Autophagy: The Intersection of Vitamin D, HIV and Tuberculosis

HIV-1 particles assembling at the surface of an infected macrophage. By see Source [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

With the warmer season in full swing in Wisconsin, the grass needs mowing and the weeds need pulling. As a consequence, I am outside in the sun, synthesizing Vitamin D (and watching my freckles multiply). The benefits of this vitamin have been discussed in the news (e.g., may help prevent cancer, maintains a healthy working brain) while informing us most people lack adequate levels. A recent PLoS Pathogens article intrigued me because the researchers examined the role Vitamin D played in mitigating human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis coinfection in macrophages.

Why were Campbell and Spector interested in Vitamin D’s effect on HIV-1 and M. tuberculosis?

The Art and Science of Mothering (or, What You Will Scoop From a Bath With Your Bare Hands)

I had my very first Mother’s Day yesterday. Well, I guess technically my first Mother’s Day would have been last year when I was pregnant, but yesterday was the first one with an external, fully realized, crawling, pickle-devouring, cheeseball-grinning, pattycaking daughter who melts my heart on a daily basis. We had a lovely day: I received cards and gifts from our dog, my 10-month-old daughter, and my husband. We had a leisurely breakfast at a local dive bar that actually has seriously good food (and excellent Bloody Marys, to boot). Total strangers — mostly men, curiously — wished me “Happy Mother’s Day” in soft and sincere voices with smiles on their faces and a little shine in their eyes. It was like the Mom mojo was reverberating in the air. I felt on display, slightly revered, a bit like a rock star. It was heady stuff.

When You Got the Glow: The Truth About Your Gin and Tonic.

The music is loud, the bass is thumping, people are dancing and laughing, and my gin and tonic is glowing. This Friday night is perfect. This mysterious glowing drink catches the eye of many passersby and is a great conversation starter. At least it was until I learned why my drink was glowing. These days, when someone mentions my glowing drink, I am compelled to explain why. It has become a great conversation ender!

I’m a scientist and naturally curious, but there are some things I choose to not investigate just to hold on to the excitement that comes with wondering why something is the way it is. My desire to keep wondering why my gin and tonic glows, or becomes fluorescent, in the club was thwarted one Friday afternoon (ca. 2001) by Professor David Jameson, University of Hawai’i, in a Biophotonics lecture at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Professor Jameson, who studied under the late, great Gregorio Weber, is a dynamic teacher with a genuine passion for fluorescence methodology.

The Biggest Blunders of Job Searching: Part 3 Presentations

No matter what type of job you are interviewing for, you may be asked to give a seminar or presentation. When I interviewed for my first HR job, I had to give a presentation on any topic I wanted. Other jobs specify that you need to give a presentation on a topic specifically related to the job. In my case, they were looking for both presentation skills and my ability to teach. When asked to present on a job-related topic, a potential employer may be looking for your ability to organize information and your knowledge on the topic. Presentations can be scary, but some good old-fashioned preparation can make things go much more smoothly.

In order to prepare, you need to know what your audience is looking for. Read on for some things to avoid during your presentation.

Bisulfite Conversion and Next Gen Sequencing

In my last entry, I gave a little summary of one of many techniques that are used to study DNA methylation patterns in a loci-specific fashion using the COBRA technique. This time, we’ll take a look at a high-throughput, genome-wide method for analyzing DNA methylation status using a next generation sequencing approache called bisulfite sequencing, or Bis-Seq.

A Walk in the Woods: A Short Story about Persuasion

Here is another tidbit for thought from the Science Writing in the Age of Denial conference. The first keynote address was given by Dr. Arthur Lupia, from the University of Michigan. His talk entitled “Communicating Science in Politicized Environments” focused on the physiological mechanisms of learning and the evidence from the social sciences about how people learn and make decisions when they have limited knowledge of a subject. During his talk he presented a 1-minute story synopsis of his “main point”, in the hopes that if we came away with anything from the talk, we would, at the very least, remember this story. Here is my sketched version of his story with notes.

What do you think? Do scientists and science writers do a good enough job of knowing where our audience is when we write?

How to Evaluate Consumer Health Reporting

NASA image

In April I had the privilege of attending Science Writing in the Age of Denial, a conference held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that featured science writers, journalists and scientists from around the world discussing some of the perils, pitfalls, challenges and amazing opportunities of covering science, medical and health stories in today’s media landscape. I reveled in the two days of intense discussion.

My notebook from the conference is filled with notes, sketches, web addresses to visit and names of books that I simply must read. One of the talks that hit home hard was given by Gary Schwitzer, a consumer healthcare journalist who is publisher of the web site HealthNewsReview.org

Schwitzer’s talk, “Cheerleading, Shibboleths and Uncertainty” addressed the status of consumer healthcare reporting which, in his opinion, often tends to be little more than “cheerleading” for the latest greatest drug, technology or screening test. His talk addressed some of the cult-like following for screening tests (the shibboleths) and the tendency to convey with certainty the “upside” of screening without discussing adequately the risks or downsides (uncertainty).

His focus on the screening issue was particularly poignant to me, because I have experienced my own transformation of thought regarding health screening.