Dr. Field is a nationally recognized gynecologic oncologist. He brings more than 15 years of oncology experience to Mid-Michigan. Dr. Field specializes in minimally invasive surgery, open debulking of ovarian cancer, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy treatments for women with gynecologic cancers, including ovarian and endometrial cancer. Since 2012, he has served as principal investigator for Gynecologic Oncology Group, NRG Oncology Clinical Trials, which is responsible for improving and expanding cancer diagnosis and treatment. He is assistant professor and director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology in the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University.

“Gynecologic oncology has a bit of a name problem,” says Field. “We're basically specialists in women's cancer. We treat women with cancers of the reproductive tract and sometimes benign problems as well, so problems with the uterus, the cervix, the ovaries, and the tubes. We do both surgery and chemotherapy and coordinate radiation oncology care for women with gynecologic cancer. We're a bit like the primary care doctor for women with those types of cancers.”

What attracted Dr. Field to MSU?

“The biggest thing that a gynecologic oncologist likes to do is be busy taking care of patients, and this area has been without a gynecologic oncologist. Everyone was really enthusiastic about being able to offer those services in this area. My main goal is to take excellent care of patients and do excellent surgery and care for patients through the life cycle after their diagnosis with a cancer.”

Dr. Field says there have been “amazing breakthroughs” in the last three years.

“We'd gone through sort of a 10-year dry period with not a lot of new treatments, and in the last three years, we've got a whole new class of treatments for patients with ovarian cancer that overlaps with breast cancer patients. The PARP inhibitors are really effective in patients with genetic predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. But we're finding that 50 percent of patients, whether they've inherited those mutations or not, can benefit from those drugs, which is really exciting. We're realizing how much earlier to offer those treatments to patients. The next step is combinations of new therapies to treat patients once they've developed resistance to drugs.”

Field talks about the role telemedicine has played during the pandemic, and he thinks it will remain in some form even after the pandemic.

“This was a breakthrough. The increase was almost instantaneous last March and was automatically approved to be used as a regular visit. A lot of my patients are elderly and are brought to me by their kids or their relatives and have transportation issues and functional limitations. To be able to not have to get out, get in the car, get in a parking spot and make their way into a clinic and instead be able to hook up to somebody's smartphone, I think is just really nice for patients. I don't know that I'm great at it yet, but I just think it's really nice for patients to have that as an option.”

Do you think we’ll ever cure cancer?

“Cancer isn't one thing. It's one of the reasons that what I do is so interesting. Ovarian cancers, from a doctor's perspective and a scientist's perspective, are really interesting because the ovaries can make anything, a whole person. The range of cancers that come from the ovary are so different. I'm always in awe of my pathologists to be able to tell the difference in types of cancer just from the small amount of tissue that we give them. There's so much variety. I think we're getting better and better. In the last three, four, five years, things have sort of rapidly moved in a direction that nobody anticipated just from 10 years ago. So always the hope is to get rid of it, but it's not one thing. It's not that simple.”

Dr. Field says the main things patients can do to prevent cancer are the things we do for ourselves every day.

“Two-thirds of cancers can be prevented by things like not smoking and eating healthy and exercising. Several of the cancers I take care of are really helped by people who live a healthy lifestyle; that's probably the biggest thing you can do. The next step is to see your doctor yearly. For women, I think they should be seeing their gynecologist yearly. They're going to screen them for cancers, like cervical cancer, and ask them questions related to the other types of cancers that I treat.

“If they notice differences in their body, like bleeding when they haven't had a period in a long time or problems where they're losing weight and not really trying to lose weight or having trouble eating or problems using the bathroom or new pains or discomforts that they haven't had before and those symptoms stick around for three weeks, they should get those checked out by their primary doctor and their gynecologist. Usually, the way I see patients is their excellent primary doctors have picked up that something's wrong and oftentimes sent them for tests or imaging. By the time I see them, it's very obvious what's going on, whereas it can sometimes take weeks, months, and even a year to figure out that first part, who they need to see.”

MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows. 

LCC President Steve Robinson, MSU Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Mark Largent, and MSU junior Sarah Day, who came to MSU from LCC, join Russ White to discuss Envision Green on this edtion of the MSU Today podcast.

The partnership, called Envision Green, provides a seamless transition from LCC to MSU by embedding MSU advisors within LCC to guide students through their educational journey — a transition more than 5,500 LCC students have made over the last decade. With this partnership in place, prospective LCC students can consider MSU from the start of their higher education journey. The affordability of the LCC-to-MSU path means a four-year-degree is an option for more people in the region — crucial for building and retaining an educated workforce in Michigan. 

