The Sci-Files on Impact 89FM

On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview 2nd-year medical students at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Brittany Ladson, Christian Rohl, and Basma Al Masraf.

Since 2017, there have been over 70,000 opiate-related deaths, namely in the 18-25 year old group. It has been shown that implementing educational and Naloxone distribution programs can reduce the total number of opioid overdoses up to 55% within those communities. To address the growing opioid epidemic, Brittany, Christian and Basma are currently investigating the efficacy of implementing an opiate awareness educational program for high school students across the state.

The DARE program, a current requirement for high schoolers in the state of Michigan, addresses the dangers of cigarettes and alcohol consumption; however, it fails to acknowledge opiate misuse. To address this gap in education, this team of medical students has held educational programs for over 250 students across the state. If awareness on the seriousness of opiate addiction could be addressed early on in a child’s education, could it impact their decisions to misuse opiates?

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 Bridget Walker. Bridget is a third-year student in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at MSU. She began working at the Potter Park Zoo as a summer student under Dr. Ronan Eustace, the staff veterinarian and Director of Animal Health at Potter Park Zoo (PPZ), where she conducted a research project and zoo medical cases. She has been featured on The Sci-Files before for her research at PPZ with Doppsee, but this episode focuses on her research with the Red Pandas at PPZ.
Thyroid dysfunction has been reported in captive red pandas, however, there has been little research on the topic. The research project Bridget worked on validates a hormone test in red pandas that measure thyroid-stimulating hormones and can help to identify thyroid dysfunction. By having a valid test, thyroid dysfunction can be identified and further studied in red pandas.
To find out more about PPZ, ways that you can support the red pandas and the other animals at PPZ, you can visit their website.

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 for our 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 Pranshu Bajpai. Pranshu is a final year Ph.D. candidate researching information security in the Security Research Lab headed by Dr. Richard Enbody in the MSU Department of Computer Science and Engineering. His research interests lie in computer and network security, malware analysis, digital forensics, and cybercrimes. A special kind of malware, called ransomware, caught his attention during the early years of his Ph.D. due to its unique modus operandi and impact. Today, ransomware has proliferated to impact individuals and organizations alike and is considered the top threat to cybersecurity.

Ransomware is malicious software written for the purpose of extracting ransom from the infected user. This is achieved by locking the user's files with a key using a standard encryption algorithm (the lock). The user is then shown a ransom note that demands that the ransom be paid using cryptocurrencies (e.g. bitcoin) online. If the ransom is paid, the attackers can release the key and allow the user to regain access to their files. Ransom demands start with $300 per user and have now increased to hundreds of thousands of dollars as attackers carefully target organizations for maximum gain.

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 Zoe Hansen. Zoe is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the human gut microbiome. Specifically, she is investigating how foodborne infection (for example, a Salmonella infection) influences antibiotic resistance in our gut. Antibiotic resistance refers to the ability of bacteria to survive despite being treated with drugs designed to kill them. This resistance is found everywhere around the world and it becomes especially problematic when human pathogens become resistant and no longer respond to our antibiotic therapies; this can lead to very severe and ongoing infections. 

To observe how foodborne infections can influence antibiotic resistance in the gut, Zoe uses a method called “metagenomics” to look at microbial DNA from patients who had been infected. “Metagenomics” is the study of all genetic material that comes directly from an environmental sample. Once she has this information, Zoe uses a whole suite of computational tools to filter out the information she is looking for – in this case, specific genes that cause antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The collection and processing of this information are called “bioinformatics.” As Zoe uses bioinformatics to address her research, she hopes to increase our understanding of how changes to an environment (such as an infection) can lead to fluctuation in gut microbial communities. One day, this information may help us predict how our gut communities will respond to different antibiotic treatments. Zoe is also involved with the MSU Council of Graduate Students (COGS) and Graduate Women in Science (GWIS). 

If you’re interested in learning more about Zoe and her research, you can reach out to her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter. 

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!

In early April, The Sci-Files hosted its first Q&A session hosted by Chelsie and Danny with guests from past interviews on The Sci-Files. The guests gave small talks about their research. The audience had children of all ages and they have the opportunity to ask the scientists questions about their research.

Here are the slides that the speakers used during their presentations.

Mike's research focuses on the signals emitted from the explosive ending of massive stars, he will be discussing what are stars? His past episode can be found here.

Alyssa's research is on the bone health of racehorses. Her past episode can be found here.

Robert studies microorganisms in the desert and climate change. His past episode can be found here.

Kayla and Jon study bacterial infections like listeria in pregnancy and extracellular vesicles. Their past episode can be found here.

Nick studies education research like the criteria for admittance for graduate school and data science. His past episode can be found here.

Kate studies omega 3 fatty acids and how they affect inflammation. Her past episode can be found here. 

Pratap makes underwater robotics and studies how they communicate. His past episode can be found here.

