MindScope Issue 9

Issue No. 9

2019-2020

Letter from the Editor Executive Board

Dear MindScopers,

Editor-in-Chief Christina Sun

In the 9th issue of MindScope, you will learn about the different factors that impact human health across the world. Students’ wideranging interests are shown in the various articles, demonstrating their curiosity and passion for science. From the detrimental effects of the climate crisis on our livelihoods to the importance of addressing health disparities, this issue explores a spectrum of health issues and its implications. You’ll also read about a student’s experience engaging with public health in a global context through Simmons World Challenge, a program that I also participated in and is the inspiration for the theme of this issue. In our increasingly interconnected world, our lives and our actions do not exist in a vacuum. Health is something that affects us all, through our personal experiences, as well as through environmental changes and policies.

“Global Health” pushes us to think beyond ourselves, to consider how human lives are impacted at a societal and international level.

Managing Editor Gabriela Taslitsky Androssenko Secretary Sierra McCaffrey Treasurer Vivian Le Communications Manager Ariana Infanti Senate President Shaniah Prosper Head Copy Editor Mackenzie Farkus Graphic Designers Olivia Hart Annie Chen Faculty Advisor Dr. Rich Gurney

Contributing Writers Annie Chen Ariana Infanti Bethany Arabic Beyza Erdem

Brianna Desharnais Cheeznah Milord Hannah Rice Kayleigh Kuhn Mehbooba Tamanna Molly Riley Noreen Shaikh Shauntina Powell

Vivian Le Contributing Copy Editors Amelia Fordyce Annie Chen Elena Stratoberdha Esha Shafiq Ginny Strasser Mehbooba Tamanna Perry Mitchell Shaniah Prosper Sophie Lawsure Yasmin Ahmed

Since its founding in 2015, MindScope Magazine has sought to empower students in sharing their excitement for science, technology, and health in meaningful ways. When I entered Simmons and discovered MindScope, the array of unique stories and voices inspired me to get involved. From contributing editor to student government representative to now, editor in chief, I am only more enthusiastic to be part of this organization. I strongly believe in the mission of MindScope and will strive to make elevate the magazine.

This edition of MindScope would not be possible without the time and energy of many people. First, thank you to Kristen Doucette, the previous editor in chief, for your encouragement and guidance.

To my Executive Board, thank you for being a joy to work with.

Many thanks to the faculty, especially Dr. Rich Gurney, whose insights have been invaluable. To those in my support network, your presence fosters my endeavors, and in turn, the realization of this magazine. To each writer and editor, your dedication to the magazine is what ensures the success and continuation of MindScope. Lastly, thank you, reader, for supporting us through reading and sharing our work.

I hope that our students’ words make you think critically, push you to seek out new perspectives, and inspire you to engage with science in different ways.

Sincerely,

Printing Copy/Mail Center, Simmons College 300 Fenway Boston MA 02115 Cover Shutterstock

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Christina Sun Editor-in-Chief

Table of Contents Global Health

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The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Humans

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Threats to the Great Barrier Reef: One of the World’s Largest Ecosystems

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A Global Effort to Stop Female Genital Mutilation

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The Global Shortage of Healthcare Workers

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Language Barriers in Healthcare The Importance of Cultural Competence in Addressing Health Disparities

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Bullying in Academia

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The Real Cause of COVID-19

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Natural Sciences

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Developing Novel Behavioral and Imaging Assays to Test Treatments for Visual Disorders 19 Lab Grown “Mini Brains” are Starting to Produce Their Own Brain Waves

Characteristics & Development of Sensory Neurons that Mediate Our Sense of Touch

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SIMScenes 23 Meet Dean Sharp-McHenry 23 Running 4000 Miles for Cancer 24 Simmons World Challenge: Public Health in Argentina

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The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Humans

by Kayleigh Kuhn What is ocean acidification?

The term "ocean acidification" is being used more frequently than ever before, but what does it really mean? When carbon dioxide (CO2) is generated into the air, most commonly through the burning of fossil fuels, it is then absorbed by the ocean. When CO2 fuses together with water, it forms a chemical compound known as carbonic acid. The carbonic acid “steals” the carbonate that is normally in the ocean and forms something known as bicarbonate. Carbonic acid now has not only increased the ocean acidity, but it also has reoriented the balance of bicarbonate and carbonate in the water.¹ Ocean acidification has been increasing at a rate faster than ever seen on earth. The change in pH levels is approximately 50 times faster than even the highest known rates from the last 100 million years.¹ The ocean absorbs roughly 30% of the carbon dioxide produced into the atmosphere allowing the process of acidification to occur more rapidly when carbon dioxide is being produced exponentially.¹

What are the effects of ocean acidification?

Not only has ocean acidification increased the acidity of the water, but the chemical balance of ions has also been affected. When carbonic acid forms bicarbonate, it steals the carbonate normally in the water. This, in turn, leads to a lack of proper development in many marine organisms. Calcium and carbonate are the main building blocks of shells for many aquatic animals such as oysters, scallops, and clams.

When these building blocks have been taken away, aquatic animals’ ability to properly mature is inhibited.⁶ After meeting with Louise Cameron, a third-year Ph.D. student from Northeastern University, I was able to learn about the opportunity she had to study firsthand the effects of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers. During her studies, she was able to observe that the Atlantic scallops on Georges Bank in Massachusetts were unable to meet their average growth rate in more acidic ocean water. In addition to this,

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the mortality rate of the scallops was much higher than those placed in ocean water with a higher pH.⁷ The rising acidity in the ocean takes yet another toll on these organisms. The high acid rate in the ocean can lead to decomposition of the shells of not only shellfish, but also organisms such as coral.¹ Acidification opens the doors for algae to flourish as well. Some forms of algae known as harmful algal blooms (HABs) prevent other marine plants from photosynthesizing and can also release toxins that can be harmful to other marine life as well as humans.

Even being exposed to the water with this form of algae can cause humans to have skin inflammation, eye irritation, and respiratory problems such as shortness of breath.⁶

How does this affect the human population?

Even though some cases may not affect us directly, we will see the toll that ocean acidification has on us. Ocean acidification will impact our shorelines, food sources, healthcare, as well as the economy.

There is a direct link between the rising acidity in ocean waters and mortality rates in coral reefs.2 Coral is also a member of the aquatic organisms that will be affected by the lack of carbonate available in ocean waters, as mentioned before. They rely on these shells to form their skeletal structures. This can lead to the breaking of the coral as well as an increased risk for decomposition in the acidic waters.⁴ Coral reefs have been shown to aid in protectants for flooding, storm surges, as well as erosion. They have the ability to deplete up to 97% of the energy waves produced, aiding in the shoreline protection and fighting off erosion.² These buffers used to dissipate the waves aid in human protection during storms as well as flooding water levels that can lead to property damage or human injury.

Over one billion people around the world get their primary source of protein from the sea.¹ Aquatic animals are directly affected by the rising levels of ocean acidification. These animals, as well as plankton, that rely on their carbonate based shells are the primary food source for larger

This graph shows the correlation between rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere at Mauna Loa with rising CO2 levels in the nearby ocean at Station Aloha. As more CO2 accumulates in the ocean, the pH of the ocean decreases.1 Adapted directly from Bradford, 2015.

organisms living in the ecosystem. When other fish have a low source of food, it can lead to starvation of the species and eventually extinction. Not only will we no longer have shellfish as part of our diets, but we will also lose other organisms such as sardines and salmon. A study published

by Christopher Golden, an assistant professor from Harvard School of Public Health, and other colleagues, states that the anticipated likelihood of catching fish will lower anywhere from three to thirteen percent in the next 30 years.³ In addition to these findings, the population of some tropical fish will lower as much as twenty percent in the same time frame.³ Higher water temperatures can also increase the chances of infectious diseases being spread among aquatic animals. All of these repercussions of ocean acidification are detrimental to those who incorporate seafood in their diets.

The ocean has found another way to impact our everyday lives through medicine. Many new drugs, especially antibiotics, and disease studies on cancer and neurodegeneration use marine organism models. Pharmaceutical research has made discoveries on antibiotic resistant bacteria and the ocean may be a gateway to a cure for a multitude of illnesses.

A fatty acid known as Eicosapentaenoic acid discovered in marine organisms can now be used as a treatment for antibacterial resistant strains of Staphylococcus. An extract from another marine organism known as Ulva reticulata has the ability to inhibit certain enzymes and allow it to compare to agents used for Alzheimer's treatment. Bryostatin is a drug derived from another marine organism and has been used as an anti-cancer drug, working especially well against leukemia.⁵

Ocean acidification will also devastate the global economy.

As mentioned before, the decline of shellfish is leading to the loss of other organisms that rely on shellfish as a primary food source. This will affect fisheries economically. Another aspect is that coral reefs will be unable to properly grow in highly acidic waters, leaving areas that gain high revenue from tourists with little to look at. Tourism and the profit made from it will also decline in beach areas even without coral reefs. Jellyfish thrive in areas with high concentrations of carbon dioxide. When the entire ocean has a higher rate of carbon dioxide in the air, the population of jellyfish will increase throughout all areas, leaving little room for people to swim without being stung by one. Lastly, when fisheries and the tourism industry face a decrease in business, it will lead to job loss.⁶

How can we change this?

One of the most important aspects of making a change is to know that it is not too late. The first step to addressing a problem is taking the time to realize that there is one.

A key step to preventing any further ocean acidification is reducing the production of CO2 into the air.⁶ Erosion also has a negative impact on our oceans that we can prevent. Deforestation and clearing unnecessary land for construction can speed up the process of erosion and lead to a lack of photosynthesis in some plant-based marine organisms, once again taking a toll on the larger organisms that use them as their sole source of food. Deforestation also impacts the reduction of CO2. When people rid the landscape of forest and other plant-based organisms, we lose a valuable source that reduces the CO2 ratio in the atmosphere.⁴

[1]

Bradford, N. (2015). Marine Life and Ocean Acidity. National Environmental Education Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.neefusa.org/nature/water/marine-life-and-oceanacidity. Accessed September 27, 2019.