It is estimated that community colleges are the entry point for close to half of America’s post-secondary students, making this partnership a win-win for students, the institutions and the local community. 

The Envision Green memorandum of understanding specifies a one-year partnership with an option for renewal, and states both parties’ intention to continue to grow the relationship. Broadly speaking, both institutions want to make it easier to plan an academic path from one institution to the other. 

As part of the relationship outlined in the MOU, the institutions will: 

·       Provide two MSU academic advisors one day a week on LCC’s Downtown Campus 

·       Communicate MSU transfer credit changes and MSU transfer credit process changes to MSU advisors at LCC as well as LCC employees

·       Work individually with LCC students to facilitate a smooth transition from LCC to MSU 

·       Promote policies that will encourage students who start at LCC to finish their associate degrees before transferring to MSU 

The partnership’s benefits extend beyond campus, as well. In an era when post-secondary credentials are in increasing demand, broader access to higher education ensures the Mid-Michigan region is an attractive prospect for startups and businesses looking to expand.

MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.

“I actually started as a newspaper reporter,” says Meagher. “I worked at The State News the second semester of my senior year, which was a great experience that kind of allowed me to take the next step after I graduated. I had a couple of internships, including one at the Oakland Press in Pontiac and then became a reporter out in Santa Barbara, California, first for a daily that is no longer in existence and then an alternative weekly there. I was a reporter for about six or seven years and had a conversation with the congresswoman who represented the area out there one day and decided to come onto her staff and become the press secretary. That's kind of how I flipped to political communications.

“Since then I've worked in California. I've worked on a couple of campaigns in Colorado and Montana. I worked on the mayor's race in Chicago in 2019. I had a brief stint at General Motors in Washington DC doing public policy communications. And then in 2019, I was the national press secretary for Mayor Pete Buttigieg in his presidential campaign. I had a few gigs in between including with Governor Whitmer, and now I'm honored and lucky enough to have the opportunity to work at the White House.”

Meagher describes the exhilaration and excitement of working in the heartbeat of the new administration.

“There's really nothing quite like it. You get carried away in the midst of your job and what you're doing and the tasks that you have to accomplish. And then you look out the window and you see the front of the White House and you're like, ‘Wow.’ Just what an honor to be here and working hard to get things done.”

Meagher describes some of his duties and responsibilities as White House deputy press secretary.

“Every day's a little different. You never know what's going to happen. You never know where the day is going to lead. You can sort of have a vision for what you need to accomplish and then something happens and you have to react to it. I like that. Every day offers something a little different. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has a daily press briefing. And so a lot of the first half of the day is preparing for that and making sure that she has the information that she needs to relay to reporters in the briefing room.

“The rest of the day is just interacting with reporters more or less and dealing with the volume of inquiries that come in every day. I have a portfolio of dealing with some of the more political requests, some of the bigger picture type questions that are coming in. So not necessarily in a beat per se, but kind of a potpourri of incoming questions and inquiries that keep you on your toes. You never know what somebody's going to ask about. But one of the cool things about the White House is it's a working building. Reporters’ offices and cubes are literally right down the hall from mine. They can literally walk down the hall, open the door, and walk right into my office.”

Meagher says his desire to study journalism led him to MSU.

“It was exactly what I was looking for in a college experience. I lived in Wilson my freshman and sophomore years, so not too far from the School of Journalism. I have absolutely no regrets about attending Michigan State and still get back there as often as I can.

“I remember sitting in one of my early journalism classes and the professor was talking about the nuts and bolts of conducting an interview and taking notes and how he had developed a shorthand. And at the time I was like, ‘that's crazy. How do you read this? How do you understand it?’ And lo and behold I developed my own shorthand. I also realized journalism is all about people, and that it's the people behind the stories that really matter. In journalism, you're often sitting in city council meetings or county board meetings or watching what's happening on the State House Floor or in the halls of Congress. But I think what Michigan State and my journalism education really taught me, and it’s something that I tried to carry with me throughout my reporting career that continues even on the other side, is it's all about the people.

“The American Rescue Plan's a great example where we're making these decisions about huge pots of money and where they go. And you can sort of forget about what we're really talking about, and that's checks in people's banks accounts for families who have lost jobs or are struggling with school-aged children. The decisions that we make impact people's lives.”