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 Victoria Toomajian. Victoria is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the MSU Biomedical Engineering department, in the Contag Lab. She studies the use of extracellular vesicles as a delivery tool, focusing on the heart post-myocardial infarction as a therapeutic target.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small, membrane-bound particles released from cells, which play a role in cell to cell communication. They naturally contain a variety of molecular cargo including proteins and nucleic acids, and it has been shown that they can be used to deliver drugs, RNA, and DNA in vivo and in vitro. EVs are believed to have some advantages over synthetic delivery tools due to their natural biocompatibility, potential natural targeting abilities, and ability to cross natural barriers. Victoria's work uses immune cell-derived EVs, which have been used as delivery vehicles to areas of inflammation, to delivery therapeutic cargo to the heart, which is inflamed after injury. She will also be examining the mechanisms behind immune cell-derived EVs trafficking to areas of inflammation and EV distribution.

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 Kaitlyn Daza. Kaitlyn is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Animal Breeding and Genetics Group at the MSU Department of Animal Science.

You may have heard the statistic that by the year 2050, the global population is projected to hit 9 billion people, and we will need to vastly increase our food production to meet that demand and feed the world. This intimidating statistic brings challenges to many industries, including animal agriculture. One of the best methods we’ll have to increase the productivity and efficiency of food production in both plants and animals will be through advances in genetic technologies and selection techniques. Kaitlyn's work focuses on understanding the genetic regulation of complex production traits like growth, meat quality, and carcass composition phenotypes in pigs using genome-wide association analyses of microRNA expression. Current wet-lab experiments are investigating mechanisms connecting miRNA, gene, and phenotypic expression affecting these traits that are critical to the success of our Swine Industry.

While developing these skills, she has recognized a growing apprehension from the public regarding the use of novel genetic technologies in food production. Consumers grow increasingly interested in how their food is produced, but having been removed from the production process so greatly they often lack the understanding to see the benefits of modern agricultural techniques. It’s critical to our industry’s progress that consumers and regulatory officials be involved in the development and integration of genetic technologies in food production; without their support, we will continue to face issues of public perception and setbacks in technological development as an industry.

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 Funmi Ayeni.

Funmi is a doctoral student in Ecological/Community Psychology at Michigan State University. Her areas of research expertise include mixed-methods evaluations of community interventions for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, improving the community response to sexual and gender-based violence, evaluating victim service programs, and policy development. She is currently working on her Thesis study to examine the benefits of a culturally specific brief intervention for African American survivors of sexual assault.

In addition to being a graduate student, Funmi Ayeni is:

• Evaluation Specialist with the Michigan Victim Advocacy Network (MiVAN);
• Statewide Coordinator for the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams (DVFRTs) with the Division of Victim Services, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services;
• Team lead for the Research, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Learning Department at STER Initiative, and
  Independent Research Consultant.

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 Jose Rodrigues. Jose is a DO-PhD candidate in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics through the College of Osteopathic Medicine.  Jose is training as a third-year medical student and completing his dissertation work which focuses on antibiotic resistance, evolution and molecular epidemiology of the bacterial pathogen Campylobacter jejuni, under the direction of Dr. Shannon Manning Ph.D., M.P.H.

C. jejuni is a bacterial foodborne pathogen that is the #1 cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the United States. This disease is generally self-limited, lasting 24-72 hours and patients experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain generally after consuming undercooked chicken or coming into contact with colonized poultry or livestock.  Jose’s research focuses on understanding antibiotic-resistant (difficult to treat) strains of C. jejuni, particularly in Michigan.  By partnering with four different hospitals in Michigan bacterial isolates from patients infected with C. jejuni were collected and are the subject of Jose’s research. 

Jose is also passionate about physician-scientist training and does service-leadership work with the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA). The association is a national trainee organization focused on supporting physician trainees who are pursuing a career in research.  Jose is the current Chair of the Diversity Ad-hoc committee, where he helped to spearhead the development of Physician Scientist Trainee Diversity Summit. The committee and summit were created to help diversify the physician scientist workforce and support diverse voices in academic spaces.

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 for our 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 Courtney Harrison.

Courtney is a second-year master’s student in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at the Michigan State University Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory. Her research investigates the effects infectious diseases have on lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and their subsequent recruitment to the Great Lakes. Recently, lake whitefish commercial yields have been declining, along with abundance and growth. Similarly, there have been declines in early life stages (i.e., eggs and fry), and juvenile recruitment of lake whitefish to the Great Lakes.

Few studies have assessed lake whitefish health, and these same studies discovered the presence of microbial pathogens in adult Great Lakes lake whitefish populations. Even more interesting is that the pathogens found are known to cause high mortality and can be shed in reproductive tissue or vertically transmitted from infected parent to offspring in other salmonids. Her research will determine disease status in both wild adult and juvenile lake whitefish aggregations within Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. She will also assess the ability of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSv) and three bacterial pathogens (Renibacterium salmoninarum, Carnobacterium sp., and Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida), all which have been recovered from Great Lakes lake whitefish, to cause disease and/or mortality in juvenile lake whitefish in laboratory experimental challenges. Data generated from my study can be used in future recruitment models to address the uncertainty caused by disease-associated losses in current models.

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 for our future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!