[2]

Cooley, S., Doherty, C., Edwards, P.,..., Waldbusser, G. (2016). Coral Reefs and People in a High-CO2 World: Where Can Science Make a Difference to People? PLOS One. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0164699. Accessed September 30, 2019.

[3]

Dangour, A., Golden, C., Guth, S.,... Vaitla, B. (2017). Climate Change and Global Food Systems: Potential Impacts on Food Security and Undernutrition. Retrieved from https:// www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044356 Accessed October 2, 2019.

[4]

The Ocean Portal Team. (2019, August 22). Corals and Coral Reefs. Retrieved October 2, 2019, from https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/corals-and-coral-reefs.

[5]

Malve, N. (2016). Exploring the Ocean for New Drug Developments. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4832911/. Accessed October 09, 2019.

[6]

Montgomery, M. (2014). What You Need to Know About Ocean Acidification and How it Affects You. One Green Planet. Retrieved from https://www.onegreenplanet.org/ animalsandnature/ what-you-need-to-know-about-ocean-acidification-and-how-it-affectsyou/. Accessed September 30, 2019.

[7]

Cameron, L. (2019). The effects of ocean acidification on marine calcifiers.

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Threats to the Great Barrier Reef: One of the World’s Largest Ecosystems

Science Magazine

by Hannah Rice People spend a lot of time talking about the natural wonders of the world. Little do they know, they are destroying one of the original wonders: the Great Barrier Reef. It is the greatest reef system in the world, consisting of new coral growing on top of dead coral dating back to twenty million years ago.1 There are many threats that are contributing to the loss of the Great Barrier Reef, including, but not limited to, climate change and poor water quality. These threats need to be addressed in order to shift these solutions from words to actions.

Climate change induced by humans is causing an increase in the ocean’s temperature and its acidity.2 This will cause an increased frequency of severe weather and rising sea levels.2 Increased frequency of severe weather will further weaken the Great Barrier Reef ’s framework, and rising sea temperatures will cause a greater risk of coral bleaching.2 The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has found that “since the late 18th century, the oceans have absorbed about 30% of the additional carbon dioxide that human activities have injected into the atmosphere. This extra CO2 in the oceans has changed their chemistry, a process known as ocean acidification, with the pH of oceans decreasing.”2 When the pH of the oceans decreases, it also decreases the ability of

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corals to construct skeletons, which results in a decrease in their ability to create a home for marine life.

Poor coastal water quality from land-based run-off has been recognized as one of the most significant threats to the Great Barrier Reef because coral reefs depend on proper water quality in order to survive.3 The land adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef, specifically in Queensland, Australia, continues to be developed for use in agriculture, industrial, and urban development.3 The run-off from

these developments increases the sediment, nutrients, and contaminants entering these coastal waters directly impacts the health of the Great Barrier Reef.3 According to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, “the Reef receives run-off from 35 major catchments draining 424,000 square kilometers of coastal Queensland.”3 This increased amount of sediment, nutrients, and contaminants can increase algal growth and reduce the light available to corals.3 Coral reefs have symbiotic algae living on them that perform photosynthesis to provide the coral with energy, and the reduction of light available to corals will hinder algae in doing this.⁴ Additionally, increased algal growth will cause competition over space on the corals.4 Not only does this poor water quality affect the Reef, but it also affects industries that depend on the Reef ’s health, including fishing and research.3 The good news is, coral reefs are naturally resilient.⁵ If these threats can be reduced, then the Reef can naturally recover.⁵ In order to do this, it all starts with education.

Once knowledge about the problem and situation is gained, action can be taken. Regarding the problem of poor water quality, researchers have been able to pinpoint parts of the Reef that are exposed to high levels of contaminants from certain river run-offs in Queensland in an effort to prioritize conservation efforts.⁶ To reduce pollution from nutrients and sediments, the regulations for land-clearing and agriculture will need to be changed, which lies in the hands of political leaders.⁶ Previous governments have tried to institute this change, but have been unsuccessful. Katharina Fabricius, a coral reef scientist with the Australian Institute for Marine Science, has emphasized the need for landclearing regulations. Fabricius stated that “land clearing rules are probably the cheapest way to actually make headway with water quality issues. Individual remedies are just band-aids if the regulation is not in place to prevent further land clearing.”⁶ Stronger land-clearing regulations have been put in place only recently, but the next step is restoration, or else erosion will continue on the alreadycleared land and affect the Reef.⁶ Solutions for climate change are also in the hands of political leaders. Laws must be changed in regards to the usage of fossil fuels as well as deforestation.⁷ Solutions that everyone can help contribute to include using renewable resources, using public transportation or biking, consuming less, being energy efficient, going vegetarian, buying used wood furniture and flooring, and so much more.⁷ A person’s carbon footprint is the amount of CO2 emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels. All of these solutions will ultimately reduce your carbon footprint and your contribution to climate change. If everyone could reduce their carbon footprint through these types of solutions, it would help the problem of climate change as a whole, ultimately helping the restoration of the Great Barrier Reef.

XL Catlin Seaview Survey

Coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef may never fully recover from the trauma it has been put through over the years. The least we can do is to try to restore the Reef to optimal health in order to save this beautiful, natural wonder of the world. Not only can you start reducing your carbon footprint right now by implementing the changes discussed here or investigating other solutions, but you can also educate others about the problem itself. Many only respond to these threats with apathy, and it is more critical than ever right now, to take action.⁸ David Attenborough, a naturalist, said it best by stating, “The Great Barrier Reef is in grave danger. The twin perils brought by climate change, an increase in the temperature of the ocean and its acidity, if they continue to rise at the present rate the reefs will be gone within decades and that would be a global catastrophe.”⁸ Even little changes to everyday life can play a huge factor in influencing grandscale change, which is what we need now more than ever.

[1]

Great Barrier Reef Australia’s Great Natural Wonder. Retrieved from http://www. greatbarrierreef.org/about-the-reef/great-barrier-reef-facts/.

[2]

Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.barrierreef.org/the-reef/the-threats/climatechange.

[3]

Poor Water Quality from Land-Based Run-Off. Retrieved from https://www.barrierreef. org/the-reef/the-threats/poor-water-quality.

[4]

(2019, May 27). How River Pollution Contributes to Coral Bleaching. Retrieved from https://www.natureaustralia.org.au/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/great-barrierreef-pollution/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8svsBRDqARIsAHKVyqEGlDn6hoU4TmFYswYwDfVOf H27huRJTQnzFrerGSxs7p6qohm66zYaArB2EALw_wcB.

[5]

The Threats: Natural Wonder Under Threat. Retrieved from https://www.barrierreef.org/ the-reef/the-threats?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8svsBRDqARIsAHKVyqFO78FLygWnfiOPD9L9yKl-Yn1D5MXBfONLFudzkVTtQ9tzqZxo5kaAtgREALw_wcB.

[6]

(2019, May 27). Solving the Pollution Problem. Retrieved from https://www. natureaustralia.org.au/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/great-barrier-reef-pollution/ ?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8svsBRDqARIsAHKVyqEGlDn6hoU4TmFYswYwDfVOfH27huRJTQnz FrerGSxs7p6qohm66zYaArB2EALw_wcB.

[7]

Biello, David. (2007, November 26). 10 Solutions for Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/10-solutions-for-climate-change/.

[8]

The Reef ’s Greatest Threats. Retrieved from https://citizensgbr.org/the-reefs-greatestthreats.

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A Global Effort to Stop Female Genital Mutilation

Equality Now

by Vivian Le

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What is Female Genital Mutilation?

Why is FGM performed?

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is composed of all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical purposes.1 This practice is most common in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Nearly 200 million women and girls have fallen victim to FGM.1 There are four types of female genital mutilation: clitoridectomy, excision, infibulation, and other procedures that harm the female genitals. All of these procedures pose a threat to health in various ways. Not only is FGM an act of discrimination against women and in violation of human rights, but it is also a violation of the rights of children, as FGM is mainly practiced on girls between infancy and age 15. With so many controversies and problems arising from this procedure, we must ask why it exists in the first place.

FGM is carried out for various cultural, religious, and social reasons within families and communities, as it is believed that the procedure will help preserve the girls’ or women’s virginity and prepare her for marriage.1 In communities where FGM is viewed as a social norm, there is extreme social pressure for girls to conform to cultural traditions out of fear of being rejected by the community.2 The practice is also driven by beliefs about what is considered acceptable sexual behavior, with goals of preserving premarital virginity and marital fidelity.2 These beliefs play into the bigger idea that FGM makes girls and women more “clean” and “beautiful” after the removal of body parts that are considered “unclean,” “unfeminine,” or “male”, thus making them more suitable for marriage.2 Although no religious scripts order the practice, practitioners often believe FGM has religious support. The support of community leaders, religious leaders, and even medical personnel — all who have a significant influence in their communities — can contribute to upholding the practice.2

What are the effects?

When an unnecessary procedure that mutilates vital body parts is performed, it often comes with detrimental health outcomes. As mentioned before, there are different types of female genital mutilation. Clitoridectomy is the partial or total removal of the clitoris. Excision is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora. Infibulation is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal, which is formed by cutting and repositioning the labia minora or labia majora, sometimes through stitching with or without the removal of the clitoris.

Other harmful procedures include pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterizing the genital area.2 All of these procedures can lead to both immediate and long term complications. Immediate complications include severe pain, genital tissue swelling, infection, urinary problems, shock, and death. Long term health risks include complications with normal urinary and vaginal functions, as well as sexual and psychological issues.2 FGM most directly impacts sex, pregnancy, and mental health. With sex, women who were forced to undergo FGM report intense pain during intercourse. Type 3 FGM, or infibulation, sometimes consists of stitching the labia minora or labia majora shut, so it is difficult for girls to have premarital sex. When these girls are married, the husband has the authority to remove the stitches when he desires in order to have intercourse.

This is another traumatic and painful experience girls have to go through in addition to the initial trauma.

