“Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society Selects Richard ... - Yahoo Finance” plus 4 more

Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society Selects Richard ... - Yahoo Finance
Biology project saves life of Fort Worth ISD teacher’s daughter - Pegasus News
Biology at the root of debilitating perinatal and postpartum ... - Cleveland Plain Dealer
FW Teen Writes Biology Paper, Saves A Life - CBS 11 News
Ongoing human evolution could explain recent rise in certain disorders - Science Centric

Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society Selects Richard ... - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 03:54 AM PST

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University has been selected to receive the 2010 Theodore William Richards (TWR) Medal for Conspicuous Achievement in Chemistry from the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society (NESACS). The Richards Medal, named for the first Nobel laureate in Chemistry from the United States, is the Section's oldest and most prestigious award.

Professor Zare is being honored for his development of sensitive optical techniques for chemical analysis. According to Dr. Roy Gordon, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University and Chair of the Richards Medal Selection Committee, the Selection Committee recognized that Zare's techniques "have been applied to many different disciplines, from studies of fundamental chemical reactions, to chemical analysis of compartments within a cell, to the chemical analysis of heterogeneous features in particulates and meteorites; spanning the disciplines of chemistry, biology, and astrophysics. In each case, his work inspires us to understand how the chemical analysis of nanoenvironments can reveal hidden worlds that inform us deeply about large questions – from the nature of life within a cell to the origin of the solar system as it relates to the composition of the interstellar medium. Through Zare's pioneering and fundamental advances, the world of the ultra small is being opened for study by the scientific community."

Professor Zare joined the Stanford University Department of Chemistry in 1977. Prior to joining Stanford University, Professor Zare was an assistant professor at MIT (1965), and a professor at the University of Colorado (1966) and Columbia University (1969). He earned a B. A. in chemistry and physics (1961) and a Ph. D. in chemical physics (1964), both from Harvard University. He is the recipient of multiple honors and awards for teaching and for his work in chemistry, including, most recently, the 2010 Priestly Medal, to be given by the American Chemical Society this spring.

Professor Zare will receive the Richards Medal Award during ceremonies at Harvard University on Thursday, March 4, 2010. The evening will include dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club, followed by the award presentation and a lecture, entitled "Theodore W. Richards Redux: Determining Isotope Ratios without Mass Spectrometers," given by Dr. Zare in the Pfizer Lecture Hall.

For further information about the Richards Award contact Professor Roy Gordon, at gordon@chemistry.harvard.edu or +1. 617.495.4017. Additional details will be forthcoming on the NESACS website.

The Northeastern Section of the ACS, which has nearly 7000 members, sponsors a number of awards, travel grants and scholarships to honor professional chemists. NESACS holds more than ten meetings per year, open to the public, around the Boston area. More information can be found at our website, www.nesacs.org. For press inquiries about NESACS, contact Leland L. Johnson, Jr., chair of Public Relations, at ljohnson@creagenbio.com, public.relations@nesacs.org, or +1.781.938.1122, ext. 115.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 154,000 members, the ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Biology project saves life of Fort Worth ISD teacher’s daughter - Pegasus News

Posted: 11 Jan 2010 11:55 AM PST

by PegNews wire

A student chose to write about diabetes for his science project. When his teacher proofread his paper, she realized her daughter Hope was experiencing those same symptoms.

Lori Roque enjoys teaching -- especially since one of her students inadvertently saved the life of Roque's 14 year old daughter, Hope.

"I had given my Honors Biology students a research assignment on a disease that effects multiple organ systems," said Roque. "So the kids wouldn't procrastinate, I made them submit an outline or summary of their research by Friday, Dec. 18."

On the Sunday before Christmas as Roque was reading the outlines, she found one describing symptoms being experienced by her daughter. After reading it to her husband, they decided to take Hope to the doctor.

"At the doctor's office, I told them that I wanted to have her tested for diabetes. After doing some tests, the doctor told us to take her to the Cook Children's Hospital emergency room right away. My daughter had Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and it was approaching a life-threatening stage."