How have you seen journalism and public relations change since 2005? You graduated about the time Facebook and Twitter were coming on. Where is this media landscape now? And where do you see it going?

“Twitter and Facebook have completely changed things. I think from my perspective as a communicator, it has just totally completely changed the news cycle. It's nonstop, frankly, between cable news, CNN and MSNBC and Fox, just 24-7 around the clock coverage, too. 

“So their reporting online never stops. And then Twitter obviously never stops. And so it's not like you are working until the New York Times deadline approaches at 6:00 p.m. or whatever the time is on a weeknight. And then you can kind of take a second to breathe. It just keeps going, keeps going, and you're always monitoring Twitter. I think one thing that I think we really understood on the Pete Buttigieg campaign and one thing that the Biden campaign also did really well was remembering that while helpful and while important, the vast majority of the American population isn't on Twitter. Twitter is a valuable tool in your toolbox. It's a valuable tool to reach reporters. It's a valuable tool to reach thought leaders and people who can really drive a conversation.

“But at the same time, you can't react to every little thing that you see on Twitter or else you'd go crazy. We reminded ourselves on the Pete campaign constantly that something like 6 percent of the United States population is active on Twitter. That's a lot of people when you're trying to reach people where they are and communicate a message that isn't necessarily where everyone is. But you can't let what's happening on Twitter always dictate what you're doing or what you're responding to. Sure, it's important and it is a way to reach people where they are, but it's not the only way. And it shouldn't be the only way.”

Meagher believes it’s an exciting time to be in journalism.

“There's no question that news organizations have endured, especially on the local level, difficult times and are sort of battling these questions themselves. But I think there's always going to be an appetite for information. I think there's always going to be an appetite for people shooting straight with the American people. You've seen it prioritized by the Biden administration bringing back daily press briefings every single day of the week. Well, Monday through Friday. Because we understand that reporters have a job to do. And that job is to relay what is happening in the White House to the American people, and that's always going to be valuable.

“People are always going to be seeking information. The way that they seek it is fluid and changing, obviously. Some people go to Twitter for all their information. Some people go to Facebook. Some people have their five websites that they check. Some folks still get the newspaper delivered every day. The need for information is never going to subside, and the need to hold power and government accountable for the decisions that are going on always needs to happen. The First Amendment and the rights of journalists are always going to exist. And I think t...

When it comes to vaccine acceptance, Dr. Furr-Holden thinks we may have done ourselves a disservice with the term Operation Warp Speed.

“What a lot of people heard was corner cutting or skipping steps or quick and dirty,” says Furr-Holden. “There was a very rigorous process in place. There were no steps that were skipped, but I can understand why people may feel that way.”

She says myths and misinformation around the vaccines are a problem, so she encourages us to seek out more than one sole source for information.

“The myths and misinformation are a big problem. We know this. I think people have just enough information to be dangerous to themselves right now because we've all learned a lot about vaccines and viruses and spike proteins, things that we'd never heard about before. There's no one sole source for accurate information. I think the CDC is great. I have many colleagues who work at the CDC. I've told people all during this pandemic the CDC is filled with some of the nation's greatest scientists and clinician scientists and researchers and epidemiologists. They are only one source of information.

“We have great trusted sources of credible information. Included in that are our local health departments. Especially as it relates to vaccines, that's a very, very important resource. Why? Because vaccines are actually being rolled out at the local level. If you want to know what's happening, your local health department is a trusted and credible place to get that information.”

Dr. Furr-Holden stresses the importance of a “medical home,” and when she says equity, she means fairness.

“I always tell people your medical provider is not the person in charge of your health and wellness. You are. But they're a critical player on your health team. If you don't have health coverage, if you fall in that weird spot where you make a little too much to qualify for Medicaid or other supports and not quite enough to be able to afford it out of pocket, please reach out to your local federally qualified health center.

“You might say, ‘Well, I'm an MSU employee. I have health insurance.’ But you may have others in your life who don't have that luxury or that benefit. The federally qualified health centers, the FQHCs, are charged with ensuring that everybody in the community has access to a medical provider.

“On the issue of equity, we have major gaps in our system. We saw huge breakdowns in both distribution and the data infrastructures that are needed for us to answer the question, are we not only getting the vaccine to community fairly and equitably, but are we also getting it into people's arms fairly and equitably?

“I consider the vaccine the dose of hope. And I personally believe hope is something that should be fairly and equitably distributed to all people.