Female genital mutilation also affects a woman’s ability to conceive, and if she is able to become pregnant, there is an increased risk of complications during childbirth and infant mortality. This is due to the repeated infections a woman

may experience after FGM. Female genital mutilation is an extremely harmful and damaging procedure to not only the physical body but also a woman’s psychology. It can cause depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and PTSD.2 With all these adverse health outcomes related to female genital mutilation, global outcry demands change.

What is the global response?

1997 was the defining year in which FGM was brought to international attention by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund, and the United Nations Population Fund through a joint statement condemning the practice. Since then, the awareness and public scrutiny of female genital mutilation have intensified.

There are currently laws against FGM in 26 countries in Africa and the Middle East. In Africa, many governments have taken calculated steps towards eliminating female genital mutilation in their countries. Some of these steps are criminalizing FGM, providing education and outreach programs, and using civil remedies and administrative regulations to prevent the practice.3 There are also laws against it in at least 59 countries that receive migrant populations from countries where FGM is more common.⁴ These countries include Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and the United States. In the United States, the federal government and 35 states have criminalized the practice.⁵ Although more effort is needed to eliminate FGM worldwide, there have been various advancements in the fight against female genital mutilation in countries that used to frequently practice it due to international advocacy and progress.

[1]

NHS. (2019, May 20). Overview - Female genital mutilation (FGM). Retrieved from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/female-genital-mutilation-fgm/.

[2]

World Health Organization. (2018, January 31). Female genital mutilation. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation.

[3]

Center for Reproductive Rights. (2008, December 11). Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Legal Prohibitions Worldwide. Retrieved from https://reproductiverights.org/document/ female-genital-mutilation-fgm-legal-prohibitions-worldwide.

[4]

Equality Now. (2019, June 19) FGM and The Law Around The World. Retrieved from https://www.equalitynow.org/the_law_and_fgm.

[5]

Equality Now. FGM in the US. Retrieved from https://www.equalitynow.org/fgm_in_the_ us_learn_more.

Encyclopedia Britannica

An example of tools that are used to perform FGM.

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McLean Hosptial

The Global Shortage of Healthcare Workers

by Ariana Infanti Healthcare systems provide essential services to ensure the well-being of all humans on the planet, but the quality and effectiveness of healthcare services varies widely across the globe. This largely depends on the supply of healthcare workers. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a minimum of 4.45 health workers per 1,000 people in a population is necessary to maintain a state of universal health coverage.² If a country falls far below that threshold, its healthcare system will experience a shortage and won’t be able to function properly.

Unfortunately, shortages may be the reality for all healthcare systems across the world soon. By 2030, about 80 million healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, midwives, and others) will be needed throughout the globe, but the predicted supply of healthcare workers is expected to only reach 65 million by that time, which results in a shortage of 15 million health professionals.² The highest growth in demand will happen in middle-income countries, due to expanding economies and larger, aging populations.² The available supply of workers will simply not be sufficient.

Low-income countries, on the other hand, will experience lower growth in demand and supply. In fact, areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa might end up in a paradox in which they have a surplus of healthcare workers but still cannot provide basic services to their citizens, due to their healthcare systems lacking the resources and infrastructure to employ all of the available professionals.²

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Even high-income countries will suffer these inequalities of supply and demand: in the United States, a shortage of between “46,900 and 121,900 doctors is predicted to occur by 2032.”³ One of the primary drivers of the shortage is aging. An older population will require more healthcare workers to support them, and many of the current healthcare professionals will be retiring soon. In fact, “one-third of all currently active doctors will be older than 65 in the next decade,” and their retirement will have the greatest impact on labor supply.³

The shortages will likely manifest themselves in a lack of availability of qualified health workers, an unequal geographic distribution of health workers which leaves vulnerable areas without a sufficient density of healthcare professionals, and inadequate performance of healthcare workers that results in lower quality care and worsened productivity. These problems are caused by numerous factors including “inadequate education and training capacity, negative work environments... and inadequate incentives.”² The distribution issue, in particular, is a direct result of the migration of healthcare workers from low-income countries to high-income countries. Globalization has made it easier for healthcare workers to find employment opportunities abroad, and many people are taking advantage of the demand for healthcare workers in higher-income countries.¹ This phenomenon is a prime example of “brain drain,” and is especially prevalent in African nations. Countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and South Africa already have stressed healthcare systems, and many of their healthcare workers are migrating to high-income countries in North America, Europe, and the Middle East.¹ These workers have good reasons for leaving their home countries; pull factors like better financial compensation, better career advancement opportunities, and safer working environments draw these professionals to migrate in hopes of a better quality of life.

At the same time, civil war and economic stagnation in some African countries are pushing professionals to seek employment elsewhere.¹ The solutions to this global health issue are complex and require time-consuming, systematic changes. WHO released a report that outlined several steps towards a solution, including collecting accurate data on the healthcare systems, creating more “human resources for health policy objectives,” building nations’ technical capacity to design and implement policies, and increasing political support for improved health coverage.⁴ Countries will have to think about how to improve healthcare professionals’ productivity, which could possibly be achieved through advancements in technology, in order to accomplish the same amount of work with fewer laborers. They’ll also have to determine what investments will be necessary to increase the supply of healthcare workers.² In any case, the path to resolving the shortages is not clear. This is a global issue that will require global cooperation before it’s too late.

[1]

Aluttis, C., Bishaw, T., & Frank, M. W. (2014). The workforce for health in a globalized context – global shortages and international migration. Global Health Action, 7. doi: 10.3402/gha.v7.23611

[2]

Liu, J. X., Goryakin, Y., Maeda, A., Bruckner, T., & Scheffler, R. (2017). Global Health Workforce Labor Market Projections for 2030. Human Resources for Health, 15(1). doi: 10.1186/s12960-017-0187-2

[3]

New Findings Confirm Predictions on Physician Shortage. (2019, April 23). Retrieved from https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/press-releases/new-findings-confirm-predictionsphysician-shortage.

[4]

World Health Organization. (2013, November). Universal truth: no health without a workforce. Executive summary. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/workforcealliance/ knowledge/resources/hrhreport_summary_En_web.pdf?ua=1

Jones Therapy Services

Language Barriers in Healthcare

by Beyza Erdem In the healthcare sector, communication is essential.

Challenging communication are language barriers, which is when the primary language spoken by a person is not the majority language spoken in the country that they are located in.1 Even though language is not the only barrier in healthcare, it is a critical one.1 Not being able to understand the language in a healthcare setting can increase the anxiety of patients who are already anxious.1 If patients do not understand the treatments available to them or the risks that some may provide, it puts their health at risk and makes them more vulnerable.1 Culture plays a big role when trying to understand how language proves to be a barrier to healthcare. Not every culture may express pain in the same way because different groups may have their own expressions or words.1 This is known as a semantic barrier, where cross-language differences exist.2 For example, expressing pain can be different between cultures since the translation of how one culture might express words may differ in meaning in a different language.2 This misunderstanding can cause the healthcare provider to become emotionally distant towards the patient, creating an additional barrier that might affect the way a patient may feel.2 If there are no healthcare professionals that understand a patient’s language or culture, the patient may look to family members, who may not be trained in medical terms, to translate for them.2 Usually, this is one of the first steps taken when trying to deal with language barriers.2 The inability to completely trust non-medical personal to translate the patient's medical diagnosis has led hospitals to find ways to fix language barriers by providing translators.2 Although interpreters are a good solution to language barriers, they are not ubiquitous and can be expensive.2 A remedy to this problem is to provide healthcare professionals with certain

language courses depending on the populations that they come into contact with the most.2 This is also an advantage because in some cases, healthcare professionals will already have some sort of language background due to language classes earlier on in their training.2 However, like many solutions, there are obstacles. Many healthcare professionals do not have enough time to learn a new language while keeping up with all of their other responsibilities.2 In Turkey, language barriers with Syrian refugees are being resolved one step at a time. As the country takes in at least 3.6 million Syrian refugees, language barriers are a big problem when it comes to healthcare professionals trying to help patients.3 Since the main language in Turkey is Turkish, Syrians who speak only Arabic do not have an easy time trying to get their points across. The more language barriers that are lifted, the better access to healthcare patients will receive.3 With the help of the World Health Organization (WHO), Turkey established several health centers to service refugees free of charge.3 These health centers also trained displaced Syrian doctors and other healthcare personnel to work in Turkey.3 These training programs examined aspects of healthcare professional jobs, including cultural, lingual, financial, and motivational differences. More than 2,200 Syrian healthcare personnel have finished their training and have gotten jobs in the healthcare field in Turkey.3 Training these doctors provided “culturally sensitive health consultations and strengthen refugee access to quality health services" for the Syrian population.3 Other solutions that are being offered to citizens are apps such as “Gherbtna” that have the ability to translate for citizens.⁴ With the Gherbtna app, on top of services such as schooling and jobs, individuals are able to find doctors depending on the type of healthcare treatment that they might need.⁴ The translation app is easily accessible for those who have a cellphone but is not accessible for the refugees who do not have one.⁴ Although the language barrier still stands as one of the primary barriers that Syrians face, there are many ideas that are being presented to Turkey to improve and provide better access to healthcare for everyone.⁵ [1]

Meuter, R. F., Gallois, C., Segalowitz, N. S., Ryder, A. G., & Hocking, J. (2015).

Overcoming language barriers in healthcare: A protocol for investigating safe and effective communication when patients or clinicians use a second language. BMC health services research, 15, 371. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-1024-8

[2]

Segalowitz, N., & Kehayia, E. (2011). Exploring the Determinants of Language Barriers in Health Care (LBHC): Toward a Research Agenda for the Language Sciences. Canadian Modern Language Review, 67 (4), 480–507. https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.67.4.480

[3]

A. (2019, October 15). How Syria's displaced doctors became Turkey's new workforce.

Retrieved from https://apolitical.co/en/solution_article/syria-displaced-doctors-turkeyworkforce

[4]

Lepeska, D. (2016). Refugees and the technology of exile. The Wilson Quarterly, 40 (2). Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A455287207/AONE?u=mlin_ newprod&sid=AONE&xid=A705cc7a

[5]

Alawa, J., Zarei, P., & Khoshnood, K. (2019). Evaluating the Provision of Health Services and Barriers to Treatment for Chronic Diseases among Syrian Refugees in Turkey: A Review of Literature and Stakeholder Interviews. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16 (15), 2660. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152660

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The Importance of Cultural Competence in Addressing Health Disparities

Wordsmith.hk

by Cheeznah Milord and Mehbooba Tamanna What are health disparities?

