to understand how children develop coordinated movements in different contexts. Eligibility: Children aged 6-17 Able to move while standing without restrictions Willing to wear a head-mounted display |
| Cai | Dementia curious? We Are Too! Help Us Find Answers… | Dementia affects more than 10% of Minnesotans over the age of 65. Come to our booth to find out what your risk factors are for developing dementia; what you can do to keep your brain active and healthy; and how to take care of loved ones who have dementia. Eligibility: Age 45+ |
| Carlson | Predictors of Health Outcomes | Play a game to learn about your brain! Children will learn about executive function skills and their development through adolescence. Children and their caregivers will be invited to play brain games on an iPad to receive a closer look at what executive function means. Eligibility: Kids entering 4th & 8th grades |
| Charton & Waananen | Our Wildlife, Our Identity: Minnesota Wildlife Survey | Through a community art project and short survey, we’re asking: Which plants and animals matter most to you, and why? Your input will help us understand how wildlife shapes Minnesota’s identity, and how these perceptions influence conservation support. Your voice can help guide efforts to protect the plants, animals, and places that define our state. Eligibility: Age 11+ |
| Collom & Rowe | Is college even worth it anymore? | Is college even worth it anymore? Participants in our study will share their opinions on the value and purpose of a college degree. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Cruze & Deike | Sock it to PAD | Free Peripheral Artery Disease assessments. Eligibility: Age 55+ or at-risk individuals |
| Desingh | Show-and-Tell for Robots: Learning Object Interactions from Humans | Eligibility: Age 18+ Able to stand for 15 mins & perform tasks with both hands |
| DiGiacomo & Yue | Buzz-worthy: what is pollinator-friendly food worth to you? | What is pollinator-friendly food worth to consumers? Help us find out! This study will measure consumer preference and willingness to pay for fruits and vegetables grown on Minnesota pollinator-friendly farms. Eligibility: Age 18+ MN resident Must purchase some or all of household’s groceries |
| Dillard | Mom Knows Best (Even At Work!) | Are you a working mom? We want to know how working moms use the knowledge and skills they develop through motherhood to handle challenges at work. Eligibility: Age 18+ Working mother Currently employed with at least 1 year work experience |
| Dworkin | Help us learn how you want to learn | Your voice matters! Tell us how you prefer to learn about important topics like parenting, financial wellness, nutrition, and mental health — is it email, social media, in-person, website, print, or something else? Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Elmer & Garn | Health and Wellness Check with a State Fair Twist | This study will provide a free health and wellness check to assess muscle strength, cardiovascular endurance, balance, and walking speed. Participants will also have the opportunity to test their ability to complete the Minnesota Ball Toss challenge. Eligibility: Ages 8+ Able to stand, move independently, & exercise |
| Finestack | KID TALK STUDY: HOW DO KIDS LEARN LANGUAGE? | Language is a complex and amazing human skill that we do not fully understand. In this study, your child will have the opportunity to learn to talk like a creature from outer space that uses the same words that we do but talks a little differently. We will see how your child learns the space creature’s language with different types of instruction. Results of this study will help speech-language pathologists support the language development of children having trouble learning language. Eligibility: Kids aged 5 – 8 years Typically developing |
| Firestone & Edmundson | Lettuce Know | What factors are important to you when purchasing food? Come Lettuce Know! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Fischer & Griffin | Heads Up: 3D Scans of your Head | We’re building medical technologies for kids and need your help! Come get your face and head scanned with our 3D scanner and see what you look like in three dimensions! Eligibility: Ages 0 – 18 |
| Garriock | All of Us | Eligibility: Everyone is welcome! |
| Gunlicks-Stoessel | Would You Rather? | Lots of teenagers have times when they feel like their mental health isn’t what they want it to be. Sometimes it can feel hard to get help or find the kind of help that is wanted. We’re asking teens and parents of teens to put themselves in the shoes of a teen who is experiencing mental health difficulties and imagine what they might think about seeking help and what kinds of services they would want. Fill out our survey and spin the prize wheel! Eligibility: Teens ages 12-17 Parents of teens ages 12-17 |
