MPR - My Public Radio

Before I became a reporter, I was a medical epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and lived in Africa in the 1980s. I recently returned to the continent as a journalist and came face to face with a disease I had only read about in textbooks. Here are my thoughts on that experience.

(Produced for The World, April 11, 2013)

The tropical disease known as lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis, affects 120 million people worldwide. The devastating parasitic illness causes lymphedema, in which legs, arms and genitals swell to enormous size. Now, a new public health strategy, tested in Nigeria by the Atlanta-based Carter Center, is raising hopes that this crippling disease can soon be eradicated.

They’re at a point in their lives where they could be playing with their grandchildren, working in the garden, or on a cruise, instead, these seniors are spending their leisure time eradicating polio in Nigeria. In December, 2012, I joined a 15-person team of Americans - all Rotarians - as they participated in Nigeria's National Immunization Days.

Georgia is well known for its agricultural products, like peaches, pecans, and chickens. Now in the tiny town of Camilla, one farm is turning out an unusual item that's in big demand in Europe's high fashion industry.

(All Things Considered, October 8, 2012)

In the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s bluesman Blind Willie McTell traveled throughout the south, but Thomson, Georgia - his birthplace - was a frequent stopover. For the past 18 years, the city of Thomson has been celebrating its famous musical son by organizing The Blind Willie McTell Festival.

Jellyfish are a nuisance to fisherman and a hazard to swimmers. But some fisherman have learned that they are also a valuable export to China where they are a delicacy.

For the past 100 years, Grady Hospital in Atlanta has been providing health care to the poor and uninsured. In 2007, budget and staff cuts threatened the hospital's accreditation. Now a new board of directors is trying to balance the books.

Produced for WABE, January, 2012

Can new management and program directions at Atlanta's Grady Hospital make a difference.

Produced for WABE, January 2012

Can a system of primary care at Atlanta's Grady Hospital, make a difference?

Produced for WABE January 2012

Can a computer make art? A group of scientists at Brigham Young University is attempting to teach a computer to do that. As a test, a computer is judging an art show at the High Museum of Art.

Produced for Studio360, WNYC December 2011

http://www.studio360.org/2011/dec/16/darci-computer-great-taste/