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Making Children's Mental Health and School Safety a Priority
The U.S. Department of Education announced $71.6 million in grant awards to enhance safety in schools and improve student access to mental health resources. The grants will allow local leaders to tailor their approach to school safety and mental health in ways that meet their students' individual needs and their particular school's unique challenges. "This is a strong step towards helping children across the U.S. who have experienced traumatic events. We know from previous research that traumatic experiences, even those in early childhood, affect an individual at any time in their life," says Elizabeth Dowdell, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor at Villanova's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing. "In healthcare, assessing, identifying and treating trauma has become a major public health challenge since trauma exposures frequently go unrecognized and unaddressed." The same is true in the educational system. For many children, adolescents, and adults, trauma results from an event, series of events or set of circumstances which are perceived or experienced to be physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening. The landmark Adverse Childhood Experience study (1998) found that, in a population of 17,377 adult participants, 63% experienced at least one trauma exposure as a child and 20% experienced more than three trauma exposures. The experience of repeated trauma is sometimes referred to as toxic stress, which can have damaging effects on learning, behavior and health across the life span. These exposures included physical and sexual abuse, neglect and household dysfunction. Increased stress from family violence and chaos is trauma and, when combined with injury, is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. The lasting adverse effects from the trauma can affect a child's functioning and well-being, specifically mental and physical health, social, emotional and spiritual well-being as they age and develop. "Healthcare is shifting to a trauma-informed framework that focuses on what happened to the person rather than what is wrong with them and recognizes that individual's strengths and resilience. Schools are ideal locations for identification of traumatized children and the implementation of services to help them," says Dr. Dowdell. "School districts have to create physical safety and psychological safe places where all children can learn."
On August 3, 2019, a white power-inspired gunman killed 24 people and injured 22 others at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas. We tend to understand mass shootings as isolated events committed by “lone wolf” gunmen who might have mental health problems, but what we know about the El Paso gunman – as well as the terrorists who carried out mass killings at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019, the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, and at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 – tell a different story. The evidence investigators have complied shows that these white-power terrorists had never met one another, but that they lived in an on-line world created by 4chan, 8chan, and white-power organizations’ websites, where they consumed racist ideas and propaganda that shaped their decision to kill African-Americans, Muslims, Jewish people, and Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. We also know that white-power terrorists have particular goals in mind. Message boards like 8chan reveal a competition among participants about who can top the number of people killed in the last mass shooting. There is also a strong belief expressed on-line that killing racial minorities will foment a race war and allow white-power advocates to create an all-white world. I describe these terrorists as advocates of white power because it is important to understand that “white power” and “white nationalism,” a term often used in the media to describe the perpetrators of recent mass killings and the movement that animates them, are not the same thing. White nationalism calls to mind an effort to shore up the interests of white people within the American nation as it currently exists. The white-power movement, on the other hand, imagines a transnational, Aryan nation of white people living in an all-white world after wiping out non-whites. This might sound far-fetched, but does not mean that those who carry out mass killings in pursuit of this goal are mentally ill. Rather, their actions are the result of a white-power ideology fostered and spread on-line. What is new about how white-power advocates communicate with each other is that some of it now happens on-line. Interaction between racists who never met one another, however, has a long history in the United States. Approximately 4,100 African Americans were lynched between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the 1960s. The white perpetrators of these lynchings lived hundreds of miles apart and often did not know one another, but they were united in a collective effort to enforce Jim Crow white supremacy in the American South (I use “white supremacist” here because white southerners who carried out lynchings did not, broadly speaking, subscribe to white power as the current movement defines it: the creation of a transnational, Aryan nation of white people living in an all-white world after wiping out non-whites). Lynchings were sometimes public events that drew hundreds or thousands of