Straight from a Scientist Medical Research Education and Discussion Podcast

We got the chance to sit down with Suzanne Hartley, a graduate student at North Carolina State University. Suzanne researches how to help Bluebirds in their surprisingly violent turf war with House Sparrows, and how we can use this war to learn about environmental toxins like pesticides or other chemicals. Bluebirds are a beautiful, native species in North America, but they are constantly harassed by House Sparrows, an invasive species from Europe. So listen in to learn about Bluebird defenders, called Bluebirders, and what they are doing change the balance. Read below to learn more about the study or even get involved.

About Suzanne

Suzanne is a masters student in Fisheries Wildlife and Conservation Biology at NC State. She currently manages Sparrow Swap, a citizen science project that tests different house sparrow management strategies and investigates the use of house sparrow eggs for mapping environmental contaminants. You can see the project in action behind the glass of the Biodiversity lab at NC Museum of Natural Sciences.

Suzanne's Research Project Sparrow Swap

Connect with Sparrow Swap on Facebook and Twitter

More Information

Learn general bird information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Find even more citizen science projects like Sparrow Swap on SciStarter

NestWatch monitoring program has a database of bluebirds as well as other nesting bird species

Visit Sialis website for another background on bluebirds

This episode was recorded at ComSciCon Triangle, the convention for science communicators in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Special thanks to RTI international for hosting us! Follow ComSciCon on Twitter and check out this recently-published journal article on science communication training penned by two (former and current) committee members.

Also listen to our other interviews from ComSciCon:

Ep. 20: Biomedical Engineering and Science Education with Stephanie Teeter

Ep. 21: Smart Textiles and Flexible Electronics with Ashish Kapoor

Ep. 24: Search and Destroy in HIV Therapy with Aaron Devanathan

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

Straight from a Scientist headed south for Spring Break and got a chance to speak with Dr. Frances Colón. Dr. Colón served as science adviser to the State Department under the Obama administration. We discuss the responsibility scientists have to communicate their findings directly to the public, and how scientists can enact change by putting pressure on civic leaders.

Connect with Dr. Colón on LinkedIn

Follow Dr. Colón on Twitter

Episode Interviewer: Connor Wander

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

Jean Rivera completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Puerto Rico (UPRM) majoring in Chemistry, with minors in Psychology and Biology. His undergraduate research focused primarily on explosives and forensic chemistry in the laboratories of Dr. Samuel Hernandez and Dr. Carmen Vega. He then pursued a 2-year research internship at Tufts Medical School as an NIH-PREP scholar in the Neuroscience Program. There, he studied the downstream mechanisms of BDNF on the control of appetite and affective states in the laboratory of Dr. Maribel Rios.

Jean is now a second-year graduate student at Weill Cornell in the laboratory of Dr. Kristen Pleil, where he is interested in studying the molecular mechanisms that regulate addiction and comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders, by identifying and characterizing the sexually dimorphic circuits regulating these complex behaviors.

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

The SSMV Aquarium is totally funded by donations, which pay for food, animals, and maintenance. If you are interested in supporting these efforts to teach Nashville high school kids marine biology, please visit the gofundme page. Last week, we got the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Jordan Grigor, a postdoc working at the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV). He is both an educator and marine biology scientist. We cover the uncertain future of keystone species like plankton in the arctic, and discuss the unique science education program at the SSMV that helps kids learn about science and marine ecosystems.

Click here to support the SSMV aquarium.

This was our first remote recording, as the podcast was conducted on-site in the SSMV. You may notice echoes in the beginning of the podcast, but stick with it as it does not persist throughout!

Many thanks to Dr. Grigor for hosting us! The picture above doesn't do the aquarium justice. It's really a sight to behold and is changing all the time- a terrific experience for the lucky students at the SSMV!

The SSMV Aquarium is totally funded by donations, which pay for food, animals, and maintenance. If you are interested in supporting these efforts to teach Nashville high school kids marine biology, please visit the gofundme page here.

Some of Dr. Grigor's work:

His ResearchGate profile, including all the papers published on zooplankton

Underdogs of the Arctic - A Video Summary of his PhD research

School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV) website

SSMV Facebook

More about the SSMV Aquarium Project:

Facebook Twitter SSMV Blog

Instagram

Special Instagram for Lucy, the decorator crab

Other Resources:

Svalbard Zooplankton Identification App (an Android app made by the students and I to help people learn about Arctic zooplankton species)

We also mentioned:

Chasing Coral - A marine biology documentary

Before the Flood- A climate change documentary

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change- A great resource for those looking to learn more about the science behind climate change

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

Today we sit down and talk with Irene Gonzalez about Parkinson Disease. Irene is a Master student who is currently studying neurodegenerative diseases. In this podcast, we cover the molecular pathology of Parkinson as well as discuss some promising new treatments.

Connect with Irene on Instagram

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

This week we sit down with Ricky Barrett, a PhD candidate at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Ricky researches the poorly understood role of immune cells like macrophages in fat metabolism. The immune system isn't just for protecting against infections- it is a key regulator of metabolism and is often overlooked! We discuss all of this in the context of atherosclerosis, which can cause chest pain, heart attacks or even stroke!

You can find Ricky on social media @rickbarr21 on instagram, or u/rickbarr21 on reddit. He is active in most immunology subreddits!

Check out the Atherosclerosis infographic below for more background!

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

Alzheimer's disease is the most predominant neurodegenerative disorder of our time, and is an imminent health crisis in countries like the United States, where 15 million people are expected to suffer from the disease by 2050. Alzheimer's disease is an age-related disorder that causes brain shrinkage, memory loss, and eventually, death.