“We all have elderly loved ones, and we've watched people jump the line and get the vaccine ahead of them. We have people in our families with pre-existing health conditions that predispose them to a bad outcome from COVID. So when I say equity, I just mean fairness. Fairness for all people. And I will tell you, our federal partners are fired up and figuring out how we can get that push in place to get our states to really make that a value and something that's at the forefront of how we're getting this vaccine out to people.”

Furr-Holden wants us to be good stewards of the opportunity to be vaccinated and take control of our healthcare.

“You have to stay on your toes, and you have to stay informed. I encourage people to sign up. And if you sign up on multiple lists through your health department or a local pharmacy, when you get your first dose of vaccine, I'm asking people to be a good steward of the opportunity and go back to the second list and cancel that appointment. Don't do it until you get that first dose, but please be a good steward of the opportunity and know that we're also working hard to get the data infrastructure in place so that we don't have so much duplication of effort and so much burden on people and already overburdened organizations to ensure equity in distribution and administration.”

While Dr. Debra Furr-Holden believes in the efficacy of the vaccine, she doesn't tell anyone whether they should or shouldn't get it.

“The choice of whether or not to get the vaccine is yours. I don't tell people to get the vaccine. What I tell people is this. Grapple with it right now. Get all the information and get all of your questions answered. We want to get to herd immunity. The way to get to herd immunity is through prevention. I'm an epidemiologist by training. I love public health; it's the thing that wakes me up and lights me up every day. Herd immunity is not about allowing a significant proportion of our population to get sick. It's about preventing them from getting sick in the first place.

“Be prepared for a game changer every two or three days. Remember, science is not about we've got it all figured out, and this is the truth. At one point they said the world was flat. Thank God somebody ventured beyond that point and we have learned a lot about how our world works. We're learning a lot about how to do the rollout, distribution, and administration of this vaccine. It would not surprise me if we see better systems for ensuring those who need it the most and those who are at risk for the worst outcomes move higher up in the priority chain. So I just ask everybody be patient. That's why it's also so important for people to do that work now so that when your number does come up, you don't lose your place in line.”

Can vaccinated people still be infected by the virus and can they spread it once they've been vaccinated?

“The thing that we know, like we know, we know, we know, is the vaccine is super great at preventing severe illness. So if you were to be exposed and you're vaccinated, it's very good at preventing severe illness. Think about it. This virus is brought into the body through the respiratory tract, through your mouth, through your nose, and possibly even through your eyes. There is a remote possibility that you could be out, you could inhale virus, and you could exhale it. And even though you're vaccinated, you could still pass it on to somebody else. That's a very small possibility, but it's possible.

“Let's just pretend we're in the best case scenario, and you've received your first dose. Depending on which one you got, you got it in the right timeframe window, and you got the second dose. You're three weeks out. So you have the full benefit of the vaccine. There will be some very small percentage of people who will actually still get the virus. And if you get the virus, you still may have the potential to spread the virus. But that likelihood goes way, way, way down relative to if you were not vaccinated. And more importantly, it gives you the tremendous benefit of avoiding these very negative outcomes that we've seen people have. We're learning now that even people who were asymptomatic or had very few symptoms are starting to see these wonky long-term effects that people are dealing with. So it goes back to the point that I make, that you would much rather get the vaccine than the virus. It's an imperfect but important layer of protection. Imperfect, but critically important.”

Furr-Holden was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to be a member of the Michigan Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Disparities.

“As a nation and as a global community, we are at our most vulnerable right now. This has taken a toll on everybody, independent of race, economics, gender, and gender identity. The pandemic has made us all ver...

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

Like many of you, I am eager to get back to working and learning together on campus later this year. While we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our community, we also realize the need to plan for summer and fall on and off MSU’s campus. 

Making decisions now about the future of our university is not an easy task, as the pandemic has shown us. However, with vaccinations continuing to progress, we are optimistic that we can begin to safely transition during the summer and move toward more in-person experiences in the fall — all while continuing to prioritize the health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff.

Fall 2021 semester

I am pleased to share that the university is planning for a more typical fall semester, with 75% of undergraduate classes offered in person. Classes will be offered in multiple scenarios — in person, hybrid and some still online, especially those that would traditionally fill large lecture halls. We expect that routine mitigation testing and other public health policies will continue at some level in the fall, and all of us will need to adhere to these policies and engage in the actions and behaviors that have kept us safe and healthy.

·       We will offer a residence hall experience to first-year students and as many other students as possible while still providing a safe living space.  