people with the purpose of “teaching” southern African Americans what would happen to them if they violated the rules of Jim Crow. Southern newspapers ran stories that justified lynchings; perpetrators took pieces of flesh, body parts, and hair from lynching victims as souvenirs and passed them around; and white southerners took lynching photographs, turned them into postcards, and mailed them to friends, family, business associates, and fellow travelers in the white supremacist movement. This racist community building had the goal of creating and maintaining white supremacy and, of course, it all happened without the help of the Internet. Communication, whether on-line or through the more traditional means has played an integral role in fostering and perpetuating racial violence and hatred. If you are a reporter covering this topic – let one of our experts help. Dr. Anthony DeStefanis is an associate professor of history at Otterbein University. He specializes in modern U.S. history with an emphasis on labor and the working class and immigration, race, and ethnicity. Dr. DeStefanis is available to speak with media regarding the history of racial violence in America – simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Let our experts help with your coverage
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and if you are a reporter looking to know more or considering covering this topic, here are a few key facts to get started according to Breastcancer.org: About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2019, an estimated 268,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 62,930 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer. About 2,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2019. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 883. About 41,760 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2019 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989. For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer. Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. In 2019, it's estimated that about 30% of newly diagnosed cancers in women will be breast cancers. In women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women. A woman’s risk of breast cancer nearly doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Less than 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it. At Augusta University, we have leading experts who can help with any of your questions, assist with your coverage and ensure your story has all the facts and details it requires to be a compelling and effective piece. Dr. Alicia Vinyard is a Board-Certified General Surgeon and Fellowship Trained Breast Surgical Oncologist at the Georgia Cancer Center and Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Dr. Vinyard is also an expert in breast cancer, cancer surgery and cancer survivorship. She is available to speak to media about Breast Cancer Awareness Month – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Vaping injuries and deaths on the rise — Augusta University experts talk health risks
As the nationwide death toll due to vaping-related lung disease rose to 17 this week, this topic has been making headlines lately as concerned medical providers, parents and even politicians are now demanding action. This week, Augusta University Medical Center reported its first patient with a vaping-related lung injury was admitted to the ICU. More than 500 cases of lung damage and seven deaths linked to vaping have been reported across the U.S. in the last few weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It took decades and decades of smoking for us to realize that we had a lot of older people carrying around oxygen tanks and that they were doing damage to their lungs over an extended period of time,” said Dr. Phillip Coule, vice president and chief medical officer for Augusta University Health System. “My concern is we have people thinking that this is safe and we’re not going to know that true effect of this, in terms of the damage occurring to people’s lungs, for years.” Augusta University experts are available to discuss the wide range of questions related to vaping, including: Rise of vaping-related illnesses/deaths Known and unknown health risks Misnomer that vaping is safer High rate of teen/young adult usage “The CDC made a landmark statement: That all of our efforts to get children and adolescents and young adults to move away from nicotine have been ‘erased’ – that’s a very powerful word,” said Dr. Martha Tingen, associate director of Cancer Prevention, Control and Population Health at the Georgia Cancer Center. The health risks related to e-cigarette use are impossible to ignore, she said. “Some students are having a major experience immediately after they smoke, that they are having shallow breathing and they can’t get their breath. When they are admitted into the hospital and go to the emergency room, they are seeing that they actually have some lung damage and they are setting themselves up for future, more intensive lung disease problems,” Tingen said. Dr. Coule serves as vice president and chief medical officer for AU Health System and associate dean for clinical affairs at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Dr. Tingen is a behavioral nurse scientist targeting the prevention of tobacco use in children. She can speak with media regarding the problems e-cigarettes pose for our society. Our experts are available to discuss the wide range of topics concerning e-cigarettes and vaping – simply click on either expert’s icon to arrange an interview.