This week we discuss major paradigm shifts in Alzheimer's disease research. For decades, Alzheimer's disease researchers have argued over what causes the disease. Some suspected clumps of tau protein to be the main culprit in Alzheimer's, while others maligned amyloid beta as the villain. Now, the field is largely united under the amyloid cascade hypothesis, but new evidence suggests that amyloid beta serves important immune functions. This revelation that amyloid beta is protective is upturning Alzheimer's disease research as we know it, and brings new relevance to recent discoveries into the links between traumatic brain injury and the microbiome as they relate to Alzheimer's.

Connor Wander and Maya Gosztyla sit down to discuss new developments in the field, and what recent Alzheimer's disease discoveries mean to patients, clinicians, and the public alike. We also discuss practical strategies to delay Alzheimer's disease onset that we find effective or particularly promising. All based on the research, of course!

Maya operates and writes for an Alzheimer's Disease education blog called AlzScience. The AlzScience blog breaks down Alzheimer's disease concepts in simple terms, with great graphic illustrations and links for further reading. It's a terrific place to start learning about Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases.

For even further reading, I also recommend Alzforum. Alzforum is a highly technical resource for Alzheimers disease scientists and anyone looking to keep up with the latest research. Alzforum isn't all about Alzheimer's either- they keep tabs on all neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's Disease, and other forms of dementia.

Don't forget to check out Maya's introductory interview (Episode 11) or Connor's introductory podcasts (Episodes 2 and 5)!

Show notes

We mentioned several key studies in the podcast, which are listed below.

Keep an eye out for Maya's review on amyloid beta's protective immune functions!

Brush up with a great AlzScience post on general Alzheimer's Disease

Or check out a more detailed post about pericytes, one of the gatekeeper cells to the brain

Further Reading

Here's Dr. George Bloom's review titled Amyloid-β and Tau: The Trigger and Bullet In Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis

Here's the landmark paper that showed Amyloid beta particles clumping on brain infections

Here's the recent amyloid beta blood test study we mentioned.

Here's a great review in print about the crosstalk between Neurons and Microglia in AD!

Here's a study on the MEND protocol- lifestyle changes that improve cognitive function.

If we missed anything, or you'd like more information, feel free to contact SFS, or Maya at @sfromascientist and @AlzScience, respectively.

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

Today we spoke with Neuroscientist Daniel Toker about theories of consciousness and how mathematical models can be used to study the brain. We get philosophical on the scientific basis of consciousness as well as cover the complex concept of free will.

Daniel Toker is a neuroscience PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley who did his undergrad in philosophy and neuroscience at Princeton University. He specializes in computational and cognitive neuroscience. Daniel researches information theory and graph theory to investigate what the brain is doing when it's conscious, and what changes when it's not.

Connect with Daniel on Instagram and Twitter

Visit his website to learn more

Further Reading

Theoretically sound measure of information integration: http://www.pnas.org/content/113/51/14817.

(Daniel has recently extended their method to large brain networks, and is now applying it to real brain data)

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

This interview podcast features Maya Gosztyla, an undergraduate researcher at THE Ohio State University. Maya researches the genetics of axon guidance, or brain wiring in fruit flies, and runs her own Alzheimer's Disease learning blog called AlzScience. We discuss her research, how she balances work with free time, and how she worked her way into her first research lab without hands-on experience.

Here's a great post by Maya on AlzScience describing Alzheimer's Disease

Here are her latest posts. Highly recommend for those looking to learn more about Alzheimer's Disease!

@AlzScience Facebook

@AlzScience Twitter

Stay tuned for a special Alzheimer's Disease roundtable podcast with Maya and Connor, releasing later this week! We'll discuss the idea that Amyloid Beta may not be simply a villain...

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.

Today we interview Miguel Mateas about the intriguing field of nutritional neuroscience: how does the food we eat affect our brain function.

About Miguel

Miguel Toribio-Mateas is a nutrition practitioner (BSc Hons Nutritional Medicine) and clinical neuroscientist (MSc) living in the UK and working in London. Miguel got a Santander Bank Scholarship for doctoral research in 2016 and is currently a doctoral candidate at Middlesex University investigating the impact of nutrition in brain health, with a particular focus on the relationship between gut microbes and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). You can find Miguel on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as @miguelmateas. Some publications Toribio-Mateas MA, Spector T. Could food act as personalized medicine for chronic disease? Personalized Medicine. 2017;14(3):193-6. doi: 10.2217/pme-2016-0017 Ruxton, C. H., Derbyshire, E. & Toribio-Mateas, M. (2016) Role of fatty acids and micronutrients in healthy ageing: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials set in the context of European dietary surveys of older adults. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 29(3) pp. 308-24. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12335. Imminent publication. Bakhru, A., Korn. L., Oshman, J. Seneff, S. Toribio-Mateas, M. et al. (2018) Nutrition and Integrative Medicine: A Primer for Clinicians, to be published by CRC Press (Taylor and Francis) in June 2018 (ISBN: 978-1-4987-5948-9)

Keep an eye out for my upcoming paper on the microbiota gut brain axis as part of a special issue on the "Microbiome Gut Brain Axis" in the journal Microorganisms

Any other questions? Let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

You can now support the podcast at https://www.patreon.com/sfspodcast. Many thanks to our past and present supporters!

Thanks to Plant Warrior for their support. Use discount code SFS10 at checkout for 10% off your purchase of plant-based protein.