Hope remained in the hospital until Christmas Day afternoon. Because her body had stopped producing insulin Hope was "metabolically starving to death." Fortunately, she can regulate her diabetes with supplemental insulin now.

"The doctor told me I 'owed' a consultation fee to the student who wrote the project outline I had read. Jokingly, I agreed and he said, 'No, really. This was very serious.'"

As for the biology student, he had no idea what had happened. A mundane and insignificant homework assignment turned out to be life-changing.

"While the diagnosis was not good news, I realize that without it we might not have realized what was going on until it was too late," said Roque. "I thank God that I decided to teach, that the student turned in his assignment on time, and that the T-MATE program helped me become a teacher at Southwest where he would be in my class!"

Lori Roque is a product of the TMATE-FWISD program. TMATE stands for Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education. The program is a collaboration between Fort Worth ISD and Tarleton State University. TMATE, which began in Fort Worth ISD in 2001, is specially designed for adults who have previously earned their bachelor's degree and who now seek to make a career transition into teaching. Once hired, they continue coursework and testing during their first year of teaching. After passing all required certification exams and successful completion of one year of teaching, they become fully certified.

Source: Fort Worth ISD

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Biology at the root of debilitating perinatal and postpartum ... - Cleveland Plain Dealer

Posted: 11 Jan 2010 10:32 PM PST

By Angela Townsend, The Plain Dealer

January 11, 2010, 10:00PM

University of North CarolinaOne in eight woman suffers from postpartum depression, which can begin at any time within the first three monghs after delivery.The images are hard to miss -- and for some women, hard to live up to.

Magazine ads for high-end maternity wear -- and, it seems, every photo of celebrity pregnancies -- show images of women with impeccable hair and makeup and glowing smiles. Commercials for baby products depict an environment of easy bliss. Mom, Dad, baby and everyone else in their world appear healthy, happy, content.

It's no wonder, then, that anyone who falls short of these inflated images during and after pregnancy may feel a bit overwhelmed and guilty.

According to the March of Dimes, one in eight women suffers from postpartum depression, which can begin at any time within the first three months after delivery.

Unlike the "baby blues," a common condition that usually subsides within the first couple of weeks after birth, postpartum depression is real depression and can be so debilitating to the mother that it puts a newborn baby's health and care in jeopardy.

Perinatal (during pregnancy) and postpartum clinical depression are as severe and significant an illness as depression experienced by men and nonpregnant women, said Dr. Toni Johnson, associate director of behavioral medicine and counseling and director of emergency psychiatry services at MetroHealth Medical Center.

"It's a biological illness," Johnson said. "It has nothing to do with a person's character or desire to parent."

Women with a history of severe PMS are at higher risk for perinatal and postpartum depression -- and for depression during menopause.

"The reproductive cycle has a big impact on a woman's risk for depression," Johnson said. One common theory is that the hormones estrogen and progestin somehow influence brain chemistry.

That can provide essential clues as to whether a woman needs to seek treatment for depression, she said.

When Karen Gross of Lyndhurst begins working with a new client, she focuses immediately on the delivery.

"Sometimes, the way a woman's delivery goes [contributes to] postpartum depression," said Gross, a member of the Doula Network of Northeast Ohio. "Especially if it didn't meet her expectations -- if she wanted a natural childbirth but had to have an epidural or a cesarean."

Physical and hormonal changes, alone or coupled with life stressors, can precipitate the depression, Johnson said. For that reason, educating a woman early on about her reproductive life is important in the treatment of depression. But instead of focusing on changes in appetite, sleep and energy levels -- changes that often signal depression but that are hard to gauge in pregnant women and those who have just recently had babies -- physicians instead use another tool.

The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale can be used during and after pregnancy to focus on mood, thought, motivation and interest, Johnson said. Physicians use the 10-item self-rating scale to measure how the mother is bonding with her infant and how much interest she has in her baby.

