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Citizen Science project set to explore the microbiome of kitchen chopping boards
Researchers in the College of Health and Life Sciences at Aston University have been awarded funds to explore the microbiome of the kitchen chopping board with the help of ‘citizen scientists’. The grant is from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as part of a larger project to investigate food standard challenges. The new citizen science project plans to recruit participants from underrepresented communities in the West Midlands to investigate levels of foodborne bacteria in the home and produce educational materials for their communities. Citizen science projects put the public at the heart of the research process. Rather than being the subjects of the research, citizens are actively involved in collecting and analysing data, and even deciding what questions they want to ask and co-developing the approaches with researchers citizen science also gives participants the opportunity to directly contribute to scientific research and influence policy. The research team in the School of Biosciences will recruit citizen scientists through its students, who will act as ambassadors in their own households and communities. The team will create methods for sampling bacteria from chopping boards and gather their observations with their team of citizen scientists and ambassadors. This will enable the researchers to identify the bacteria present and determine their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles, providing opportunities for ambassadors and citizens to perform lab research. The researchers, alongside their ambassadors and citizens, will then co-design and disseminate educational materials on food hygiene tailored to their target communities and based on the findings of the study. Dr Alan Goddard, senior lecturer in the School of Biosciences and project lead, said: "Many foodborne infections begin in the home, often through poor hygiene where chopping boards provide an opportunity for raw foods to cross-contaminate. “This is why this project is an exciting opportunity to work with our students and communities to investigate a microbiological problem that causes significant disease every year. By working with the public, we get privileged access to authentic environments and can ensure our solutions are appropriate." At present, around 40 per cent of outbreaks of foodborne infections in Europe occur at home, with approximately 2.4 million cases of food poisoning occurring in the UK annually, leading to 180 deaths. A common source of such infections is poor food hygiene, with chopping boards, where raw foods may cross-contaminate, playing a key role in the infection chain. Misunderstandings, or poor food hygiene, may therefore contribute a significant disease burden. Professor Anthony Hilton, executive dean of the College of Health and Life Sciences said: “This exciting project brings together the expertise of University researchers with the natural inquisitiveness of members of the public to co-develop and undertake a research project which has the potential for real impact in reducing the burden of foodborne disease in the home.” The FSA and UKRI have awarded a total of £200,000 to fund six projects in order to bring the public and researchers together to investigate food standards challenges. All six projects include exploring the bacteria on home grown produce, parents testing the safety of baby formula, and people with food hypersensitivities analysing the allergens in food bought online. The citizen science projects are all linked to the FSA’s Areas of Research Interest themes, covering issues such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), food hypersensitivity and food safety and hygiene in the home. The funding was delivered in collaboration with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Economic and Social research Council (ESRC), both part of UKRI. It is part of a wider effort to coordinate activities and develop a joined-up approach to tackle the challenges of maintaining safe food in the UK. Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Advisor for the FSA said: "I’m delighted that the FSA is supporting these exciting citizen science projects across the country. In addition to delivering invaluable data, these projects will allow the communities we serve to help build the evidence on which policy decisions are made. We are committed to using science and evidence to tackle the latest food-related issues and citizen science is a fantastic way of doing this." The citizen science project investigating the microbiome of the kitchen chopping at Aston University will start in January 2022, concluding in July 2022.
