The Sci-Files on Impact 89FM

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Osama Alian. Osama studies how a community of microbes survives in a hydrothermal vent system deep in the Atlantic Ocean in an environment that's funky, unique, and probably present everywhere in the universe where there are water and rock interacting with each other. It's a cool location to study because it challenges our ideas about how life generates the energy it needs in really isolated and extreme places, but also gives us a window into how maybe life could be surviving elsewhere in the universe like the subsurface of Mars and ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus which don't look too different from that spot in the Atlantic!
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Katie Mitchell. Katie is a doctoral student in the Information and Media program at MSU. She is interested in how media and technology influence interpersonal relationships and health. She is currently studying telemedicine and its impacts on patients as well as providers. Katie received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Healthcare providers actually have a strong interest in providing telemedicine to their patients, and the patients' interest also appears to be growing. The big question for Katie is how to provide virtual care that includes the interpersonal elements that are critical to patient satisfaction.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Aalayna Green. Aalayna is a senior undergraduate student in the Department of Integrative Biology/Zoology studying the gendered implications of urban wildmeat trafficking in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her work draws from conservation criminology as well as women's and gender studies. She seeks to give voice and a narrative to the womxn involved in wildlife crime so as to create more sustainable and gender-inclusive conservation initiatives. Aalayna has broad interests within the wildlife crime sector, and she is particularly interested in understanding overlap of illicit trade and intervention strategies which utilize sustainable community involvement.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Carolyn Kroger. Carolyn is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology - Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience. The coordination of movements in space and time is required for successful action in a dynamic world. Behavioral and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, stuttering, and Cerebellar dysfunction can make even simple actions difficult to execute, with devastating repercussions for independence and quality of life. These disorders are not only accompanied by symptoms of movement dysfunction, but have also been associated with disrupted timing. Additionally, in healthy individuals, there are perceptual interactions between space and time. Research has shown that changes in observed motion distance cause corresponding distortions in temporal perception (e.g. greater spatial separation between events leads to the overestimation of elapsed time). However, there is a gap in understanding of how space and time interact in the production and coordination of actions. Carolyn's research focuses on how changes in the timing of human movements influence spatial dynamics and, conversely, how changes in spatial dynamics influence movement timing. The goal of this research is to work toward a unified theory of spacetime for human action, which has the potential to improve diagnostics and interventions for disorders of movement and timing.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Matthew Swiatnicki. Matt is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. The Andrechek lab studies primarily breast and lung cancer, with Matt’s thesis work having potential implications for lung cancer patients. Work from the Andrechek lab has uncovered a gene mutation within certain lung cancer tumors. The normal protein product that is derived from the mutated gene is known to regulate an important cancer protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Since the gene is mutated, we are hypothesizing it can no longer regulate EGFR, and this could enable tumors with the mutation to grow at a faster rate. Tumors with this mutation may also be susceptible to a currently approved lung cancer treatment, called a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Matt’s work is focusing on characterizing tumors with this mutation, and determining the potential efficacy of using TKIs to treat these tumors.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Josh Lensmire. Josh is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Josh's research focuses on the pathogen methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA. MRSA is capable of growing in various human organs and it needs to gather nutrients from our bodies to grow and cause disease. One specific nutrient Josh's research focuses on is sulfur, a nutrient key for MRSA metabolism. The goal of Josh's research is to determine the compounds MRSA scavenges from our bodies to satisfy its sulfur need. To study this Josh uses a combination of genetic and approaches and examination of the ability of various MRSA mutants to grow in a model of infection in mice. One day, this research may allow us to design strategies to stop MRSA from growing inside our bodies.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Anna Raschke. Anna is a master's student in the MSU Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering department. Anna's lab is called 'Computational-Ecology', meaning they simulate ecology! She is specifically working on modeling the movement of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through the Huron River Watershed. PFAS embodies over 4000 different compounds and some have been observed to have toxic effects. Unfortunately, PFAS have been around since the 1950s and are of great use due to their water and oil repelling properties, but have been shown to move through the environment and remain for a long time, which is why they are called "forever chemicals".
So far, the movement and accumulation of the chemicals are not well understood. Anna hopes to develop models to simulate the movement through soil, surface water, and groundwater to help implement effective remediation practices and prevent exposure not only in Michigan, but around the world.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview John Tison Williams. John is a PhD-candidate in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics through the College of Natural Sciences. John is in his 5th year and completing his dissertation, which focuses on understanding how small molecules inhibit the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Dr. Robert B. Abramovitch's lab. M. tuberculosis is the primary cause of Tuberculosis (TB), a respiratory infection and the number one cause of death due to a single infectious microbe in the world. TB is a chronic infection, and treatment requires four drugs to be taken daily for 6 months. However, inadequate treatment in some people, has led to the evolution of drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis, which are spreading person to person. Therefore, new drugs are needed that can successfully treat these resistant strains. The Abramovitch lab previously identified over one hundred and fifty compounds that inhibit M. tuberculosis growth. John's research revolves around understanding how these compounds prevent M. tuberculosis growth with the hope of developing these compounds into new antibiotics to treat these resistant strains.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Lin Liu. By 2050, the population in the Africa continent will double and food demand will triple. How can we sustainably produce staple food to feed the future population in the backdrop of climate change? Lin Liu’s dissertation research focuses on using agricultural technologies, including smart devices, crop modeling and remote-sensing images, to assess agricultural systems in Africa and Central America. Specifically, her research aimed at providing timely and accurate yield forecasts for cornfields in Tanzania, improving yields of staple crops (e.g. corn and yam) while preserving soil carbon in Tanzania and Ghana, and monitoring crop growth in small fields in African countries and Honduras. She recently defended her dissertation and will be awarded a dual-major Ph.D. degree from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. She has conducted agricultural research and development projects contributing to a more efficient and sustainable crop production system under the supervision of Dr. Bruno Basso. Her study regions span from smallholder fields in Malawi, Tanzania, Ghana and Honduras to large fields in the US.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube! 

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Garrett Weidig.
As a lab researching biomechanics, it is the goal of Dr. Bush's lab to study how the body functions. They extend their research to create models and devices that can assist people in everyday life. In the past, they have worked closely with many interdisciplinary professions, ranging from Michigan State University Athletics to rehabilitation facilities to clinicians. Garrett Weidig is starting his second year in his Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering focusing on hand function. Previously the lab accumulated data on forcing ability and range of motion of the fingers and thumb. Garrett is taking this research further to optimize solutions used for helping those with hand impairments. Whether it be from injury or hand osteoarthritis (which 1 in 2 people over the age of 65 will develop), there is a high chance you will need surgery and/or rehabilitation. The success of a surgery is largely determined by the amount of pain relief found after the surgery, usually neglecting the change in function. On top of that, physical therapists experience a high rate of burnout due to the high work load. Part of Garrett's research is to identify what limitations may be overlooked in the name of just relieving pain, with the main question being: what is lost? Forcing ability? Range of motion?
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected]. You can ask questions about future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!