Many factors contribute to a lack of quality and access to healthcare. These factors can be summed up as health disparities. Before diving into health disparities, health equity must be acknowledged first. Health equity refers to justice in the healthcare system — meaning everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve health.1 On the contrary, health disparities are defined as “systematic, plausibly avoidable health differences adversely affecting socially disadvantaged groups”.2 Health disparities go beyond racial, ethnic, and cultural differences. They are also affected by lifestyle choices, age, sexual orientation, lack of access, as well as personal, socio-economic, and environmental characteristics.3 Consequently, health disparities are affected by health inequities. It is essential to make that connection, especially when focusing on urban communities. Health disparities are present everywhere. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both healthcare providers and patients to understand the issue.

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When looking at urban communities like Boston, it is important to acknowledge the presence of a large minority population. Patients from urban communities fall victim to social determinants of health (SDoH). These include lack of resources, limited access to healthcare providers, and low health literacy levels. As a result, patients are subjected to poor health outcomes that arise from these health inequities.⁴ For example, in a recent study focused on the prevalence of type two diabetes (T2DM) in the greater Boston area, it was discovered that “Black and Hispanic participants had 2.89 times and 1.48 times the odds of T2DM as White participants, respectively”.⁵ This further demonstrates the significance of health disparities and its effects on those from urban communities.

In 1996, the U.S. Census Bureau projected that by 2035, minority Americans will make up more than 40% of the population.⁶ By 2050, that number will increase to more than 47%.⁶ It is important to look at all aspects of what comprises the health disparities among what will soon be almost half of the nation.

The way that hospitals treat and care for patients contributes to not only the patient’s trust in the medical system but also the patient’s overall health. The divergent way that patients of different ethnic and racial backgrounds are treated compared to an average (white) American is significant.

When Black and white patients come in with the same symptoms of heart pain, Black patients are not as readily diagnosed with a heart attack in comparison to whites.⁷ When Black or African Americans go to emergency rooms due to chronic pain caused by sickle cell disease, they are more likely to experience a longer wait time and are given less pain medication in comparison to their white counterparts.⁸ Many doctors hold personal biases and that may not be addressed in medical schools. One of these biases is that Black patients have a higher tolerance to pain — a false generalization dates back to the times of slavery.⁹ Another prejudice is that Black patients are likely to get addicted to and abuse pain medication leading to underprescriptioning (especially after medical procedures), despite various statistics that show otherwise.⁷ The biases that physicians hold ultimately cloud the judgment of those doctors when they are giving their prognosis. This results in stress on Black patients that is detrimental to their wellbeing, in addition to the negative effects on their health due to systematic discrimination.

How can we address health disparities?

Health disparities in minority communities is a multifaceted problem. One way to tackle this prevalent issue is to increase culturally competent practices. Addressing the issue of health disparities should start with higher education. Future healthcare providers should be taught and informed about health disparities. When discussing health disparities, cultural competence is often forgotten, even though it is important to healthcare in urban communities.

Cultural competency can be seen as “a set of attitudes, skills, behaviors, and policies that enable organizations and staff to work effectively in cross-cultural situations”.10 In essence, cultural competency is the practice of taking cultural differences seriously. Cultural sensitivity should be an essential part of etiquette, regardless of the setting. It is especially critical in healthcare. This means that healthcare providers are responsible for educating themselves when it comes to health-related beliefs, attitudes, practices, and ways of communication with their patients in order

Fig. 1 Racial composition of census tracts in Boston, MA from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) III Survey.⁵ Adapted directly from Piccolo et al, 2015.

to provide the best care possible.10 Patients come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds and hold different cultural beliefs, including different beliefs and approaches to health. Healthcare providers should be equipped with the knowledge on how to approach making a care plan while being mindful of their cultural differences.

Culturally competent medical personnel make a huge difference in the way they interact and engage with a patient. This helps increase mutual trust and respect between healthcare providers and patients by promoting inclusion. Increasing culturally competent practices is critical in improving the healthcare of racial and ethnic minorities by reducing the rate of health disparities within those communities.

How do we promote cultural competence?

Boston is the hometown of some of the most well-known teaching hospitals in the nation (e.g., Mass General, Boston Children’s, Brigham & Women’s, Beth Israel, Dana Farber, and more). One of the first places where cultural competency should be addressed is in medical schools, where future physicians are trained before working at hospitals. However, some medical schools do their students a disservice by not preparing them for the healthcare field in equipping them with practical cultural competency resources. The state of Massachusetts has four medical schools: Harvard Medical School (HMS), Boston University School of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine,

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and University of Massachusetts Medical School. Each school has a respective online resource center (e.g., HMS has the Culturally Competent Care Education Committee) that address cultural competency, but these resources do not give the definition of what cultural competency means. On the HMS Culturally Competent Care Education Committee website, most of the provided hyperlinks to resources are broken.11 The last time this website was updated was August 16, 2006.11 Online resources should be accessible so that they can be useful strategies on how to deal with certain topics that may be sensitive to patients of different cultural backgrounds in a medical setting.

An important part of a culturally competent hospital is having high recruitment and retention rates of minority staff. Diverse staff can contribute shared cultural beliefs and a common language, creating a more welcoming space by improving communication.12 A culturally competent healthcare workforce will be able to prevent negative health consequences that are a result of cultural differences not being addressed. This includes screening opportunities for illnesses that can be missed due to the lack of familiarity with certain conditions that are prevalent in minority groups. Additionally, the lack of knowledge regarding traditional (i.e., herbal) remedies utilized by some cultures could lead to harmful and toxic drug interactions, resulting in diagnostic errors due to miscommunication.13 In order to recruit and retain minority staff in hospitals and clinics, it is important to implement certain tactics. Hospitals must put an emphasis on hiring people from minority communities who may have a better understanding of the day-to-day lives of minority patients. Fellowships and residency programs for minority medical personnel should be promoted as well. Moreover, human resource practices of hospitals and clinics as well as compensation practices of all staff should be reviewed for equity.13 It is important to make sure that there is a set of principles in place that foster respectful treatment of all staff and patients regardless of their identity (i.e., ethnicity, race, religion, gender, etc.).

Diversity is fundamental to more equitable healthcare.

Interpreter services are an important part of a culturally competent hospital. There are more than 46 million people in the United States whose primary language is not English and more than 21 million people speak English “less than very well�.12 People with limited English proficiency are less likely to have a regular source of primary care and therefore

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Fig. 2 Integrated model of health disparities from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).3 Adapted directly from Riley, 2012.

may not receive preventative care, such as vaccines.12 It is even harder for these people to receive adequate healthcare when some medical specialists prefer using medical and technical jargon while explaining diagnoses. In hospitals and clinics, the interpreter services available are sorely lacking.

Oftentimes, the people enlisted to facilitate communication are not trained interpreters; they are often friends or family members, untrained non-clinical employees, and non-fluent healthcare professionals.12 This is due to the financial burden that professional interpreter services can be — ultimately leading to hospital visits being less optimized and allowing for there to be a higher chance of miscommunication and misunderstanding. Hospitals should remedy the lack of professional interpreters by enlisting the support of on-site and off-site interpreter services.

The integration of cultural competency and sensitivity in medical school curricula and resources is vital in educating future medical professionals on ways to shed their own biases when handling culturally sensitive topics. In addition, the healthcare staff hired in hospitals and clinics should be more diverse, where staff demographics better reflect patient demographics. Increasing interpreter services available will lead to a decrease in culturally-based miscommunications between doctors and patients. Together, all of these changes can help with the optimization of healthcare services used by minorities all over the nation.

What is being done at Simmons?

How does this work continue?

One way future healthcare providers can better prepare themselves is by gaining exposure to these issues starting in undergraduate-level education. Many universities have started providing undergraduate courses to educate students about health disparities. Simmons University has taken this initiative by offering the learning community “Medicine and Race in the World of Henrietta Lacks.” This course comprises of three separate classes focusing on the topics of health in urban communities, medicine, and the African American experience. The integrative seminar component of the course focuses on health and medicine in the context of what happened to Henrietta Lacks, whose tumor tissue was taken without her knowledge in 1951 and turned into an immortalized cell line. Many students found the course to be very useful and informative. When asked about her takeaways from the course, Shauntina Powell, a biochemistry major on the pre-medical pathway, explained:

Educating ourselves and future healthcare providers should not stop outside the classroom. The process continues by spreading awareness. A good starting point is through conversation and encouragement of others to educate themselves on the topic. The Pre-Health Liaison has taken the initiative to spread awareness. During the Spring 2021 semester, the Pre-Health Liaison will be hosting a panel tasked with addressing health disparities. This panel will be composed of experts in the field and professionals with first-hand experience who can educate the greater Simmons community. This event will focus on dissecting questions like “what are health disparities?”, “what do they look like?” and “who is affected?”. This open discussion will allow for a comfortable and open space to learn from and

“The section of the learning community ‘Medicine & The African American Experience’ was an essential part for me to come to terms with the type of physician I want to be. Today, there are many health disparities that seem to plague the African American community that do not seem to be getting any better. Knowing the history of the African American body is essential in fighting these disparities. Misusing the African American body for the benefit of the white community is a problem that we have yet to find a solution for.

I think that a possible solution is to inform the incoming generation of physicians about the history of African Americans in medicine, and how aspects of that history play a large role in how African Americans are treated today. The programs and initiatives created to fight health disparities alone will not help solve them. Knowledge is the key to creating a more informed society that can take the initiative to create and sustain change”.14 Courses such as this learning community better prepare our future healthcare providers to be great providers that treat each patient equitably. That is why there needs to be a greater push for universities to incorporate the topic of health disparities in their undergraduate curricula.

educate each other. The goal is to encourage participants to spread awareness and take part in an on-going conversation with peers, friends, and family aimed at reducing health disparities. The problem of health disparities must be challenged and mitigated with the spread of awareness and education.