Experts available to discuss vaping and new tobacco products
A host of new tobacco products, including e-cigarettes like JUULs, have entered the market in recent years, bringing new public health concerns with them. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are studying the health and societal impacts of emerging tobacco products. UNC-Chapel Hill experts are available to discuss topics including e-cigarettes’ health impacts, their failure as smoking cessation tools, the differences in how smoking and vaping affect the body, and e-cigarette explosions and the resulting chemical burn injuries. If you’d like to speak with an expert, call (919) 445-8555 or email mediarelations@unc.edu. Dr. M. Bradley Drummond is an associate professor of medicine at UNC School of Medicine and the director of the Obstructive Lung Diseases Clinical and Translational Research Center. He can discuss the health consequences of these new tobacco products and how they vary from traditional cigarettes. He can also discuss how these products exacerbate other conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and other chronic lung diseases. Dr. Adam Goldstein is a professor in the UNC department of family medicine, the director of tobacco intervention programs at UNC School of Medicine, and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He can discuss the potential drawbacks versus any potential benefit of using these products as smoking cessation tools and can share evidence-based strategies to stop smoking. He can also speak to trends in teen tobacco use. Dr. Ilona Jaspers is a professor of pediatrics and microbiology & immunology, director of the Curriculum in Toxicology, and deputy director of the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology all at the UNC School of Medicine, and professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She can discuss the current scientific understanding of the health effects of vaping or juuling, a subject on which she has published widely. Kurt Ribisl is a professor and chair of the department of health behavior at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the program leader for Cancer Prevention and Control at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Ribisl specializes in tobacco policy and regulation and can speak to taxation, advertising and marketing of new tobacco products and recommendations for preventing youth access. Robert Tarran is a professor of cell biology and physiology at UNC School of Medicine, a member of UNC Marsico Lung Institute, and a member of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He can discuss the science of vaping, including how e-cigarettes impact a person’s lungs, including their genes and what happens to the lung’s immune system. He can also speak to the varying toxic effects of different e-cigarette flavors. Rebecca Williams is a research associate at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is a leading expert on internet tobacco sales, age verification, technology and emerging tobacco products, including the wide variety of vaping devices available today. Her research has shown that online e-cigarette vendors routinely sold to minors, a finding that underscores the need for regulations requiring and enforcing age verification for the online sale of e-cigarettes. She can discuss the sales and marketing practices of websites that sell emerging tobacco products, and underage access to these online products.
When people hear the term “assisted living,” they might think “nursing home” or “old folks’ home.” But what people don’t know is that interior designers are working hard to ensure that these facilities provide a sense of comfort and a sense of home to their residents. “Designing for assisted living environments requires careful consideration of the needs of the residents living there. But really, in that way, it is no different from designing for any population,” said Elise King, assistant professor of interior design in Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences. Baby boomers would rather live at home or in a residential setting, according to SeniorLiving.org. This will require more locations to have independent and assisted living available. With the baby boomer generation transitioning into retirement, many will require additional care but don’t want to be in nursing homes like their parents. “You should always begin by understanding the users of the space and assessing their needs and requirements,” King said. “And what you’ll find is that across the lifespan, while there are different needs which must be met by various functional requirements, our innate desires are not that different.” 1. Bring outdoors inside by incorporating nature into facility design. One way designers enhance facilities is by incorporating nature into their design and bringing the outdoors inside. At Baylor, Debra Harris, Ph.D., associate professor of interior design — who has researched the impact of health care facility design on patients, families and health care workers — teaches a sustainability course that addresses some aspects of nature in design. “We reinforce all aspects of indoor environmental quality through research activities and through the entire design process,” Harris said. “For years, architects have discussed the concept of organic architecture and more recently, the term ‘biophilic design’ has been used,” King said. “And in the past 30 or so years, we’ve seen a growing body of research that supports what we’ve assumed for a long time, essentially that humans desire a connection with nature and that nature can have a positive impact on health and well-being.” She said one way this can be accomplished is by having ample windows, particularly those that look onto greenspaces or treetops. It also is important to consider that some residents will be using walkers, canes or wheelchairs. Window height should be considered so that all residents can benefit. Another way to incorporate nature into the design is by using natural materials when possible or using materials that have textures or patterns reminiscent of nature. Harris agrees that incorporating nature into a facility’s design is important and beneficial to the residents living there. “Direct access to nature, like gardening or nature walks, and indirect access to nature, through