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Polio: A Look Back At America’s Most Successful Public Health Crusade
The U-M Center for the History of Medicine presented the 14th Annual Horace W. Davenport Lecture in the Medical Humanities featuring David Oshinsky, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Medical Humanities, NYU School of Medicine, Professor of History, New York University, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Polio: An American Story.
After a brief introductions by Dr. Howard Markel, the George E. Wantz, M.D. Professor of the History of Medicine and University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, Dr. Oshinsky shares the history of polio, the development of the March of Dimes which raised money to fight the virus, and the work of scientists to develop and test a vaccine. This month is the 60th anniversary of the polio vaccine, which was approved for widespread public use in April 1955.
David Oshinsky’s book Polio: An American Story won the Pulitzer Prize for History, among other awards, and helped influence Bill Gates to make polio eradication the top priority of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
His other works include A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; and Worse Than Slavery, winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for distinguished contribution to human rights.
Professor Oshinsky’s reviews and essays appear regularly in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other international publications.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Martin interviews Andrew Grant Jackson, author of 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music.
During twelve unforgettable months, in the middle of the turbulent sixties, America saw the rise of innovative new sounds that would change popular music as we knew it. In his new book, music historian Andrew Grant Jackson chronicles a groundbreaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, as well as sweeping social and technological breakthroughs.
In 1965 there was incredible music being made by an incredibly wide variety of artists, including the Beatles, the Temptations, the Rolling Stones, John Coltrane, James Brown, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Vince Guaraldi, Otis Redding, and dozens of others. Andrew Grant Jackson’s comprehensive coverage of this unforgettable year in music is a terrific, fascinating read.
The interview with Andrew Grant Jackson was originally recorded on April 8, 2015.
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Bright Nights Community Forum: Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Returning Veterans
The military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have greatly increased the number of veterans returning home with combat exposure, reintegration issues, and psychiatric symptoms. National Guard and Reserve service members and their families face additional challenges, as they prepare for deployment on a part-time basis while still meeting their obligations in their home communities. Unlike active duty service members and families, they do not return to military installations with access to military health services or peers. And in many cases, their home communities may lack the services and resources to address the reintegration issues that might arise.
To address these issues, The Military Support Programs And Networks (M-SPAN) Program Team from the University of Michigan Depression Center and Department of Psychiatry has drawn on their experience and expertise in the areas of outreach and access; peer-to-peer programs; family, marital and parenting interventions; and support group facilitation, to develop and tailor programs designed to meet the unique mental health needs of returning veterans and their families, including National Guard and Reserve service members.
Marcia Valenstein, MD, MS, a professor in the U-M Department of Psychiatry and member of the U-M Depression Center, gives a brief overview presentation outlining the unique mental health needs of veterans, as well as successful intervention programs designed specifically for veterans and their families. This is followed by questions and a panel discussion, including Edward J. Thomas, LMSW, BCD, Staff Social Worker, PTSD Clinical Team, and Military Sexual Trauma Coordinator, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and Nick Anderson, Systems of Care Coordinator, Michigan Army National Guard. This event was cosponsored by the AADL and the U-M Depression Center.
For more information on the U-M Depression Center, please visit the Depression Center website at depressioncenter.org or contact Trish Meyer at 734.763.7495 or meyerpa@umich.edu.
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Nerd Nite #23 – Sweet is the Light: Curing Blindness Through the Ages
Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness on the planet. Long before anesthesia or antiseptics, cataract surgeries were being performed. This talk will touch on the evolution of the procedure from ancient to modern times. A few of the questions we’ll answer along the way: Why is the sky blue? Is staring at an eclipse really bad for your eyes? Where do orange carrots come from?
About Zvi Kresch:
Zvi Kresch is a faculty member at the UM Kellogg Eye Center. Prior to coming to UM, he spent a year traveling with his wife and practicing ophthalmology abroad with the The Himalayan Cataract Project. He was exposed to different types of cataract surgery and became very interested in the procedure’s origins. When not studying eyeballs, Zvi enjoys chess, making kombucha and playing the harmonica.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Martin interviews George Hodgman, author of Bettyville.
George Hodgman is a veteran magazine and book editor who was worked at Simon & Schuster, Vanity Fair, and Talk magazine. His writing has appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Interview, W, and Harper’s Bazaar, among other publications.
A few years ago, Hodgman returned to his hometown of Paris, Missouri, for his mother Betty’s ninety-first birthday, for what he thought would be a brief visit. He soon discovered that his mother had lost her driver’s license and her in-home help, and desperately needed the assistance she would rather die than ask for.
Despite his doubts and total lack of cooking skills, Hodgman left New York City and moved back in with his mother, facing the juncture that every son or daughter understands, the reversal of roles that rarely goes smoothly as a parent grows older and both struggle to hold on to what once was. Bettyville is an exquisitely written memoir about the complicated but deeply genuine love a son feels for his courageous, headstrong, vulnerable mother in the twilight of her life.