Head of School of Optometry named world expert in contact lenses
Professor James Wolffsohn, head of the School of Optometry at Aston University has been named by Expertscape as a world expert in contact lenses research based on his publications. Expertscape's PubMed-based algorithms placed professor Wolffsohn in the top 0.1 per cent of scholars writing about contact lenses over the past 10 years. He is also ranked by the same organisation as a world expert in presbyopia (the loss of eye focus with age affecting near vision), and is one of the top three scholars in the world. Expertscape is designed to help find the most knowledgeable physicians and health professionals in the world. Expertscape objectively ranks people and institutions by their expertise in more than 27,000 biomedical topics. James’ research focuses of the development, enhancement and validation of ophthalmic instrumentation to optimise contact lens comfort and fitting. He is also pioneering the use of contact lenses as a treatment for dry eyes; and developing methods to restore more natural eye focus through intraocular lenses, that are implanted into the eye as part of cataract surgery; as well as pharmaceutical approaches. Professor James Wolffsohn said: “I am delighted that our research in the field of contact lenses and presbyopia has had the desired impact and is widely read and cited. “Working together with colleagues in industry, we are able to accelerate product innovation, development and validation, leading to enhanced quality of life in patients.” James has published over 280 peer reviewed academic papers and given numerous international presentations. His main research areas are the development and evaluation of ophthalmic instrumentation, contact lenses, intraocular lenses and the tear film. A contact lens is a corrective, cosmetic, or therapeutic lens usually placed on the cornea of the eye. Contact lenses usually serve the same corrective purpose as conventional glasses, but are lightweight and virtually invisible. It has been estimated that about 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide. Presbyopia is the loss of eye focus with age which is usually noticed by ~45 years of age when reading glasses or another form of refractive correction is needed. It has a marked emotional effect being one of the first apparent signs of ageing.
Consumer behavior expert and former "Survivor" contestant on holiday deals and scarcity
Kelly Goldsmith, professor of marketing, is available for commentary on holiday deals and anticipated scarcity due to supply chain issues. Kelly is a former Survivor contestant, which influenced her research into consumer behavior in the wake of scarcity. She is an expert in how people think and act when faced with limited availability of what they need and how they perceive competition when it comes to purchasing items that are in limited supply. Topics she can discuss include: How and why the combination of sales and perceived scarcity prompts consumers to behave selfishly (such as buying out entire stock) and other anticipated consumer behaviors and attitudes this holiday season How to plan ahead and find the best deals well in advance and stick to a budget when there are too many good deals to pass up How to keep your cool in the demanding, stressful environment
Flavoured vapes less harmful to young people than smoking, could help teen smokers quit
Flavoured vapes are much less harmful to young people than smoking, and could help teen smokers quit tobacco – according to new research from the University of East Anglia. A new study published today looks at young peoples’ use of vape flavours, reporting the views and experiences of more than 500,000 under 18s. It finds that flavours are an important aspect of vaping that young people enjoy, suggesting that flavoured products may help them switch away from harmful tobacco smoking. But the researchers warn that more needs to be done to make sure that youngsters who have never smoked are not attracted to vaping. Lead researcher, Prof Caitlin Notley, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “There has been a lot of concern that young people may start vaping because they are attracted to e-liquid flavours, and that it could potentially lead them to start smoking tobacco. “We wanted to find out more about the links between vape flavours, the uptake of vaping among young people, and whether it leads to regular vaping and, potentially, tobacco smoking.” The research team studied all available evidence (58 studies) on young peoples’ use of e-liquid flavours. Prof Notley said: “We found that flavoured e-liquids are an important aspect of vaping that young people enjoy. This suggests that flavoured products may encourage young people to switch away from harmful tobacco smoking towards less harmful vaping. “Flavours may be an important motivator for e-cigarette uptake – but we found no evidence that using flavoured e-liquids attracted young people to go on to take up tobacco smoking. “And we also found no adverse effects or harm caused by using liquid vape flavours. “However, there is also a need to monitor flavour use to ensure that young people who have never smoked are not attracted to taking up vaping. “Ensuring the continued availability of a range of e-liquid flavours is likely to be important in encouraging young people who smoke to switch to vaping as a less harmful alternative,” she added. The team found that the overall quality of the evidence on use of e-cigarette flavours by young people was low. In particular, many studies did not clearly define e-liquid flavours and could not therefore be included within the review. The study was led by UEA in collaboration with researchers at University College London, the University of Bristol and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. ‘Youth Use of E-Liquid Flavours – A systematic review exploring patterns of use of e liquid flavours and associations with continued vaping, tobacco smoking uptake, or cessation’ is published in the journal Addiction on November 17, 2021.