a window, provide real tangible benefits,” Harris said. 2. Access to natural light, as well as artificial light that mimics daylight, provides benefits to seniors that are associated with well-being. Harris said having access to natural light provides benefits associated with well-being, such as reinforcing our natural clock, known as circadian rhythms, which helps with the quality of sleep and may contribute to management of chronic conditions. Designing to provide access to nature through gardening and walking also can increase physical activity and social interactions, she said. Artificial lighting is also an important factor in interior design, especially for seniors. Harris said there are lighting systems that can mimic daylight, changing over the course of the day to support our circadian rhythms, which can lead to an elevated sense of well-being. This may contribute to other aspects, such as social interactions, physical activity, and satisfaction, she said. 3. Designing for all five senses is critical for making a facility feel more like home. King said it’s important to design for all the senses, not just the visual aspect of the facility. She said sound, smell and touch are other critical aspects that need to be taken into consideration to make a facility feel more like a home. “Designers have to use research to understand how we can best address the specific needs of a mature population through design,” King said. “By creating environments that value and support these innate needs — self-actualization, esteem, love and belonging, safety needs and physiological needs — we’re reinforcing a sense of place and hopefully, a sense of home.” ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. It provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT ROBBINS COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY The Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences at Baylor University was established in 2014, a result of identified priorities for strengthening the health sciences through Baylor’s strategic vision, Pro Futuris, and the University’s Illuminate strategic plan. The anchor academic units that form Robbins College – Communication Sciences and Disorders; Family and Consumer Sciences; Health, Human Performance and Recreation; Public Health; and Division of Health Professions – share a common purpose: improving health and the quality of life. The College’s curricula promotes a team-based approach to transformational education and research that has established interdisciplinary research collaborations to advance solutions for improving quality of life for individuals, families and communities. For more information, visit www.baylor.edu/chhs.
Multicultural Millennials Respond Positively to Health ‘Edutainment,’ Baylor Marketing Research Says
One-on-one interviews reveal which health issues concern millennials and their longing for optimal health Storytelling that educates and entertains – aka “edutainment” – is a powerful communications tool that can lead to positive health-related changes among multicultural millennials, according to a new marketing study from Baylor University. Tyrha Lindsey-Warren, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of marketing in Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, led the study, “Making multicultural millennials healthy: The influence of health ‘edutainment’ and other drivers on health-oriented diet change,” which is published in the Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy. Charlene A. Dadzie, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing at the University of South Alabama, coauthored the research. The research sought to determine which health issues most concerned multicultural millennials and to gauge how effective media can be as a tool to address those issues and drive change. “This study finds that by bolstering self-identity and employing health ‘edutainment,’ it is possible to have a positive impact on the health intentions and behaviors of the millennial generation,” the researchers wrote. There are more than 92 million millennials (ages 20-34) in the United States today, the researchers observed. More than 9 million of those are identified as being overweight, and much of that can be attributed to a sedentary lifestyle and media consumption. White Americans watch an average of 140 hours of television per month (35 hours per week); African Americans watch 213 hours of television per month; and Latino Americans watch 33 hours of television per week and stream more than six hours of video per month. “Millennials are tech-savvy, they love social media, they’re actually more health conscious than previous generations, and they have significant economic power,” Lindsey-Warren said. “With so many millennials – in the scope of this study, multicultural millennials – watching so many screens, there is great opportunity to generate information and increase products and services geared towards health-oriented behavior.” But to take advantage of this opportunity, public and private organizations need to understand what drives millennials’ health choices and communicate accordingly, the researchers wrote. A total of 265 people participated in two components of the study – a health survey of 245 undergraduate students and one-on-one, in-depth interviews of 20 multicultural millennials. ‘I’m old-young and it’s getting real.’ For the second part of the study, the researchers interviewed 20 people – 10 women and 10 men – from two organizations, a large northeastern U.S. university and a mid-sized nonprofit organization in Harlem, New York. The subjects represented cultural, socioeconomic and educational diversity. The interviews were used to better understand the health status of these millennials as well as their relation to storytelling in the media, the researchers said. Participants answered health and wellness questions regarding their own health and personal network (example: “What is your ideal health?”) and questions about their personal media usage (example: “What are the top five health and wellness issues you see regularly portrayed in the media?”). One of the strongest themes to emerge from those interviews was that multicultural millennials “long to be healthy in mind, body and spirit” and are open to “seeing authentic and relevant storytelling regarding health issues in the media that is meaningful.” “They would definitely respond to health messages when they truly see themselves in storytelling that meets them where they are in life,” the researchers wrote. Some of the health-related topics addressed by those being interviewed included healthy eating, asthma, sexual health, mental health and fitness. One interviewee, a 21-year-old woman said she gets “out of breath” when she runs up the stairs and her knees “crack and hurt.” “I would love to have ideal health again. I really would. I would love it. I’m old-young, and it’s getting real,” she said. ‘More involved in the narrative’ In addition to the one-on-one interviews, each of the 20 interviewees watched media clips from two television programs – ABC’s “Private Practice” and the nationally syndicated health show, “The Doctors.” Each show highlighted the accurate health information concerning attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). “Private Practice” told its story via fictional characters in an episodic dramatic storytelling format. In this format, health issues were not directly promoted and there was no direct-to-camera discussion of those issues. “The Doctors,” on the other hand, utilized the format of real doctors conveying accurate health information in real-life situations, directly to the camera and in front of a studio audience. “From the interviews, it was apparent that the storytelling in the health edutainment stimuli worked because the participants enjoyed and were more involved in the narrative conveyed in ‘Private Practice’ versus ‘The Doctors,’” the researchers wrote. “For example, the ‘Private Practice’ segment told the story of a young boy and his parents who desperately asked their doctor to give them a prescription for ADHD medicine for their son, even though the son did not want the medicine and the doctor felt that the prescription might not have been needed.” The “Private Practice” story resonated better with those watching and scored high across genders, according to the study. One 21-year-old male university student said he was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and saw himself and his parents in the “Private Practice” clip. He said he took ADHD medicine for a while. “I didn’t like it and I stopped taking it, and that was it. My parents were, ‘OK – if you don’t like it, that’s the way it is – you’re going to study harder, though. And, that was it,” he told the interviewers. A 28-year-old female from the nonprofit program said she saw the “Private Practice” clip and could relate to the situation as a parent. “I felt I could relate because I felt that my son had ADHD, and I really, I kind of diagnosed him myself, and said that, so I was really interested in this topic,” she told the researchers. Marketing and advertising implications Given the constant barrage of media in the lives of millennials, it is only reasonable to question the effect of this environment on their health and well-being, Lindsey-Warren said. The findings of the study are useful for practitioners in marketing, advertising, public relations, digital and branded entertainment. “Ultimately, the key to making a difference in the lives of multicultural millennials and their health, both now and into the future, may be achieving the right balance of educating and entertaining them,” the researchers wrote. “For millennials, Gen Z and alpha – the newest generation – ‘edutainment’ is and will continue to be a primary way to educate them,” Lindsey-Warren said. “It’s through the stories we tell on digital, on streaming, on gaming – that’s the way those generations are learning.” ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. ABOUT HANKAMER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY At Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, integrity stands shoulder-to-shoulder with analytic and strategic strengths. The School’s top-ranked programs combine rigorous classroom learning, hands-on experience in the real world, a solid foundation in Christian values and a global outlook. Making up approximately 25 percent of the University’s total enrollment, undergraduate students choose from 16 major areas of study. Graduate students choose from full-time, executive or online MBA or other specialized master’s programs, and Ph.D. programs in Information Systems, Entrepreneurship or Health Services Research. The Business School also has campuses located in Austin and Dallas, Texas. Visit www.baylor.edu/business and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/Baylor_Business.
Can Understanding the History of Drug Addiction Help Address the Opioid Epidemic?
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 130 people die every day after overdosing on opioids. Lives have been lost, families shattered, and billions spent as experts, elected leaders, health care professionals, and law enforcement officials try to address the country's opioid epidemic. A professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute can help shed light on the forces at work in this crisis and its history. Professor Nancy Campbell is an expert is in the history of science, technology, and medicine as it relates to drug policy and the social significance of drugs. She is a professor and head of the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "We found her to be one of the most knowledgeable people on the history of opioids and how that history fits into the context of today’s problem," reporters for CBS 6 News in Albany wrote of Campbell. In a recent interview with the station, Campbell discussed her extensive research on the history of drug addiction, as well as her approach to educating students about it. “I actually want my students to go out of the class, knowing more about where our current opioid epidemic came from, the endemic that it built upon and also knowing more about drug markets and the social aspects,” Campbell said. August 15 – CBS 6 News Are you a reporter covering the opioid crisis and need to know what’s being done and what more needs to be done? Let our experts help with your questions. Campbell is available to speak to media regarding the opioid crisis and the history of drug addiction – simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
How Can Lighting Be Used to Improve Sleep, Cognition, and Memory?