·       MSU Athletics is planning for fall events with spectators again, although we’ll be following state requirements and guidelines that will be in place at that time regarding attendance.

·       The Wharton Center and Broad Art Museum are planning events this fall. 

·       Community-based activities will be permitted in alignment with local and state requirements and guidelines.

·       Our current university-related travel restrictions will be adapted to location-based guidance.

·       As we prepare for more students to be back on campus in the fall, we also will have more employees returning to in-person positions as well. More information will be coming from unit supervisors and leaders in the coming months. 

Summer 2021 semester

We’ve learned a lot over the course of the pandemic, and we’ve adapted our safety protocols and policies accordingly to ensure the health, safety and well-being of each of you. This spring, we increased our in-person offerings and nearly doubled the number of students living on campus. As vaccination rates continue to rise and the pandemic recedes, we will take every opportunity to add additional in-person courses to the schedule this summer.

·       Most summer classes will be online, which is MSU’s standard practice for summer sessions. Classes for labs and programs that require in-person interaction will continue. 

·       There will be no large summer camps or events on campus. Nearly all of the conferences usually planned for MSU’s campus have chosen not to hold their events.

·       Limited day camps may occur, such as those that are primarily outdoors and are able to adhere to safety protocols. 

·       We will have students living on campus this summer who are participating in classes, labs or who call MSU their home. 

·       We are restarting in-person campus tours this month, and those will continue throughout the summer. 

As of today, more than 2.4 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Michigan residents — 1.5 million residents have received their first dose, and 880,000 are fully vaccinated. The number of students, faculty and staff who have received the vaccine is another critical factor in our ability to return to a more normal fall semester. I encourage each of you to get the vaccine when it is available to you. The state of Michigan has a vaccine-finder application on its website that you can use when searching for locations to get the vaccine. Starting March 22, Michigan residents 50 and older are eligible to receive it. While the state is not yet prioritizing higher education employees in the 1B “education” group, I continue to advocate for a change in that approach.

All of this is encouraging news for many, but I want to remind you that the university will continue to make important decisions about the fall based on all current science and data about the pandemic and in coordination with our partners at the state and local level. As we have learned from the outset of this pandemic, we must stand ready to adjust to protect our campus and our greater community. We will constantly be reviewing our plans for the fall and keeping you informed along the way. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that this pandemic has taken a toll on our physical and mental well-being, and it has put financial strain on many. The economic impact has yet to be fully realized, but I am encouraged by the fact that we will be able to award approximately $15 million in student financial aid grants from funding made available to us under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which was signed into law in late December 2020. We will share more information on that in the coming weeks. 

Conclusion

I am excited at the prospect of coming back together again, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing our vibrant community of students, faculty and staff fully engaged in on-campus life. Optimism is a good feeling, but let’s not let our guard down. Continue to keep yourself safe, follow safety protocols and be empathetic to each other as we move toward the summer and fall semesters. 

Sincerely,

Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. 

The 1918 influenza pandemic provides a cautionary tale for what the future may hold for COVID-19, says Chandra.

After a decade studying a flu virus that killed approximately 15,000 Michigan residents, Chandra, a professor in MSU’s James Madison College, saw his research come to life as he watched the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was so surreal,” said Chandra, who has a courtesy appointment in epidemiology and biostatistics. “All of a sudden, I was living my research.”

Chandra’s research is published in the American Journal of Public Health with co-authors Julia Christensen, a graduate of James Madison College; Madhur Chandra, Senior Community Epidemiologist with the Ingham County Health Department and graduate of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at MSU; and Nigel Paneth, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics and pediatrics at MSU.

Using influenza infection and mortality data on Michigan from 1918-1920, Chandra identified four distinct waves. The first large peak was in March 1918. “After a second spike in cases in October 1918, the governor instituted a statewide ban on public gatherings,” Chandra said. “Much like the restrictions that were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

After three weeks, the number of cases decreased and the ban was lifted, which led to another peak in December 1918. “The ban didn’t stop the spread of the flu. It just delayed the spike in cases,” he said.

Chandra mapped the data showing the peaks and spikes in cases from October 1918 and December 1918 and tracked flu virus case growth by county over time. In October, counties in the southern part of the state and near the Mackinac Straits had the highest numbers but by December, the highest numbers of cases were in the heart of the state.

The most surprising piece of data came 18 months later in February 1920, when a statewide explosion of cases created a massive spike even larger than the one in October 1918. For Chandra, it is an educated guess as to the reasons for this delayed increase.