When investors are deciding whether to put their capital into a company, they typically take a breadth of different factors into account. Earnings, performance, market share—all of these are critical, for sure. But equally important is belief in the talent and capabilities of the organization, and its most visible human face: its CEO. How a CEO comes across at key touchpoints such as earnings calls can significantly shape investors’ perceptions of his or her abilities. We know from research that even subtle things like tone of voice can increase—or diminish—shareholder confidence. So, too, can subliminal emotional or behavioral cues in speech. But what about something arguably more obvious and easier to quantify? What about accent? Until now, remarkably little attention has been given to how much sway a CEO’s accent has on investors’ impressions or attitudes. We simply don’t know whether chief executives with “foreign” accents fare better or worse with shareholders than native US-English speaking counterparts. And this subject matters. It’s estimated that as many as 9% of all companies in the US and more than 11% of Fortune 500 firms are run today by foreign-born chief executives. How investors perceive these CEOs relative to native speakers could have major implications for hundreds of thousands of organizations. Shedding compelling new light on this is new research by Goizueta PhD candidate Leonardo Barcellos, and Schaefer Chaired Professor of Accounting Kathryn Kadous. Together they have produced a study that suggests that accent does matter – though perhaps not in the way that many of us might think. That study and the entire article is attached – and well worth the read. And if you are a journalist looking to learn more about this topic – then let our experts help. Kathryn Kadous is the Schaefer Chaired Professor of Accounting and Director and Associate Dean of PhD Program at Goizueta Business School. She is available to speak with media – simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview.
Aston University professor named world expert in type 2 diabetes mellitus
Aston University professor emeritus, Cliff Bailey has been named as a world expert in type 2 diabetes mellitus by Expertscape, based on his research publications over the last ten years. Expertscape is designed to help find the most knowledgeable physicians and health professionals in the world. It objectively ranks people and institutions by their expertise in more than 27,000 biomedical topics. The announcement coincides with World Diabetes Day on 14 November – which marks the birthday of Frederick Banting, one of the discoverers of insulin. Cliff Bailey, professor of clinical science, and his colleagues in the College of Health and Life Sciences contributed key information to the development of metformin, now the most prescribed medicine in the world for the treatment of type 2 diabetes which is also on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) list of essential medicines. More recently Cliff has been involved in the development of a new class of agents called SGLT2 inhibitors which are being used alongside metformin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Professor Cliff Bailey said: “I’m really pleased that our work continues to help people with diabetes to control their blood glucose and stay healthy.” Cliff has received several awards including the Banting Memorial Lecture Award – the highest award of Diabetes UK - and the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Lunar Society. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes that affects more than 400 million people worldwide, including over four million people in the UK. It usually develops in middle or later life, is characterised by excess glucose in the blood, and usually results from a combination of impaired production and impaired activity of the hormone insulin. Type 2 diabetes has extensive detrimental effects on the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, eyes and nerves, and accounts for about 10% of the NHS budget.
New £2.8 million MRI scanner installed at Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment
Installation of a new £2.8 million MRI scanner is due to start at Aston University in the Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN) to replace the existing ageing unit in the Day Hospital on campus. The state-of-the-art facility will be installed over a period of four months, including work being undertaken to remove the old machine from the building. This will involve several complex crane lifts outside the Day Hospital to remove the existing scanner. The internal spaces will then be refurbished before the new scanner is lifted into the building in February 2022. The new Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma 3T MRI scanner will enhance the world-class neuroimaging research facilities within the Institute. Currently Aston University researchers use advanced neuroimaging techniques to discover biomarkers of brain health in children with neurological disease. By detecting those biomarkers, researchers are able to determine those who are at risk of longer term poor cognitive, behavioural and health outcomes with the goal/vision of providing early support to those children who need it most. The new scanner will also enable the Institute to provide the most recent innovations in MRI for patients visiting through the clinical service: Aston University Imaging. Patients visiting for MRI scans come through private referrals, as well as from local institutions such as the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Aston Villa football club. Professor Jackie Blissett, co-director, Aston Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment (IHN), said: “The installation of our new MRI scanner is tremendously exciting. This state-of-the-art equipment is core to our child-focused research programme that delivers a new understanding of development and disease and the interventions that will make a difference.”