In the past few generations, much has changed about the availability of treatment and services for women with perinatal and postpartum depression. Educating women on the difference between the "baby blues" and postpartum depression is now a pretty routine part of a woman's pregnancy care.

"I think there have been major gains [in the treatment of depression] with the help of physicians who take care of women during pregnancy," Johnson said.

Even so, she continued, "I still think it's looked at differently. People have less of an understanding than, say, something like gestational diabetes. There is still a stigma related to postpartum depression compared to diabetes."

It is part of Gross' job to erase that stigma.

"The misconceptions are that a woman is lazy and she doesn't want to take care of her baby," she said.

As a postpartum doula, Gross provides emotional and informational support after delivery. For some women, that means taking over night feedings and laundry. For others it's more emotional support, such as building up a mother's courage and providing effective parenting strategies to help her bond with her baby.

Gross typically works with women several times a week for three to four months at a time.

"A lot of times I see women who are afraid of their baby," Gross said. "Their concerns aren't taken seriously, so they don't think that they need help."

Like other forms of depression, perinatal and postpartum depression can be treated with antidepressants, therapy and counseling. Treatment is tailored to the individual.

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FW Teen Writes Biology Paper, Saves A Life - CBS 11 News

Posted: 11 Jan 2010 07:47 PM PST

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A freshman at Fort Worth's Southwest High School wrote a paper that might have helped save a life. Johnny Trinh wrote a paper about diabetes for his biology class. His dad and uncles have the disease, so he knows more about it firsthand than he ...

Ongoing human evolution could explain recent rise in certain disorders - Science Centric

Posted: 12 Jan 2010 03:33 AM PST

The subtle but ongoing pressures of human evolution could explain the seeming rise of disorders such as autism, autoimmune diseases, and reproductive cancers, researchers write in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Certain adaptations that once benefited humans may now be helping such ailments persist in spite of - or perhaps because of - advancements in modern culture and medicine.

'This work points out linkages within the plethora of new information in human genetics and the implications for human biology and public health, and also illustrates how one could teach these perspectives in medical and premedical curricula,' says author Peter Ellison, John Cowles Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University.

Ellison's co-authors are Stephen Stearns of Yale University, Randolph Nesse of the University of Michigan, and Diddahally Govindaraju of the Boston University School of Medicine. The research was first presented at the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium, co-sponsored by the National Academy of Science and the Institute of Medicine.

Colloquium presentations described in the current paper include research suggesting that:

- Autism and schizophrenia may be associated with the over-expression of paternally or maternally derived genes and influences, a hypothesis advanced by Bernard Crespi of Simon Fraser University.

- Maternal and paternal genes engage in a subtle tug-of-war well into childhood with consequences for childhood development, as posited by David Haig, George Putnam Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard.

- Humans may be susceptible to allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases because of increased hygiene, according to Kathleen Barnes of Johns Hopkins University. Without being exposed to intestinal worms and parasites, as our ancestors were, our immune systems are hypersensitive.

- Natural selection still influences our biology, despite advances in modern culture and medicine. Stearns found that natural selection favours heavier women and reduces the age at which a woman has her first child.

In the final presentation of the colloquium, researchers called for the integration of evolutionary perspectives into medical school curricula, to help future physicians consider health problems from an evolutionary perspective.

'We're trying to design ways to educate physicians who will have a broader perspective and not think of the human body as a perfectly designed machine,' says Ellison. 'Our biology is the result of many of evolutionary trade-offs, and understanding these histories and conflicts can really help the physician understand why we get sick and what we might do to stay healthy.'

Previous work in evolutionary medicine helped explain why disease is so prevalent and difficult to prevent - because natural selection favours reproduction over health, biology evolves more slowly than culture, and pathogens evolve more quickly than humans.

'I think that the main take-home point is that evolution and medicine really do have things to say to each other, and some of these insights actually reduce suffering and save lives,' says Stearns.

Source: Harvard University

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