| Harrington | Emerging Innovation in Biotechnology for Today’s Environmental Problems | What do you think about innovation to solve some of our biggest environmental problems? In this project, we seek to understand different perspectives on using biotechnology to extract rare earth elements, clean up mining waste, and removing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from our waterways. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Konstan | POPROX News: Your Daily Read | POPROX News is a free daily personalized newsletter that picks articles that match your preferences. The University of Minnesota and other universities will conduct an experiment using POPROX News to learn how to better personalize and present news. Learn more, talk to the POPROX News team, and sign up if interested! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Leitzelar | LACE Up for Cancer and Chronic Pain Research! | LACE up your shoes and walk on in to tell us about your movement and wellness activities! Your responses to this brief survey will help us develop better, more relevant programs to support cancer survivors with chronic pain. All voices are needed! Plus, spin the prize wheel for a chance to win! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Levy & Lonergan-Cullum | Care Aware: Understanding Opioids in Minnesota | According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, about 290,000 adults in Minnesota need treatment for substance use disorders. National data suggests that only 10% of those who need treatment receive it. Through a 10-15 minute survey, we want to assess the public’s view and understanding of opioid use disorder and treatment options, including familiarity with harm reduction and support for public health policy on addiction. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Lieberz | Move Better, Age Smarter | Inadequate exercise and reduced mobility are linked to causes of mortality for older adults. The benefit of a routine assessment to evaluate activity levels and mobility are unknown. This study will conduct a mobility assessment with adults age 65+ annually from 2025 through 2028. The assessment is designed to be 15 minutes and includes activity screening, physical testing, education, and recommendations. The education emphasizes how older adults compare to others their same age and what results predict about future function. The recommendations are designed to empower older adults to use exercise as they age to optimize their health. Eligibility: Age 65+ who can walk with or without an assistive device Exclusion: Adults who have been advised not to exercise |
| Macheledt & Winter | The Body Knows – or Does it? | Bodies. We all have them. How connected and aware of your body do you feel? We are surveying people to gain understanding of their mind-body sensations, with special attention to individuals who are caregivers. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| McGovern | I like to move it, move it: Come walk with us! | We have people wear motion sensors. We then have them walk and perform a balance test. They also fill out surveys related to fall history and balance. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Mills | Design Your Dream Tutor! | Create your ideal virtual math tutor and then see it in action! In this interactive study, kids and teens will help design virtual math tutors with the features they find most helpful. After designing your perfect tutor, you’ll watch it teach a short math lesson while we use eye-tracking technology to see how you engage with your creation. Come help us shape the future of virtual tutors! Eligibility: Kids & teens ages 10-17 |
| Miner | Exception with Intention: Understanding Emergency Research | Learn about clinical trials taking place in the emergency setting when informed consent may be delayed due to the need for immediate and potentially-life saving intervention. Researchers want to hear your opinion about local trials that are using exception from informed consent and whether or not you would want to be included in this type of research if you were faced with a medical emergency. Eligibility: Age 18+ MN Resident |
| Oddsson & Tucker | How’s Your Balance? | Balance is very important for overall health. Good balance helps prevent falls and injuries, improves coordination and control, and is crucial for daily activities like walking and climbing stairs. Maintaining balance also has links to life expectancy. Participants in this study will answer some questions about themselves. Then they will have some painless tests on their feet and legs, and they will see how long they can stand on one leg. At the end they will receive a card indicating their results along with a small gift. Eligibility: Age 21+ |
| Oxenham | How high do you hear? | We’re running a short study to learn more about how people hear high-pitched sounds and how things like noise exposure or ringing in the ears might affect hearing. What will you do? Answer some questions about your hearing history and take a quick hearing test to see the highest pitch you can hear. It only takes about 20 minutes, and by participating, you’ll help us better understand hearing health. Bonus: everyone who completes the study will be provided a set of foam earplugs and be entered for a chance to win a $100 Target gift card! Eligibility: Ages 18-80 |