[1]

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Communities in action: Pathways to health equity. National Academies Press.

[2]

Roux, A. V. (2012). Conceptual Approaches to the Study of Health Disparities. Annual Review of Public Health, 33(1), 41-58. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031811-124534

[3]

Riley, W. J. (2012). Health disparities: gaps in access, quality and affordability of medical care. Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association, 123, 167–174

[4]

Alicea-Alvarez, N., Reeves, K., Lucas, M. S., Huang, D., Ortiz, M., Burroughs, T., & Jones, N. (2016). Impacting Health Disparities in Urban Communities: Preparing Future Healthcare Providers for “Neighborhood-Engaged Care” Through a Community Engagement Course Intervention. Journal Of Urban Health: Bulletin Of The New York Academy Of Medicine, 93(4), 732–743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-016-0057-6

[5]

Piccolo, R. S., Duncan, D. T., Pearce, N., & Mckinlay, J. B. (2015). The role of neighborhood characteristics in racial/ethnic disparities in type 2 diabetes: Results from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey. Social Science & Medicine, 130, 79–90. doi: 10.1016/j. socscimed.2015.01.041

[6]

“CURRENT POPULATION REPORTS Population Projections of the United States by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1995 to 2050.” Bureau Of The Census, U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration, Feb. 1996, www.census.gov/prod/1/ pop/p25-1130/p251130.pdf.

[7]

Hansen, Helena, and Julie Netherland. “Is the Prescription Opioid Epidemic a White Problem?” PubMed Central, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5105018/.

[8]

“About Sickle Cell Disease.” Office of Minority Health Resource Center, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov/sicklecell/.

[9]

Hoffman, K. M., Trawalter, S., Axt, J. R., & Oliver, M. N. (2016). Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(16), 4296–4301. doi:10.1073/pnas.1516047113

[10]

Promoting Cultural Sensitivity: A Practical Guide for Tuberculosis Programs That Provide Services to Hmong Persons from Laos. (2008). Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https:// www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/guidestoolkits/ethnographicguides/hmongtbbooklet508_ final.pdf.

[11]

HMS CCC Resources.” Harvard Medical School, HMS Culturally Competent Care Education Committee, www.hms.harvard.edu/cccec/resources/index.htm.

[12]

Cohen, Jordan J, et al. “The Case For Diversity In The Health Care Workforce.” Health Affairs, Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, 2002, www.healthaffairs. org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.21.5.90.

[13]

Brach, Cindy, and Irene Fraserirector. “Can Cultural Competency Reduce Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities? A Review And Conceptual Model.” PubMed Central, US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 2 Nov. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5091811/#R181.

[14]

Powell, S. (2018). Medicine & The African American Experience.

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Bullying in Academia

by Brianna Desharnais & Dr. Cherie Lynn Ramirez Workplace bullying is a problem seen across multiple disciplines and around the world, including in academia and higher education. According to a survey by researcher Ruth McKay at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, over half of faculty in colleges and universities have experienced workplace incivility within the past five years. Furthermore, almost a quarter of these employees in this survey believed that the bullying had lasted longer than five years.1 This incivility not only causes severe health problems for those involved, but it also impacts students and the finances of the university.2,3

What is workplace bullying?

Workplace bullying and incivility is the mistreatment of others in one’s workplace, and it can include physical, psychological, and verbal violence. Some examples of workplace bullying may include eye rolling, manipulation, spreading rumors and gossip, yelling, using profanity, and belittling someone’s opinions.3 Sometimes, bullying can be due to an imbalance of power, being based on race, gender, and sexual orientation.⁴ Bullying can even be an extension from one’s childhood, where one experienced an imbalance of power earlier on in their life.⁵

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NPR

Why should workplace bullying be addressed?

Even if the harassment is only present in the workplace, the effects of workplace bullying can impact every aspect of a person’s life. Workplace incivility has shown to induce psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress, and anger. Some studies have even shown that workplace bullying can increase an individual’s risks for developing a psychological disorder by as much as 250%.⁶ This can also be paired with physical symptoms, such as cardiovascular diseases, alcoholism, and cancer.3 In the academic setting, workplace bullying occurring between faculty can impact student success, as faculty who bully each other will likely also exhibit incivility towards their students. Also, the psychological impairments placed upon professors who are bullied could potentially impact their teaching styles and attention towards their students, in turn causing students to not learn as effectively. In health profession classes and careers, this problem can extend itself into the clinical setting and decrease patient safety.⁷ If a teacher is being bullied at work, they will not be able to give the attention necessary for students to succeed. In a multilevel analysis compiled by Chiaki Konishi with the University of British Columbia, it was found that studentteacher relationships are very important for student success. Once a student believes that they are accepted and

contributing meaningful information, they feel valued, causing their intellectual growth to prosper. In turn, this is correlated with higher grades and test scores.⁸ Lastly, many students are paying upwards of $50,000 to attend college.

Although part of this money goes to dining halls, student activities, and laboratory supplies, around half of this money is spent on paying faculty.⁹ If there is a high turnover rate at a university due to workplace incivility, students’ dollars are being fed into a never-ending cycle until the individual initiating the bullying either stops their harassment or is fired.

Faculty-to-Faculty Bullying One of the main reasons for faculty-to-faculty bullying in academia is one’s insecurities. Many times, bullies who lack self-confidence will direct the attention towards flaws in their colleagues in order to feel safe and secure.10 This is very common in academia because of the tenure process, which allows faculty to “lock-in” a position until retirement. Tenure makes up about 21% of the faculty in universities around the United States, and it protects faculty by allowing them to express academic freedom in their research. The idea is to allow faculty to explore their academic interests while still providing academic excellence for their university and students.11 The path towards tenure can be filled with workplace incivility, where administrators can target individuals and make life-changing decisions for their employees. In turn, the tenure process makes junior faculty’s job security vulnerable, since every comment from adjunct professors and students makes a big difference on a new professor’s contract.⁵

Student-to-Faculty Bullying Bullying among faculty is not the only incivility that professors and deans must combat in their workplace.

Contrapower harassment, which is a scenario where someone of a lower power bullies someone of a higher power, is very common in colleges and universities around the globe. Specifically in academia, contrapower harassment means student-to-faculty bullying.12 One type of contrapower harassment described by psychology professor Claudia Lampman is hostile and aggressive behavior directed towards faculty. It was found that students gave inappropriate comments on their evaluation forms for over 45% of professors, and almost 30% of professors had students verbally assault them. Over 20% of professors experienced a student questioning their credentials.⁵ Contrapower harassment in academia has become increasingly popular because of changing attitudes in education. With education costs on the rise, students have become the consumer rather than the learner. In many cases, this can cause students to retaliate when professors do not meet their needs or expectations, such as allowing late assignments, being lenient on grading, or exempting a student from class.12

What can be done about workplace bullying in academia?

Most colleges and universities around the country stand behind the zero-tolerance policy, which means that the college does not allow bullying of any sort. If you are experiencing bullying at the academic level, the best place to start would be to make a few connections within the university and then go to human resources with evidence of workplace bullying. Additionally, colleges and universities can incorporate cognitive rehearsal training into the curriculum for both their students and faculty. This training uses role-playing simulations to control impulse responses in situations where individuals might be bullied in the workplace. Previous studies in the nursing field have found these trainings to be beneficial when approaching lateral violence in the workplace.13 To cope with bullying, many have found it helpful to practice mindfulness, which is when one focuses on awareness of their surroundings and accepts their feelings.

Some forms of mindfulness can include meditation, yoga, concentration, and spending time outdoors. Mindfulness practicing should involve no stressors, eliminating the internet and social media. Overall, mindfulness helps with self-regulation, reducing conflict, and providing social skills; it also improves compassion, patience, and empathy.14 All of these approaches can greatly help one’s mental health when dealing with workplace bullying in academia.

[1]

McKay, R., Arnold, D. H., Fratzl, J., & Thomas, R. (2008). Workplace Bullying In Academia: A Canadian Study. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 20(2), 77-100. doi:10.1007/s10672-008-9073-3.

[2]

Needham AW. What is Workplace Bullying? In: Workplace Bullying: The Costly Business Secret. New York, NY: Penguin Books; 2003:80-83.

[3]

Fisher-Blando JL. Workplace Bullying: Aggressive Behavior and its Effect on Job Satisfaction and Productivity. 2008.

[4]

Misawa, M. (2014). Cuts and Bruises Caused by Arrows, Sticks, and Stones in Academia.

Adult Learning, 26(1), 6-13. doi:10.1177/1045159514558413.

[5]

Raineri, E. M. (2011). An Examination of the Academic Reach of Faculty and Administrator Bullying. International Journal of Business and Science,2(12), 22-35.

Retrieved April 28, 2019.

[6]

Nielsen MB, Hetland J, Matthiesen SB, Einarsen S. Longitudinal Relationships Between Workplace Bullying and Psychological Distress. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 2011; 38(1):38-46. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3178.

[7]

Wright, M., & Hill, L. H. (2014). Academic Incivility Among Health Sciences Faculty. Adult Learning, 26(1), 14-20. doi:10.1177/1045159514558410.

[8]

Konishi, C., Hymel, S., Zumbo, B. D., & Li, Z. (2010). Do School Bullying and Student— Teacher Relationships Matter for Academic Achievement? A Multilevel Analysis. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 25(1), 19-39. doi:10.1177/0829573509357550.

[9]

Lewis, N. (2017, February 19). U.S. Colleges: Where Does The Money Go? Retrieved April 29, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanlewis/2017/02/17/u-s-colleges-wheredoes-the-money-go/#53f89d1e73ca.

[10]

Dentith, A. M., Wright, R. R., & Coryell, J. (2014). Those Mean Girls and Their Friends.

Adult Learning, 26(1), 28-34. doi:10.1177/1045159514558409.

[11]

Tenure. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2019, from https://www.aaup.org/issues/tenure.