“Assuming it’s the same influenza virus, World War I ended in 1918 and the men were coming home to their families,” he said. “We had a mobile agent that brought the virus home to infect family members, which would explain the increase in cases among children and the elderly.”

Unfortunately, there is not a way to confirm this, Chandra noted. “We would need samples from patients in 1920 from across the state. Then, we would need to compare those with samples from patients in 1918 from across the state, and that’s not likely to happen.”

The weather may have also been a factor since cool temperatures with low humidity likely provided optimal conditions for the virus to live and spread. Another factor that played a role was the absence of a vaccine.

“In 1918, there was no hope for a vaccine. In 2021, we have a vaccine available,” he said.

One of the key insights from the 1918 pandemic that can inform the public health response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is the number of people who are susceptible to the virus. Which means that it is possible that a spike like the February 1920 one will occur in late 2021 or early 2022.

“So many people will remain susceptible until they get vaccinated,” Chandra said. “Bad things can still happen a year or two from now even if we see a decrease in the number of cases now. We still have over 200 million people walking around who are susceptible to the virus, including myself.”

Written by Emilie Lorditch

MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.

“The osteopathic profession is really booming right now,” Amalfitano tells Beekman. “It's the fastest growing of the health professions. One in five graduates of a medical school right now is graduating from a DO medical school. One of those is ours. And then one in four medical students entering medical school this year in the United States is entering an osteopathic medical school.

“And that primarily stems from our history and philosophical tenants of how we view individuals and our longstanding, over-130-year history of trying to preserve health and prevent illness rather than treat symptoms and send patients on their way. It's what we call a holistic view to anybody who seeks us out for care.

“We just celebrated our 50-year anniversary. We have about 7,000 alumni of which, at last count, about 65-70 percent, depending on how you want to count it, actually practice in the State of Michigan. And the majority of those graduates are in primary care, so pediatrics, family practice, and internal medicine. And you can add psychiatry and even emergency room medicine; many times our doctors are out in rural areas providing primary care.

“We've graduated more doctors, let's say since 2014, who self-identify as a minority, than any other medical school in the state, based on public data. We've got a long way to go on this, and I'm not saying that we've got an answer, but we pride ourselves in trying to meet that challenge. We're going to be stepping up to that in the coming years, and hopefully we'll be able to even broaden that capacity. We’re following the proverbial land grant mission of this university to serve the people of Michigan. I can't think of a better way than providing them physicians to help in that.”

Amalfitano tells Beekman about the college’s research foci and about his own work harnessing viruses to use them as potential treatments.

“I actually developed a virus that we inactivated. It's a common cold virus. We took the DNA out of that virus, and now we can engineer it to produce any protein or antigen we want. That's now been taken by several companies, who have been using it primarily as an immune vaccine platform.”

What’s on the horizon for the college?

“I think more of the same, because these are great things. We want to continue our focus on primary care and our students' desire to pursue that. A big goal is continuing to address this issue of lack of diversity in the medical profession. If you just look at the numbers across the nation, the number of physicians that come from under underrepresented minority populations is inadequate. It's a long-standing institutional problem. Racism has contributed to that. I want to make sure that our college is a welcoming place, a place where we can attract the best and brightest and a diverse student body. We get knowledge from that. Diverse experiences empower our entire curriculum.”

Amalfitano says he wants to expand the college’s research “and really step it up.

“With our access educationally to 40 hospitals, we think that through this network, we can start addressing community-wide medical issues in research. Things affecting the communities like diabetes, obesity, hypertension, the opioid crisis. Some of these things can only be answered by looking at large populations. The laboratory will not yield the answers that impact the entire society. We're looking at ways we can harness this educational network and craft it into a research network.

“We continue with our clinical activities in East Lansing. We continue with our affiliations with all of our hospital systems. I want to see those grow, and I want these hospitals to know that their future physicians are coming from our medical school. They have a vested interest in making sure we continue in this path, and I want them to understand that we appreciate their partnerships and going forward we want to facilitate that as well.”

MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.

MSU’s College of Human Medicine was a pioneer in the area of community-based medical schools. Third and fourth-year students do their clinical training in hospitals around the state.

“That philosophy that the best place for people to learn to be a physician is with the people they will eventually be taking care of stays with us,” Sousa tells Beekman. “And our dedication to those communities is a part of what makes us different and special. We were leaders in that. Almost every medical school now has some sort of community experience and there are more than 80 medical schools across the country that now think of themselves, at least in part, as a community-based medical school.