| Oz | Long COVID: The Sequel Nobody Asked For | We are collecting information from Minnesota and neighboring states to better understand the impact of Long COVID in the community. Fill out a 5-minute survey to get a prize! Open to all. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Pitt, Hendrickson & Marmet | Give It to Me Staight, Doc – How Well Do People Understand Medical Communication? | Doctors notoriously use language that is unclear and poorly understood by patients. In this series of studies, members of the Clear Clinical Commucation Research Group will evaluate how well participants at the fair understand various terms used in the medical field. Eligibility: Age 18+ No advanced medical training |
| Pliscott, Teh & Peterson | Vine and Dine: Identifying Minnesotans’ Desire for Locally Grown Table Grapes | Come try UMN-developed, novel, cold-hardy table grapes for the first time! These locally grown table grapes can withstand the harsh Minnesota winters. Be among the first group of people to experience these new and unique produce. Try some grapes and complete a survey on your preferences and desires for these Minnesota-grown grapes. Eligibility: Age 18+ MN resident |
| Poynter | 10,000 Families Study | The 10,000 Families Study of the University of Minnesota is a research project that looks at how family history, everyday habits, and the environment affect health over time. The study aims to understand why some people get certain diseases while others stay healthy. Participants share information about their health, lifestyle, and family background, helping researchers see patterns in the community. The goal is to find ways to improve health and prevent illness for future generations of Minnesotans. Visit our booth to learn more! Eligibility: 1. Age 18+ to complete a quick online survey 2. Live in Minnesota 3. Has at least one relative in MN, WI, SD, ND, or IA 4. Email address |
| Rabaey | Mealtime Madness | Is mealtime with your child stressing you out? If you are a parent of a child ages 2-6 years experiencing some “mealtime madness” come share your experiences with mealtime challenges through a brief online survey. Eligibility: Age 18+ Parent or caregiver for kids ages 2-6 |
| Remcheck & Kessler | Toxic uncertainty: Understanding environmental toxins. | Toxic exposures, pollution, and environmental contamination are ever-increasing, yet the health impacts of these exposures can take years or decades to appear. Come take a brief 10-15 minute survey to help us understand how the public perceives the health impacts of these exposures and governmental responsibility towards preventing environmental toxicity! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Ross & Fischer | What your mother didn’t know | This study is designed to gather information on the baseline awareness of the general public’s knowledge and understanding of pelvic floor dysfunction, including pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, and accidental bowel leakage. The researchers of this study aim to 1) identify general knowledge of pelvic floor disorders; 2) identify possible differences in baseline knowledge of pelvic floor disorders based on participant demographics; 3) identify information sources that have contributed to public knowledge of pelvic floor disorders and participant opinions on risk factors for pelvic floor disorders; and 4) assess for participant desires for validated resources to increase knowledge of pelvic floor disorders. Eligibility: Age 18+ Women & Men |
| Segijn | Want to play a game for research? | Play an online game on your smartphone and fill out a short questionnaire. We are interested in learning more about your experience and perceptions! Eligibility: Age 18+ Smartphone with internet connection |
| Simacek | Telehelping Families of Children with Behavioral and Mental Health Needs | The overall goal of this ongoing project is to expand access to developmental, emotional, and behavioral health care for children of families who are geographically dispersed, highly mobile, and/or military connected, through the use of innovative telehealth methods, including community-provider training, actionable telehealth utilization analysis and utilization of the ECHO model. Eligibility: Providers, educators and family members of children who have developmental, emotional and behavioral health needs |
| Smoniewski & McCarty | What’s Bugging You? | Ticks and mosquitoes are not simply annoying pests, but also carry dangerous diseases. We are surveying people to assess their knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes about ticks and mosquitoes, and the diseases that they carry. We will use this information to expand our outreach efforts and inform our future research directions. Eligibility: Age 16+ MN & WI residents |