[12]

Lampman, C., Phelps, A., Bancroft, S., & Beneke, M. (2008). Contrapower Harassment in Academia: A Survey of Faculty Experience with Student Incivility, Bullying, and Sexual Attention. Sex Roles, 60(5-6), 331-346. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9560-x.

[13]

Griffin, M. (2004). Teaching Cognitive Rehearsal as a Shield for Lateral Violence: An Intervention for Newly Licensed Nurses. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 35 (6), 257-263 doi:10.3928/0022-0124-20041101-07.

[14]

Leland, M. (2015). Mindfulness and Student Success. Journal of Adult Education, 44(1), 19-24. Retrieved April 28, 2019.

16

The Real Cause of COVID-19

Forbes

by Hannah Rice The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone, including the entirety of the Simmons community. While there have been outbreaks of disease in the past, there has never been anything to this extent in recent history.

COVID-19 and similar diseases, such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), have been linked to bats.

While bats may be a reservoir for disease, the real culprit is human behavior. Human activities including deforestation, animal captivity and distribution, and the vast population of humans moving in a fast-paced world have allowed for COVID-19 to come into existence and it is time to reconsider how the environment is treated.

Bats are the only mammals that can fly which means that they can travel far distances and carry many pathogens with them.2 Since flying takes a lot of energy, bats have a specialized immune system to combat this.2 Bats show a heightened immunity to viruses.1 The bat’s body will mimic a fever while flying. This poses a problem when a virus transfers to humans because when we raise our body temperature to fight the virus, these pathogens have already adapted to those high body temperatures.2 Normally, the contagions bats carry are limited to their environment, but when their habitat is disturbed they will find anthropized environmental niches.1 These niches cause an increase in the biodiversity of bat-borne diseases.1 Most times, the

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contagion is spread through an intermediate host before being transferred to humans. In the case of MERS, the contagion was spread to camels as the intermediate host. In the case of SARS, the intermediate host between bats and humans was civets, a nocturnal animal native to tropical Asia and Africa.1 As for COVID-19, the intermediate host is not known yet, as the origin of the disease is said to have come from a “wet market” in Wuhan, China which is a market where live meat, fish, produce, and perishable goods are sold. While the bats transmit the virus to humans through an intermediate host, the pathogens usually only spread to people through human activities.1 Wet markets and many other places around the world hold animals in captivity to be sold for food, medicine, or pets.

When animals are held in close captivity with one another or their habitats are destroyed through deforestation, it causes heavy stress on the animals. Andrew Cunningham, a professor of wildlife epidemiology at the Zoological Society of London describes the effect of this on the animal's body by saying, “its immune system is challenged and finds it harder to cope with pathogens it otherwise took in its stride. ‘We believe that the impact of stress on bats would be very much as it would be on people’ ”.2 Scientists have warned that deforestation and the selling of wildlife would lead to the emergence of new pathogens and diseases.1 The current transport of animals for medicine, food, and

World Population Growth 1700-2100

domestication is the largest scale in history.2 Along with this, these animals’ habitats are being destroyed every day for human advancement.2 These outbreaks are happening more now because of the vast population of humans on Earth. Historically, if a person caught a disease they most likely would have died or recovered before coming into contact with other people.2 In today’s world, humans are living on top of each other and animals are mixing with different species, leaving humans more vulnerable to disease outbreaks.2 The COVID-19 pandemic is the first major epidemiological wake-up call the world had to deal with regarding environmental change.

There is not a complete loss for hope. Andrew Cunningham goes on to describe how to control the outbreak of disease from happening again: “ ‘What we really need to do is understand where the critical control points are for zoonotic spillover from wildlife are, and to stop it from happening in those places. That will be the most cost-effective way to protect humans’ ”.2 Since destroying habitats through deforestation is the problem, humans need to restore these habitats in order to prevent future pandemics from occurring. There is a large impact from deforestation not only on climate change but also on carbon storage, flood risk, and disease outbreak.2 Damaging the planet can cause

severe repercussions to the entire human race far more quickly than gradual climate change. As everyone works towards seeing the end of this global pandemic, more information regarding the origin, spread, containment, and prevention will come to light. Hopefully, the world will reconsider how we treat the environment to prevent future outbreaks.

Clearing of tropical rainforest south of Lake Kutubu for Gobe oil camp, Papua New Guinea. Image from Minden Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo.

[1]

McMahon, J. (2020, March 21). How Deforestation Drives The Emergence Of Novel Coronaviruses. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ jeffmcmahon/2020/03/21/how-deforestation-is-driving-the emergence-of-novelcoronaviruses/#7e555a8f1723.

[2]

Walsh, N. P., & Cotovio, V. (2020, March 20). Bats are not to blame for coronavirus.

Humans are. Retrieved March 23, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/health/ coronavirus-human-actions-intl/index.html.

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Developing Novel Behavioral and Imaging Assays to Test Treatments for Visual Disorders

by Bethany Arabic According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.3 billion people live with some form of visual impairment.1 New treatments for visual disorders are needed because effective treatments are currently lacking.

Before potential treatments become available, they must be tested in vivo on model organisms, like the zebrafish (Danio rerio). The zebrafish offers several benefits over traditional rodent models — including their low cost, small size, and rapid development.2 The visual system of the zebrafish is similar to the visual system of humans and develops within 5 days post fertilization (dpf). Ocular diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma have been modeled in zebrafish.2 Behavioral assays and imaging systems have the potential to serve as screening methods for treatments of visual disorders.

This past summer, I worked at Brown University with the behavioral assay imaging system they have developed. The behavioral assays can detect different behavioral responses from the zebrafish that can indicate defects in the zebrafish visual system, due to the optomotor response of zebrafish larvae. The optomotor response describes the innate tendency of the zebrafish to swim towards moving visual stimuli, and the lack of this movement suggests the larvae have visual defects.3 The vision loss in the zebrafish larvae was induced by exposure to UV and visible light. Different distances and times of exposure to the UV and visible light were tested to determine the optimal parameters to induce vision loss in the zebrafish larvae. In the future, the goal of these behavioral assays is to measure the loss and recovery of vision over time.⁴

Zebrafish larvae on 96 well plate for behavioral assay.⁵

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Image of back of human eye.⁶

Besides visual stimuli, acoustic stimuli were also integrated into the new assays to measure defects in the zebrafish larvae visual systems. The goal of the acoustic stimuli was to serve as a positive control to see if the zebrafish that did not respond to the visual stimuli had indeed lost vision, or if instead had sustained motor defects or were sedated. The acoustic stimuli could cause larval activity independent from visual stimuli, and habituation patterns could be observed.

The goal of this research project was to develop new behavioral and imaging assays that measure the loss and recovery of vision over time in zebrafish larvae. The assays measure the innate visually-guided behavior of the zebrafish, in ways not possible with human subjects, and therefore have the potential to evaluate new treatments for visual disorders.

[1]

Blindness and Vision Impairment (2018). World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment.

[2]

Chhetri J, Jacobson G, Gueven N (2014). Zebrafish-on the move towards ophthalmological research. Eye(Lond) 28:367-380. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC3983641/.

[3]

Orger M, Baier H (2005). Channeling of red and green cone inputs to the zebrafish optomotor response. Visual Neuroscience, 22(3). Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/ uc/item /99v4x6v7.

[4]

Thorn R, Clift D, Ojo 0, Colwill R, Creton R (2017). The loss and recovery of vertebrate vision examined in microplates. PloS ONE 12(8): e0183414. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183414.

[5]

Arabic, Bethany. (2019, 16 July). 96 Well Plate For Behavioral Assay. Providence, RI, Brown University.

[6]

Arabic, Bethany. (2019, 6 August). Picture of Back of Human Eye. Plainfield, CT. Plainfield Vision Care.

Lab Grown “Mini Brains” Are Producing Their Own Brain Waves What these "mini brains" could mean for the future of understanding neuroscience

by Molly Riley

Over the past ten months, researchers at the University of California San Diego have been studying small pea-sized pluripotent stem cells known as cerebral organoids, or mini brains, that are grown in an environment similar to that of human brain cells. To achieve this, scientists bathe “the stem cells in a solution containing the right cocktail of transcription factors — molecules that guide fetal development by regulating how genes are turned on or off.”2 Doing this allows for the development of neurological activity between cells, producing electrical activity.

Researchers analyzed the development of electrochemical signals using tiny electrodes that detected if minuscule brain wave activity was present.⁴ Recently, these cerebral organoids have begun to emit neural activity with strengths equivalent to those of preterm infants.3 The development of these mini brains is not quite the same as the development of actual human brains, due to their more simplified and isolated structures.⁴ Although these mini brains are not identical in function to their human counterparts, this research is the first of its kind and is starting to open up many new routes for a new medical understanding of the human brain.

The Scientific American interviewed Dr. Alysson Muotri, the new study’s senior author and a biologist at UC San Diego.

Muorti is ecstatic about the results generated, stating, “the most exciting aspect was to see [so] much activity coming from something that is just a fraction of the human brain.”

Muotri believes these cerebral organoids could lead to a better understanding of disorders of neural wiring, which include autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.2 Muotri also thinks this discovery could be huge in understanding neurological developments, especially in relation to fetal development. In an interview with Discover Magazine, he stated, “It’s not ethical to study [an embryonic human brain]

Muotri Lab / UC San Diego

With the development of stem cell synthesis, researchers have been able to produce pluripotent stem cells, precursor cells that can mature to be several different cell types, that can be altered to specific organ cells such as the gut, liver, and skin. This stem cell research is currently being used all over the world for regenerative medicine, testing new drugs, and has helped increase the understanding of organspecific diseases.1 Recently, researchers have been able to develop pluripotent cells that mimic the human brain, opening pathways that could lead to a better understanding of neurological diseases that have previously been proven difficult to study.