“We were real innovators. It's been a great thing for our students. They get great training with people who they will eventually take care of. Most of our students end up practicing in Michigan after they've finished their training. And our communities have been incredibly generous and thoughtful. They've been interested in having the college do more there, and that has led to development of research and economic development opportunities for people in those communities. It's been a really great symbiotic relationship.”

Sousa highlights the college’ public health work in Flint and the growing research presence in Grand Rapids. He talks about MSU’s new partnership with the Henry Ford Health System and about the college’s continuing focus on the Greater Lansing area.

MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.

“The university has a special place in my heart,” Smith tells White. “I never thought, Russ, back in my days in college, that I'd be on the other side, I used to call it. When you're an athlete and young, you're always running away from the media, but I definitely enjoy it.”

Smith's advice for the students he encounters at events like the Spartan Sports Journalism Classic involves passion and hard work. And he says he learns from the students and fellow alumni too.

“Network with all our terrific alumni. You have to put your hard hat on and do the extra and have passion for what you want to do. Hone your skills in writing and in being in front of and behind the camera. And then one day you'll get a chance to maybe have that opportunity.”

In 1997, Smith donated $2.5 million toward the construction of the Clara Bell Smith Student Athlete Academic Center. This donation in memory of his mom is the largest gift to ever be given by a professional athlete to any college or university. This donation helped fund the construction of a comprehensive study center for student athletes, among the best of its kind in the country. Additionally, he provided $800,000 to fund a scholarship that covers more than 90 percent of tuition for select Pershing High School students who attend Michigan State.

“We were the first back then, so that was very special. And then I also understood from being an athlete myself before student athletic centers were built on campuses how much they could benefit the student athletes. I saw the future of how much it could help them achieve their academic goals. It’s gratifying to have student athletes come up to me and say ‘thank you.’

“And the scholarship is a way to give back to the Detroit community where I grew up, a community I’m so fond of. It’s gratifying to see how well the Smith Center is doing. It has helped recruiting for all sports, not just basketball. Parents love it, too. We’re student athletes, and I always tell people the student comes before the athlete. Take that very seriously because you're going to be a student in life much longer than you're going to be an athlete. Even if you have a long career, we're all lifelong learners.”

Smith's generosity set an example for other Spartans to give back to MSU.

“Giving back is contagious. After my gift to the university, we had Spartans like Earvin, Flozell Adams, and Draymond give back, too. When I got the news about Draymond’s gift, it made me proud and stick my chest out and say, ‘Hey, not a lot of universities are doing this.’ I had a chance to tell him I'm proud of him. And obviously we speak a lot; I've known him since he was junior in high school. It's great to see the way he's developing. He's his own man. His giving wasn't him following my act. It was him. That's Draymond Green. I had my day. I can step back and be proud. I'm Uncle Steve now and I get a chance to see all the development.”

Smith says his path to MSU began with fellow Detroiter Greg Kelser and the Spartans 1979 national championship.

“Growing up in Detroit, my first connection to Michigan State was in '78 and '79. Greg Kelser was a kid from Detroit that I used to hear about from my brothers, and they talked about his game. And then obviously the headliner was Earvin Magic Johnson. Those two guys and the Spartans won a national championship. And I can remember I was young, I think I was 10 then, my family jumping around and just us gathering around the television. You had Bird versus Magic. Greg Kelser got a chance to win a national championship from the city of Detroit. So MSU was my first love.

“As time went on, this little guy just kept coming around. Tom Izzo just kept coming around. He won me over and I was his first recruit. I was actually his first recruit he ever signed. We all know, and I can speak candidly about this, Jud wasn't really recruiting back then. He was just like ‘You want to come. You come.’ But Tom put in the hard work.

“And then I learned so much on the court with Jud and Tom and the coaching staff. And I tell people, look at my coaching staff I had here. I mean, I had Jim Boylen Junior and Senior, both have been very successful at the college level and in the pros. I had Herb Williams, who was just fantastic. I had Tom Crean and Tom Izzo. I had Brian Gregory. I was blessed. And then I had the general, the crazy man Jud. I learned a lot about life and tough love, but it was what I was used to, and it drew me to Michigan State.”

MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.

“It’s has been a great privilege for me to serve as the director of MSU Extension and the highlight of my professional career,” Dwyer says.  

“It's not very often you get to wake up every single day knowing that the organization you're a part of is impacting tens of thousands of people that day. And that's what it's like being the director of MSU Extension—working with over 600 people who are immensely talented, who are located across the state and who are doing great work every day. Whatever has been accomplished over the past five years has been a team effort in every sense of the word.” 