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Nerd Nite #22 - Why the hell haven’t we cured cancer yet?
Why the hell haven’t we cured cancer yet?
As one of the leading causes of death in the US, cancer has long been the focal point of intense study and public interest. However, after millions of dollars and countless hours spent on cancer research, the silver bullet cure remains elusive. Have you ever wondered why? Join us as we delve into the intricate nature of the disease and the difficulties physicians and scientists face when treating a patient with cancer. Along the way, we will discuss the biological origins of cancer as well as its pathology, epidemiology, and potential therapeutic options currently under scrutiny.
About Yijung Yang:
Yang graduated from University of Maryland with a degree in Physiology and Neurobiology. Then, after a two-year research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, moved to Ann Arbor to join the MD/PhD program at the University of Michigan, and is currently in the research phase of graduate training under the guidance of Dr. Diane Simeone, director of the Translational Oncology Program at UM.
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Nerd Nite #16 - Growth Factor X: Superhero or Villain in the Depressed Brain?
Growth Factor X: Superhero or Villain in the Depressed Brain?
Elyse Aurbach talks about the role of two members of the fibroblast growth factor molecular family in major depression. In the hippocampus, a region of the brain critical for memory and emotion, these growth factor molecules become disrupted after stressful experiences. These changes may affect the way the hippocampus functions during health and during depression, so studying them may help the medical community to develop more effective treatments for mood disorders.
About Elyse L. Aurbach:
Elyse is a grad student studying the neuroscience of depression at UM (which isn’t as depressing as it sounds). When not obsessing over experiments, grammar, or her cat, she coordinates RELATE (Researchers Expanding Lay-Audience Teaching and Engagement) with collaborators Katie Prater and Leah Bricker. A relatively recent transplant to the Midwest, Elyse dreams of building igloos and catching fireflies.
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Bright Nights Community Forum: Depression During Childbearing Years: Strategies for Prevention, Intervention, and Raising Resilient Children
Research conducted by the University of Michigan Depression Center suggested that as many as one in five pregnant women may experience symptoms of depression during the childbearing years. Many are symptomatic during their pregnancies, and symptoms may continue during their children’s early years.
Kate Rosenblum, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor in the U-M Department of Psychiatry, Director of the Women & Infants Mental Health Program, and Co-Director of the Infant and Early Childhood Clinic, will give a brief overview of the latest research on perinatal depression, including strategies for prevention, intervention, and raising resilient children. Novel early interventions to improve maternal depression, parenting skills, foster healthy attachment, and maximize a healthy developmental path for children will be explored.
This will be followed by questions from the audience and a discussion with panelists from the U-M Depression Center, including Maria Muzik, M.D., MSc., Assistant Professor, U-M Department of Psychiatry; Medical Director, Women and Infants Mental Health Clinic; Lisa Hammer, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, U-M Medical School; and Lulu Zhao, M.D., Clinical Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynecology, U-M Medical School.
For more information on the UM Depression Center, please visit University of Michigan Depression Center.
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Nerd Nite #20 - The Microbiome: Good for What Ails You
The Microbiome: Good for What Ails You
This is a discussion of what we currently know about the human microbiome, but mostly, an opportunity to point out a lot of really cool things that we don’t have any explanations for and how researchers are going about trying to understand what’s going on.
About Pat Schloss:
I get paid to see bacteria everywhere and spend a lot of time obsessing about whether we should be obsessing about them. I have been a professor at the University of Michigan since 2009 where I study the human microbiome. My family has a farm in Webster Township where we raise sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, and seven Homo sapiens and their microbiome.
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Nerd Nite #16 - Fat and Diabetes: What it is, how it works, and how to get rid of it
Gabriel Martinez-Santibañez - Fat and Diabetes: What it is, how it works, and how to get rid of it
Gabriel addresses the many hats worn by the macrophage; the underappreciated sentinels that play key roles in regulating how our fat grows, shrinks, and functions. He will describe the ins and outs of Type II diabetes and how these macrophages are involved in its development. He also shares tips on how to lose weight and prevent the development of diabetes by comparing and contrasting some of the most popular and successful diet strategies (Atkins, Zone, glycemic index, Mediterranean, paleo, juicing). Finally, he discusses the most successful weight loss strategy that uses “THIS ONE SECRET!!!”
About Gabriel Martinez-Santibañez:
Gabriel is from Southern California and is currently a Ph.D student at the University of Michigan, where he studies obesity and the immune cell components involved in the development of Type II Diabetes. When not in lab, he likes to grow things in the garden, read about international cuisine, and discuss the merits of jam.