A slice through a brain organoid shows more mature cortical neurons on the outer edge of the structure.

during a pregnancy, so we have to rely on other models, mostly animal models, and those are far from the human brain… there [are] many neurological conditions that we know happen at these very specific stages. Most of the genes that are implicated in autism have peak of expression, or activity, in the fetal stages, but you only see the consequences of behavior a little later in life.”3 Even with the excitement of this breakthrough research, many scientists are hesitant about the results. Scientist Jürgen Knoblich, the interim scientific director of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Austria, explains that the new findings are a major step toward more efficiently identifying promising treatments worth moving into animal and human studies. Yet, Knoblich states that “we also need to be careful when interpreting experiments like this.”2 He “further notes that electrode recordings in the study only provided two-dimensional readings of brain activity, whereas three-dimensional data would be much more telling.”2 Creating the most complex human organ will evidently come with its own ethical and developmental conflicts, but these organoids could be on the verge of a more complex understanding of different regions of the human brain, as well as the diseases developed in preterm infantry.

[1]

Frequently asked questions about stem cell research. (2019, June 8). Retrieved from http:// www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art20048117.

[2]

Stetka, B. (2019, August 29). Lab-Grown "Mini Brains" Can Now Mimic the Neural Activity of a Preterm Infant. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ lab-grown-mini-brains-can-now-mimic-the-neural-activity-of-a-preterm-infant/.

[3]

Schmidt, M. (2019, August 30). Scientists Grow Mini-Brains With Recognizable Brainwaves -. Retrieved from http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/08/29/labgrown-mini-brains-human-brainwaves/.

[4]

Starr, M. (n.d.). Brain Waves Have Been Detected Coming From 'Mini Brains' Grown in The Lab. Retrieved from http://www.sciencealert.com/brain-tissue-grown-in-the-labproduces-brainwaves-resemblings-pre-term-babies.

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Characteristics & Development of Sensory Neurons that Mediate Our Sense of Touch

by Annie Chen

Of our five main senses — vision, hearing, smell, touch, and taste — touch is the first sense to develop in utero.7 The perception of touch is critical for normal cognitive development and for navigating the physical world through tactile feedback. An altered sense of touch, such as tactile hypo- or hypersensitivity, is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder in children.5 Tactile perception begins with mechanoreceptors (a specialized class of sensory neurons) within the skin that receive stimuli and transduce the input into electrical signals to the central nervous system.

Essentially, in leading to tactile perception, the cell bodies of sensory neurons residing in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and cranial ganglia of the brain, are activated.

The DRG neuron extends one axonal branch to the peripheral targets and the other axonal branch to the synapses with second-order neurons in the spinal cord, and sometimes, the dorsal column nuclei in the brainstem.1 Mechanoreceptors are grouped into broad categories of low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) and highthreshold mechanoreceptors (HTMRs), which endow us with a touch system that is responsive to innocuous touch and can distinguish among different tactile stimuli.7 The mammalian skin classes which sensory neurons innervate are classified as glabrous skin, including our palms and plantar surfaces, which is specialized for discriminative touch; and hairy skin, which composes the majority of our body surfaces and specializes in affective touch.1,9 By investigating the organization, properties, and integration of sensory neuronal input into sensory modalities in the skin, spinal cord, and brain, we can begin to understand and appreciate how a symphony of sensory neurons gives rise to the perception of touch that mediates our navigation through our daily lives.

Characteristics of Sensory Neurons Nerves within each skin type are the low- and high-threshold mechanoreceptors that are further classified as either Aβ, Aδ, Aα or C subtypes based on their conduction velocity response and physiological properties (Table 1).1 In addition, these LTMR subtypes serve distinct mechanosensory end organs, such as Merkel cells, Ruffini endings, Meissner corpuscles, and Pacinian corpuscles, found within each skin type. The glabrous skin is supplied by four LTMR subtypes that are associated with a unique mechanosensory end organ: (1) Aβ SAI-LTMRs innervating Merkel cells (2) Aβ SAII-LTMRs thought to innervate Ruffini corpuscles (3) Aβ RAI-LTMRs innervating Meissner corpuscles (4) Aβ RAII-LTMRs terminating in Pacinian corpuscles.1,9

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Table 1. The skin is innervated by combinations of low-threshold mechanoreceptors and high-threshold mechanoreceptors that are classified based on their distinct responses and physiological properties upon tactile stimulus.9 Adapted directly from Zimmerman et al., 2014.

Fig 1. Low-threshold mechanoreceptors that innervate the glabrous skin.9 Adapted directly from Zimmerman et al., 2014.

The hairy skin layer consists of three major hair types, designated as guard, awl/auchene, and zigzag, that transduce tactile stimuli mediated by the encircling of at least three LTMR subtypes around individual hair follicles.1 Specifically, (1) guard hairs are the longest hair type and connect toare surrounded by Merkel cell touch domes, Aβ SAI-LTMRs, Aβ RA-LTMRs lanceolate endings, and encircled by circumferential endings of Aβ FieldLTMRs.1,6 Lanceolate endings are fence-like structures, while circumferential endings encapsulate lanceolate endings. (2) Awl/auchene hairs are about half the size of guard hairs.They are innervated by Aβ RA-LTMRs, Aδ LTMRs, C-LTMRs lanceolate endings, and encircled by circumferential endings of Aβ Field-LTMRs.1,6 (3) Zigzag hairs are the most abundant and shortest hair

type defined in the mouse skin. They are innervated by Aδ LTMRs, C-LTMRs, and encircled by circumferential endings of Aβ Field-LTMRs.1,6 The various combinations of LTMR subtypes associating with hair follicle types within the skin make each skin region functionally distinct, and our hair types each a unique mechanosensory organ.

blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and mechanoreceptors.

In addition to the development of mechanoreceptors, hair follicles also develop during embryogenesis.5 Of the three main hair types, guard hairs — or primary hairs — are the first to develop during E14.5.5 The second hair type to develop are awl/auchene hairs, which emerge between E15.5-E16.5 The last hair type to form are zigzag hairs, also considered tertiary hairs, which develop between E17 to postnatal age.5 The mystery of how we perceive touch persists, and we have yet to uncover the vast range of sensory neurons that mediate the daily aspects of our lives. A fundamental understanding of the normal organization and development of sensory neurons provides the foundation for the creation of treatments for peripheral degenerative disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, and injured sensory systems, like spinal cord injuries.

Fig 2. Organization of mechanoreceptors around distinct hair types in both glabrous and hairy skin.1 Adapted directly from Abraira & Ginty, 2013.

Development of Sensory Neurons and Hair Types Low-threshold mechanoreceptors develop from neural crest cells, which are temporary cells that give rise to diverse cell types, and differentiate into distinct sensory neuron subtypes during cell fate specification at various embryonic (E) stages. In early embryonic stages between E8.5 and E10, the neural crest cells divide and move to the periphery where these cells integrate to form dorsal root ganglia during stages E9.5 to E13, and the neural tube forms the spinal cord.5 The first wave of cell fate specification occurs during E9.5-E11.5, where neurons that express neurogenin 2, which encode helix-loop-helix transcription factors for neurogenesis, are fated to become LTMRs or proprioceptors-sensory neurons that transmit input regarding muscle stretch and body position.5 The majority of these specified neurons include Aβ- and Aδ afferents which have large diameter cell bodies and myelinated axons.5 The second wave of cell fate specification occurs from E10.5-E13.5 where neurons that express neurogenin 1 are born to be unmyelinated C tactile afferents which have a small diameter cell body and are nociceptors that transduce harmful thermal, mechanical, and chemical stimuli.5 As development progresses from E13.5, sensory afferents begin to innervate the skin.5 The development of DRG is formed along with the skin.

The mammalian skin is composed of the epidermis and dermis, which arise from the ectoderm and mesoderm. The epidermis is the outermost layer and provides a protective barrier that is subdivided into five strata, or layers (with the most superficial layer first): stratum corneum, stratum lucidum (found only in palms and plantar surfaces), stratum granulosum, stratum spinosum, stratum basale.

The dermis is separated from the epidermis by the basement membrane, and is composed of a dynamic environment that harbors hair follicles, sweat glands, sebaceous glands,

Fig 3. Timeline of sensory neuron, skin and hair follicle development.5 Adapted directly from Jenkins & Lumpkin, 2017.

[1]

Abraira, V. E., & Ginty, D. D. (2013). The sensory neurons of touch. Neuron, 79(4), 618–639. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2013.07.051

[2]

Ackerley, R., Carlsson, I., Wester, H., Olausson, H., & Backlund Wasling, H. (2014). Touch perceptions across skin sites: differences between sensitivity, direction discrimination and pleasantness. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 8, 54. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00054

[3]

Duverger, O., & Morasso, M. I. (2009). Epidermal patterning and induction of different hair types during mouse embryonic development. Birth defects research. Part C, Embryo today : reviews, 87(3), 263–272. doi:10.1002/bdrc.20158

[4]

Li, L., Rutlin, M., Abraira, V. E., Cassidy, C., Kus, L., Gong, S., … Ginty, D. D. (2011). The functional organization of cutaneous low-threshold mechanosensory neurons. Cell, 147(7), 1615–1627. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2011.11.027

[5]

Jenkins, B. A., & Lumpkin, E. A. (2017). Developing a sense of touch. Development (Cambridge, England), 144(22), 4078–4090. doi:10.1242/dev.120402

[6]

Kuehn, E. D., Meltzer, S., Abraira, V. E., Ho, C. Y., & Ginty, D. D. (2019). Tiling and somatotopic alignment of mammalian low-threshold mechanoreceptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(19), 9168–9177. doi:10.1073/pnas.1901378116

[7]

McGlone, F., Wessberg, J., & Olausson, H. (2014). Discriminative and Affective Touch: Sensing and Feeling. Cell Press: Neuron,737-755. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.05.001

[8]

Vallbo, Å B., Olausson, H., & Wessberg, J. (1999). Unmyelinated Afferents Constitute a Second System Coding Tactile Stimuli of the Human Hairy Skin. Journal of Neurophysiology,81(6), 2753-2763. doi:10.1152/jn.1999.81.6.2753

[9]

Zimmerman, A., Bai, L., & Ginty, D. D. (2014). The gentle touch receptors of mammalian skin. Science (New York, N.Y.), 346(6212), 950–954. doi:10.1126/science.1254229

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Meet Dean Sharp-McHenry

by Noreen Shaikh Lepaine Sharp-McHenry joined Simmons University this year as the Dean of the College of Natural, Behavioral, and Health Sciences (CNBHS). Dean Sharp-McHenry received an Associate of Science in Nursing, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Masters of Science in Nursing, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership. She has a background in clinical nursing and served as a dean, faculty member, and assistant director at the University of Arkansas and Oklahoma Baptist University. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). With a long list of achievements and accomplishments, Dean SharpMcHenry brings years of hard work and dedication, to Simmons.