Dwyer talks about enhancing the agricultural and 4-H programs historically associated with Extension while also launching innovative healthcare and community development initiatives. He’s also proud of better connecting MSU Extension to the greater campus community and for ramping up assistance during such unanticipated events as the Flint water crisis and mounting depression among farm families.    

“One of the things we were able to do in Flint was remind people that MSU Extension is one of those rare organizations that doesn't have to go to a place like Flint to help when it's needed because we're already there. Given that we're there, we can help emergently and also grow our presence.  We've had Extension educators in Flint since 1907. When the Flint water crisis hit really right at the beginning of my tenure as director, we had in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 people working full-time in Flint and Genesee County. Now we have well over 40 working there full-time on a regular basis and that's because we were able to build on the great people that were already there helping Flint in this particular crisis and bring in other resources to grow what we're doing there.”

“About four years ago, we became very aware that there were some real struggles in rural America and on farms. And particularly, we were seeing, at least anecdotally, we thought an uptick in attempted suicides and completed suicides in farm communities and in farm families and that was a great concern. And we invested in our first experts in behavioral health at that time. We now have seven full time people whose principal focus is mental health or behavioral health. That's how big the need is.

“And we did get a lot of questions at first about why are we doing this? We should really be focusing on helping people grow things. But health really is in our domain. And today I can tell you that there's nobody that says that.

“Because of our behavioral health expertise that we now have in place, I contend that we could have a hundred experts in mental health and behavioral health. But without the more than century of experience and trust built by our agriculture experts in those communities, we would never have gotten in the door.”

Dwyer has also strongly emphasized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at MSU Extension.

To that end, for example, he asked all service units in MSUE to examine their practices and seek ways to attract a more diverse workforce and a more diverse clientele.  In addition, MSUE had recently launched an initiative to better educate and guide staff with respect to interactions with LGBTQIA+ communities. 

“My own view as it relates to DEI is that it's not just an important thing to do for a whole list of reasons, but it's what will make us better as an organization. I have long viewed racism as not only a social and economic, but also a public health crisis. It's something we need to be thinking about literally every minute of every day.”

Dwyer also discusses some of the challenges facing his successor, Patrick Cudney.

“One challenge is going to be finding increased revenue streams, perhaps new revenue streams, but certainly growing the streams that we've introduced in recent years around contracts and grants, around new partnerships that didn't exist before and also philanthropy. Another challenge will be establishing new baseline contracts with all counties across the state. I anticipate that everything will go very well, but it's a challenging series of conversations. And Patrick would be the first to tell you, if you understand one county of the 83 in Michigan, you understand one county of 83. They're all different. There may be a few common elements and threads that run through them all, but they each have their unique needs and opportunities.”

How has the MSU Extension culture evolved during Dwyer’s tenure?

“One important outcome of more people knowing about the great work we do and the diversity of the work that we do is that our people are more regularly being made visible in their roles. And they’re proud to be part of MSU Extension and Michigan State University.” 

Dwyer believes that efforts to ensure that campus and field staff are working in tandem and Extension educators are better able to collaborate across the University at  large have helped strengthen existing relationships and forged important new ones.  

And as for a few parting thoughts, Dwyer has this to say to the citizens of Michigan.  

“To those of you who have worked with us in the past and to those who haven't, reach out and go to our website, where we now have nearly a 1.5 million visitors per month.  Reach out through the university or in your communities because I have colleagues whom you're sitting next to in the church. I have colleagues whom you're standing six feet apart from in the grocery store line. And the great thing about my colleagues and MSU Extension is, if the individual educator you're interacting with doesn't have the expertise you need in that moment, it's important to remember that she or he has more than 600 colleagues all across the state to reach out to immediately. 

“And, on top of that, Extension educators have more than 3,000 faculty and staff colleagues at Michigan State University to whom they can reach out as well. I sincerely hope that Michigan residents increasingly see MSU Extension as not just the window into solving their immediate problem or as a window into the larger framework of a great land grant university, but really as a window into solving some of the most important issues they're facing as individuals, families and communities.” 

With Dwyer’s permission, we conclude the interview with an example of a management style widely recognized as inclusive, compassionate and bold:  breaking out in song during his annual “State of Extension” address. 

MSU Today airs every Sunday morning at 9:00 on 105.1 FM, AM 870, and wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.