| Stull & Lima | Microbial Bouncers: Identifying Microbes That Decide HPV’s Fate in the Mouth | Throat cancer linked to HPV is on the rise. While most people clear the HPV virus naturally, it can sometimes stay and cause throat cancer. Our research studies how mouth bacteria may help or hurt this process. We hope to develop simple, low-cost tests for early detection at the dentist. Participation involves a survey, spitting into a tube and getting a quick swab of your tonsils to collect microbes. Eligibility: Ages 18-75 |
| Sumner & Kerner | Minnesota’s Small Businesses are Important! | American political and civic life has historically depended on small businesses. However, small businesses’ roles are changing, and we don’t know if peoples’ feelings about small businesses have changed too. We know even less about how today’s small business owners feel about their political civic roles. This survey–which is open to small business owners and the general public–will help us better understand those things. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Tombers & Johnson | Belief in Relief: What do you think helps? | A short survey exploring what treatments you believe could be most helpful for improving your pain. Eligibility: Age 18+ Current musculoskeletal pain |
| Toomey | Curious About Cannabis: Assessing Minnesotans Use and Attitudes | Cannabis use is legal for adults in Minnesota. The goal of this study is to assess Minnesotan’s use and attitudes related to various cannabis products (e.g. edibles, beverages, flower, vape). We want to know: Where have you seen cannabis products? Have you tried them? Does your work have rules about cannabis use? How do you think these products influence health? We want to hear from you even if you have not used cannabis! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Turcotte & Tanner | What can you do in 30 seconds? | We would like to understand how children and teens of different ages perform on a common physical function test, the 30-second chair stand test. We will also ask you to answer questions about your mobility, physical activity, and tiredness to see how this relates to the chair stand test. What can you do in 30-seconds??? Eligibility: Kids and teens ages 3-17 No history of movement difficulties |
| Van’t Hof | 3 Minute Heart Health Challenge | This study will test the usability of an app to monitor markers of cardiovascular fitness. Eligibility: Age 18+ with ability to perform short-term, intense exercise |
| Weinstein & Misono | Your VOICE Matters! | Your voice can affect your job, your friendships and even your sense of self. Take a quick survey about your voice and how you use it! You can also make a spoken voice recording at our booth. You will help us learn about people’s voices, how they sound, and how they impact their lives. No prior voice experience required–please stop by! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Weyer | Create a Healthier Future! | Have you ever participated in a health research study? Volunteers play a key role in research and make new discoveries possible. Advancing health and healthcare for everyone means that we need people from different backgrounds, ages, genders, races, and ethnicities to participate. Some research studies need volunteers with certain conditions and some are open to healthy volunteers. Talk with us about how to get involved in University of Minnesota research, learn more about our StudyFinder website, and sign-up for our quarterly newsletter to stay updated! Eligibility: Everyone is welcome to learn about research! |
| Whipple & Martin | The WEAR IT! Study | How do you WEAR IT? We are interested in learning about how and why people use wearable devices to track their steps, exercise, and health. Eligibility: Age 13+ (13-15 with adult) Current or ever users of a wearable device |
| Willett, Haeberle & Isenberg | Swish for Science! | We are interested in the bacteria in your mouth! We will ask you to rinse your mouth so that we can collect bacteria that might cause infections like cavities and infected root canals. Swish for science, then take home your prize! Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Wozniak | FASD Awareness Study | Check out what’s under the umbrella! Help us learn more about FASD awareness and messaging by answering some questions and watching a brief informational video. Eligibility: Age 18+ |
| Yarosh | Who Asked the Bot? Teen Friendships in the AI Era | Calling all teens! Come share your opinion about AI. Help us understand how AI can support real teen friendships and shape better tech for the future! Eligibility: Teens ages 13-19 |
| Yue | Raising the Bar: What Do Consumers Want in Raisins? | We’re exploring what people like and do not like when it comes to raisins. Today, scientists are developing new types of raisins made from grapes that are naturally more resistant to diseases. These raisins could be better for the environment and easier for farmers to grow, but we want to know: What matters most to consumers? This short survey asks about consumer preferences on taste, appearance, labeling, and what consumers are looking for when buying raisins. Eligibility: Age 18+ Purchased raisins in the past year |