When asked what sparked her interest in nursing, Dean Sharp-McHenry mentioned that her mother played a huge role in encouraging her to become a nurse. Soon after starting her first nursing program, she realized she had made the right decision.

“Nursing was for me, because I have always loved learning, and nursing is such an intriguing profession. There are so many opportunities and areas in which you can work. You are not limited to just one thing. You have choices,” Dean Sharp-McHenry said. “And so when I first went to nursing school, I realized I really have found something I enjoy and love. I really love being able to interact with people and being able to help, assist, and navigate people at a very difficult time in their life.”

Dean Sharp-McHenry has worked as a bedside nurse for years and worked as a clinical nurse specialist in psychiatric mental health. However, in recent years, she has been pursuing a path outside of the clinical setting. When asked if she missed working with patients, Dean Sharp-McHenry responded, “I loved bed-side nursing. I loved being with the patient, being able to comfort them, advocate for them, and just really develop a rapport with them and help to improve their physical condition while connecting with their family.

There are times I miss that. It is really rewarding to be able to have a part in impacting a person’s life, especially in their most vulnerable moments. Because as nurses, we get a chance to touch people at their happiest times, and at their saddest times. And I think that it’s very special to be able to have that impact on an individual’s life.”

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Dean Sharp-McHenry’s interests include kayaking, volunteering, leading Bible classes, and meeting new people.

Dean Sharp-McHenry also highlighted the future CNBHS building and the advantages it will give to Simmons students. She discussed how the state-of-the-art facility will include cutting-edge laboratory space, as well as research and simulation rooms that will help further the interdisciplinary learning experience, which will ultimately set Simmons students apart from others. The new facility will also foster a new sense of community. Dean SharpMcHenry added, “There's so much more that we’ll be able to expose our students to once we have a new space. Now we think of simulators, but that area of simulation science is advancing so quickly that now we’ve moved into virtual reality. Technology is changing quickly and we have to be flexible, nimble, and adaptable enough to make changes more rapidly in order to keep up with the changes in health care but also in technology and in the sciences.”

A few words of wisdom Dean Sharp-McHenry shared spoke to how important it is that students stay focused on their goals and know that the faculty is here to help accomplish those goals. “Our students can accomplish anything they set their hearts to do. We are here to help facilitate a learning experience that will help them to achieve their goals. I want our students to know the reason why all of us have chosen to be here and to be involved in higher education is because we have a love for the learning experience and education.

We want to invest in the lives of our students and share our expertise and the knowledge we’ve gained to help students to develop and find their place in the world.”

Although Dean Sharp-McHenry only recently joined Simmons, she hasn’t wasted any time immersing herself in the community. She is committed to the success of students and working to build the best educational experience for students in the CNBHS. If you happen to see Dean Sharp-McHenry around campus, say hi and spark up a conversation.

Running 4000 Miles for Cancer

by Brianna Desharnais

Doug Ulman, a cancer survivor, and his family founded the Ulman Foundation in 1997. Their goal was to support young adults in their battle against cancer. In 2001, a group of students from John Hopkins University came together to raise money for the Ulman Foundation by cycling across the country. The organization has since grown in its fundraising efforts, holding cross-country cycling and running routes every year. They coined the name “4K for Cancer,” in 2011, and this offshoot of the Ulman Foundation has since raised over $7 million for young adults impacted by cancer.1

With this money, the Ulman Foundation is able to fund projects to benefit young adults and their families impacted by cancer. One of their largest events, Cancer to 5K, is a 12-week program that helps cancer survivors become active again after treatment.2 The Ulman Foundation also has scholarship programs to help adults ages 15-39 to continue their education after high school, giving over $40,000 every year to survivors and their families.3 One of the newest additions to the foundation is the Ulman House, which provides free housing to young adult patients and their families during cancer treatment in the Baltimore area.⁴

How does it work?

During the summer of 2020, 56 runners, ages 18-25, will cover 4,000 miles on their run across the United States. All of the routes start in Baltimore, MD, and end in San Francisco, CA. Half of the group will run the northern route, heading through Illinois and Montana, while the other half will run the southern route, going through Kentucky and Arizona. The route is split up in relay format, and participants can expect to run between 6-16 miles every day. There are ten rest days along the 49-day trip when the group will explore National Parks and perform community service at local hospitals and food kitchens. Each runner will also get a few extra days off when they are assigned to drive the van that carries each runner’s luggage from stop to stop. Every night, participants will sleep at local YMCAs, schools, gyms, and other locations. Meals are generously provided by local grocery stores, hosts en route, and restaurants.⁵

Why I am running: In my service with the Medical Career Exploration Program (MCEP) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, I received the opportunity to become a medical volunteer in the oncology unit. In my time on this floor, I assist nurses, make connections with family members, and even provide music therapy for patients. One of my main jobs is connecting with patients and making them feel at home.

Being in the palliative section of radiation oncology is a great experience. However, many of the patients are sent to this floor to be comfortable in their last days. Although patients only reside on this floor for a few days at a time, there are always a few individuals who stay on this floor for a couple of weeks. It is always difficult to watch someone who I have come to develop deep connections with sign “do not resuscitate” (DNR) forms. Erasing these patients’ names on the hospital doors after a few weeks of interactions and connections is always the hardest part of my job.

It is through my service that I realized my deep connection with the medical and cancer community. I have found that I wish to continue the research on cancer and carcinogenic environmental pollutants. I hope to combine these ideas and my experiences with the cancer community when I become a doctor.

I am running the 4K for Cancer during the summer of 2020 because I want to have a different research/medical experience before I dedicate the rest of my life to the medical field in a hospital setting. I chose to run with the Ulman Foundation because I want to be part of a team that carries each other across the United States and makes an impact on the cancer community. Most of all, I want to be part of a team that raises one million dollars for cancer.

My Fundraising: Each runner is required to raise a minimum of $4,500 to participate in the cross-country run. If you would like to donate to my page, please visit the link below. Thank you!

https://give.ulmanfoundation.org/4k-2020/briannadesharnais [1]

The History of the Ulman Foundation. (2019). Retrieved from https://4kforcancer.org/ our-history/.

[2]

Cancer to 5K. (2019, September 3). Retrieved from https://ulmanfoundation.org/ cancerto5k/.

[3]

Scholarships. (2019, August 29). Retrieved from https://ulmanfoundation.org/ scholarships/.

[4]

Ulman House. (2019, July 22). Retrieved from https://ulmanfoundation.org/ulman-house/.

[5]

FAQs. (2019). Retrieved from https://4kforcancer.org/faqs/.

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Simmons World Challenge:

Public Health in Argentina

by Shauntina Powell The most impactful things I experienced during my time in Buenos Aires, Argentina was visiting Fundación Infant, Tigre Hospital, and Austral Hospital. Fundación Infant is an amazing organization that genuinely cares about finding a solution to the epidemic of respiratory diseases in Argentina. These people continuously work to find new things to research or just improve what they’re already doing. Organizations like this have the ability to create change, and it breaks my heart that they are prevented from doing so simply because they cannot afford to. Ultimately, it is not up to them to solve Argentina’s public health issues; it is up to the Argentinian government to actually want to save lives, and make the future better for their people.

The Austral Hospital is in the province of Pilar and only takes private insurance, so if someone has public insurance and goes there to seek treatment, they will either have to pay out of pocket or be sent to a public hospital for treatment.

Compared to Tigre Hospital, located in the province of Tigre, they seemed to have more medical staff and resources, but there was a larger issue with lines at Austral. At the same

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Tigre Hospital visit, June 2019

time, this leads me to question if the quality of the treatment could be more lacking at Austral rather than Tigre since they consistently have a large number of patients constantly waiting to get treated. From the tours, I could see the distinct difference in funding/resources given to each hospital and how that could possibly affect the quality of care received.

The distinct differences between the accessibility to good quality healthcare in Argentina ultimately depends on socioeconomic status. There are huge disparities in lowerincome communities that make them more susceptible to certain health conditions. Therefore, these communities need access to good quality healthcare and hospitals that have the ability to treat them. Without this, there is a continuous cycle of poverty and sickness that they can not overcome due to the bad health care policies in place. I hope that in the near future, Argentina has the ability to focus on public health and improving the healthcare system. Making sure the healthcare system is equitable in Argentina can hopefully decrease the health disparities in lower-income communities.

Ronald McDonald House visit, June 2019. The author is third from the right.

Learning about public health and being able to see firsthand what it is like in Argentina has changed my perspective of medicine. Being able to look at healthcare issues in a global aspect made me become more aware of issues happening in the world today. Often times, I do not think about healthcare issues outside of those in the United States, but after taking this course I have realized that there are many things going on that I do not know about. There are also many factors that contribute to these health disparities besides the ones that I am already aware of.

Through this experience, I gained a greater appreciation for public health and now look forward to pursuing a Master in Public Health degree after graduation. Being able to look at public health in a global lens has had a great influence on me, corroborating my desire to pursue a higher degree in public health. I am thankful to have had the chance to learn about global healthcare systems and see the passion of healthcare professionals abroad. I hope that in the future, I can use what I have learned during this course to be a wellinformed, passionate, and caring doctor to all of my future patients.

Simmons World Challenge is an amazing chance for sophomores to learn more about a topic outside their field of study at Simmons.

Through the Simmons World Challenge, students have the opportunity to participate in an intensive research project during the ten-day January session. At the end of the spring semester, students then travel to their country of focus, and learn more about the topic of study and how it relates to their previous research in the January session.

The Simmons World Challenge is a special program that brings together Simmons students from various disciplines and backgrounds, where they get the chance to address a global issue.

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