On Rethink What’s Possible, a podcast by Milwaukee School of Engineering, MSOE students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners share their inventions, research, industry trends, projects, experiences and how they’re rethinking what's possible. Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. High performance computing. Super computers. These terms have been around for quite a while now, but only in recent years the research has been put into practice and there are no signs of it slowing down. Episode Three, 'Humanizing Machine Learning,' Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming prominent in more and more industries each day, including health care. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming prominent in more and more industries each day, including health care. Join Dr. Sheila Ross and Dr. John Bukowy, AI faculty experts from Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) and student Ethan Hindes as they discuss the advancements of AI in “Humanizing Machine Learning,” part of the MSOE podcast, “Rethink What’s Possible.” They talk about its impact on their research with the Medical College of Wisconsin to identify and assess the severity of damage to blood vessels in kidneys. Hindes also discusses how he found his way to major in computer science. The podcast is available for download and well worth listening to. And, if you are a journalist interested in learning more or arranging an interview with Dr. Ross or Bukowy – simply click on either expert's icon now to arrange an interview today.
On Rethink What’s Possible, a podcast by Milwaukee School of Engineering, MSOE students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners share their inventions, research, industry trends, projects, experiences and how they’re rethinking what's possible. Episode Two, “Erasing the Stigma of Mental Health,” features industry experts Dr. Carol Sabel, MSOE School of Nursing chairperson, and Sue McKenzie Dicks, vice president of healthy culture at Rogers Behavioral Health. The pair discusses the importance of mental health with recent MSOE graduate Jake Egan, who shares his own personal mental health journey and how he dealt with juggling an intense academic workload and a variety of internships. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, trying to tell the difference between what expected behaviors are and what might be the signs of a mental health condition isn’t always easy, but identifying a problem early can help lead to the best outcome. The U.S. has the highest rates of mental health disease (27%) as compared to any other industrialized country. One in five adults suffer from some sort of mental health illness and 3.3 million children ages 6-17 receive treatment or counseling for emotional or behavioral issues. The stigma surrounding mental health care is beginning to subside, and more individuals are seeking care. By 2025, the demand for mental health services is expected to outpace supply by 10,000—and in the U.S. 60% of psychiatrists are 55 or older. Our nation is facing a shortage of mental health care providers. In a move to address the shortage of mental health care providers in the United States, Dr. Carol Sabel and the MSOE School of Nursing partnered with Rogers Behavioral Health to offer a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program (PMHNP). This innovative new program, coupled with educating nurses at the bachelor’s and advanced practice levels in the area of mental health, is increasing the pipeline of qualified mental health professionals. The podcast is available for download and well worth listening to. And, if you are a journalist interested in learning more or arranging an interview with Dr. Carol Sabel – simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
On Rethink What’s Possible, a podcast by Milwaukee School of Engineering, MSOE students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners share their inventions, research, industry trends, projects, experiences and how they’re rethinking what's possible. Episode Four, 'Rooted in STEM,' features Seandra Mitchell, vice president of student affairs and campus inclusion, and Liz Taylor, director of STEM, as they dive into the importance of diversity in STEM and MSOE’s efforts to offer STEM experiences to shape a more equitable future. According to the National Science Foundation, 111,402 bachelor’s degrees in engineering were conferred nationwide in 2018, the most recent data available. Of those degrees, roughly 64% were white, roughly 12% were Hispanic or Latino, roughly 12% were Asian or Pacific Islander, roughly 4% were Black or African American, and the rest listed themselves as something else. In 2021, MSOE celebrated the opening of the We Energies STEM Center at MSOE. The new center is the premier STEM destination in Milwaukee for K-12 students and home to MSOE’s STEM outreach efforts. The purpose is to provide an accessible, dedicated space for students from all walks of life to explore, create and define their future in STEM. The podcast is available for download and well worth listening to. And, if you are a journalist interested in learning more or arranging an interview with MSOE's Director of STEM outreach, Liz Taylor – simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