In August, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded a new five-year grant totaling $3.8 million to Mariana Figueiro, professor and director at the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Figueiro will explore and research how lighting intervention designed to promote circadian entrainment will improve sleep, cognition, and memory in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) which is an “at risk” or potential prodromal stage of dementia. Sleep-wake disturbances are evident in approximately 60% of individuals with MCI. Healthy sleep could improve both working and long-term memory, and in a best-case scenario, prevent onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Light is the main factor impacting a person’s sleep-wake cycle, telling the body when to go to sleep and when to wake up. “Our scientific premise is that sleep spindles, and the timing of spindles, are critical components of an interaction between electrophysiological events that provide a mechanistic explanation for memory consolidation during sleep,” Figueiro said. Sleeping patterns and the importance of rest are key elements in the short and long-term health of every person. Figueiro is among the world’s leading experts in the area of light and health, with a focus on bridging science to practical applications aimed at improving human quality of life. “Tailored lighting, when properly designed to deliver the correct amount of light at the right time, can positively impact health and well-being,” said Figueiro. “We have seen first-hand the many benefits of lighting, but it is important to get the right lighting to see the positive effects.” There’s a lot more to be discovered in this area of important research and if you are a reporter covering this topic – let our expert help with your stories and questions. The LRC is the world’s leading center for lighting research and education. And Figueiro is among the world's leading experts in the area of light and health, with a focus on bridging science to practical applications aimed at improving human quality of life. She is available to speak with media regarding the effects of light on human health. Simply click on her icon to arrange an interview.
Did you know? 18.8 million women and girls are living with HIV AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death among females between the age of 15 and 49 1.8 million children are born with HIV, contracted from their mothers In sub-Saharan Africa, 3 in 4 new HIV infections in teenagers are among girls There are 5,000 new HIV infections per day Women continue to be disproportionally affected by HIV around the world, but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where three in four new HIV infections are among young girls. For women seeking care in developing countries, preventing and managing HIV is an expensive proposition. Truvada, the pre-exposure HIV treatment drug commonly known as PrEP, costs about $1,500 a month and must be taken daily for continual HIV protection. Likewise, the antiretroviral therapies that attempt to control HIV infection are costly at nearly $20,000 a year. These oral medications as therapy are a non-starter in developing nations like Africa, where nearly 30 million people are infected with HIV. But Phil Santangelo, biomedical engineering professor at Georgia Tech, has another approach in mind. He’s working on an aerosolized RNA-based HIV preventative that eventually could protect women against the disease. It’s applied vaginally and, currently, the aerosol has been tested in pre-clinical trials. The early results are promising; it’s been shown to create HIV antibodies that ward off the infection. It also has the potential to protect against genital herpes and other pathogens, depending on what protein the RNA encodes for. “A single administration of this aerosol is showing expression of antibodies against HIV for up to three months in pre-clinical trials,” said Santangelo. “Our hope is that this will be more affordable, granting easier access to women in developing countries, especially. With women’s health at the forefront of many conversations today, this has the potential to revolutionize disease prevention.” Eventually, Santangelo says RNA could be used for contraception as well – the RNA would express antibodies that inhibit sperm. Again, if birth control can’t be accessed in developing countries, a self-administered, inexpensive aerosol could change the lives of many women. Are you a journalist covering this very important topic? If you have questions or would like to know more about the research being conducted at the Georgia Tech College of Engineering – then let our experts help. Dr. Philip J. Santangelo is an Assistant Professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Santangelo is an expert in the areas of therapeutics and vaccines and HIV/SIV and hRSV. He is available to speak with media regarding this emerging discovery - simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.
