Mindscope Simmons Science Magazine || Issue 1 by MindScope

Fall 2015 Issue 1

MindScope

Simmons Science Magazine

EDITORIAL Semestrial- Fall 2015

MindScope

Simmons Science Magazine Editor-in-Chief

Leila Bellou ‘16 Biochemistry

Managing Editor

Joud Mulla ‘16 Biochemistry

SGA Representative

Toni Gonzales ‘19 Biology

Public Relations Chair

Kelsey Hern ‘16 Biochemistry

Contributing Writers

Ariana Savage ‘17 Neuroscience Kelsey Hern ‘16 Biochemistry Leila Bellou ‘16 Biochemistry Fatima Khan ‘17 Biology Annika Gibbs ‘17 Biochemistry Breann Ware ‘19 Psychology Cara Daybre ‘19 Neuroscience Alexa Bader ‘19 Psychology Joud Mulla ‘16 Biochemistry Sara Haque ‘17 Neuroscience

Graphic Design

Leila Bellou ‘16 Biochemistry

Faculty Advisor

Bruce Gray, Ph.D. Chair Department of Biology

Printing

Copy/Mail center, Simmons College, 300 Fenway Boston MA 02115

EDITORIAL An Ode to Science

he world of science has never been greater than it is today. With our increasingly complex understanding of the world, we have been able to make for ourselves the comfortable nest many of us can enjoy today. Eradicating once deadly viruses with vaccines, building artificial tools such as computers or cars to extend possibilities beyond the human body and mind, enabling instantaneous communication with the invention of Internet, deciphering the pathophysiology of diseases affecting living organisms or even editing and manipulating entire genomes are all examples of what science has enabled humanity to create. Science has an incredibly alluring charm, whether from its odd jargon or from its apparent complexity, it cannot leave anybody indifferent. It is either loved or hated, either craved or shunned. Science is not simply motivated by our wish to make human life easier, it is first and foremost the reflection of our ability to question and ponder on the very fact of our existence. Its centrality resides in solving the mystery of life, of the universe to one day understand its creation, its growth, and eventually its end. MindScope was created with a very simple idea in mind: science builds on itself. It thrives with the cooperation and interweaving of all disciplines. It is not a coincidence that scientists from the past were also prolific writers, philosophers, engineers. Real innovators, they have paved the way for the science we know today. But with increasing complexity comes increasing specialization and the loss of communication between scientists from different fields. That is why we aim at a communal project which may increase communication and cooperativity between the different scientific departments on campus. Finally, I would like to draw our attention to the fact that at the very root of any scientific discovery lies an idea, under the form of a fleeting thought or observation, enough to seed the roots of a revolution. Similarly, this very first issue is a seed, which may also create a small revolution in our community to make us dream, ponder, write and better appreciate the contribution scientists have made and continue to make everyday to better our World. Science could not be possible without scientists, whose inquisitive nature is the drive toward the continuous discoveries made over the centuries. This issue focuses on the portraits of doctors, professors, researchers, students who share with us their love for Science. I hope you will enjoy this first issue and will support MindScope on its journey!

Cover picture

Image obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Leila Bellou Founder and Editor-in-chief of MindScope Biochemistry and Philosophy ‘16

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CONTENTS INTERVIEWS

IN THE SPOTLIGHT 4 An interview with Dr. Mona Potter, MD.

BIOLOGY FOCUS

GENETICS

Lydia Fairchild: The case of the chimera

Gene Editing: The CRISPR Revolution 8

RESEARCH

Adipocytes warding off infections

Synthetic organ systems to replace animals

GENE EDITING: THE CRISPR REVOLUTION

NEUROSCIENCE

The age of opiate addiction

Chronology of Addiction

PHYSICS FOCUS

SYNTHETIC ORGAN SYSTEMS TO REPLACE ANIMALS

Witnessing a total super lunar eclipse Simmons students reach for the stars An out-of-this-world view

12 16

CLOSE-UP

16 16

MEET

Your Professors

Simmons alumni

THE HUB OF THE UNIVERSE

STUDENTS VOICE

A glimpse of the British healthcare

Go for Broke

BOOK REVIEWS 34 Fall 2015 N째 1 | 3

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Women in Science

Interviewed by Ariana Savage

It was such a pleasure to interview Dr. Potter. Her enthusiasm and passion for her work are admirable and as an undergraduate pre-med student, I found it very helpful to hear a doctor share more about fulfilling their dream and helping people everyday. Even though medical school is a long and tedious process, this interview with Dr. Potter gives insight on her multiple successes in the medical field and shows that the satisfaction she gains from it makes it worthwhile. Dr. Mona Potter is the Medical Director of the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program and the McLean 3 East Cambridge Residence. She is also a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry School Consultant as well as a part-time Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Discover her journey to becoming a doctor in this exclusive interview.

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT hat was your motivation for becoming a doctor?

I knew I wanted to be a doctor very early in life. My great grandfather was a doctor in India and I visited his clinic where he was the only doctor in the village. That was a “wow” moment for me, to see his impact on the village and how he was taking care of so many people. It was very inspiring. How would you describe the experience of attending medical school?

“I loved medical school.” I started out my undergraduate studies as a double major in music and biology. I was accepted to Vanderbilt University’s early acceptance program at the end of my sophomore year. I decided to drop my science major and just focus on music, along with my core pre-med classes. I got to medical school and I was so excited to dive into medicine. Everything was interesting and new, it was “work hard play hard,” hours of studying, and some things were more interesting than others. You have to throw yourself into hours and hours of work. It is difficult; but luckily, the information I was learning was what I wanted to know and understand so that made it fun. What advice would you give to someone applying to medical school?

Medical schools are looking for a breadth of experience rather than focusing on science all the time. Showing that you can handle and take interest in a lot of different things, showing you have a passion, an ability to pick something that is meaningful and follow through with it and make an impact. Medical school requires willingness to throw yourself into something and stick with it even when at times things are difficult. There were times I didn’t see the sun for a week, waking up at four a.m. for rotations and getting home late at night. That quality of determination, being able to show that in an application can be very valuable. During the interview, I remember that we mostly talked about music, music on the developing brain, on how music affects the overall quality of life. I didn’t even talk about anything medical school related. The ability to think broadly can be very helpful.

When did you choose your specialty and how did you know that it was the right choice for you? I was one hundred percent sure that I was going to be a pediatrician and started the pediatric interest group. Psychiatry was last on my rotations, I didn’t quite know what it was nor was I interested in it. I rotated in a substance abuse unit, and I fell in love with the complexity of the brain, the intersection between emotions and behavior, basic neurology and how that all comes together to impact a person’s life, the whole person, and what they bring to a table. Getting to know the whole person for who they are, being able to impact them, their decisions, the way they manage things. After that rotation I changed my fourth year of rotation and did a bunch of psychiatry rotations. I love the brain, and I find it fascinating how it affects behaviors. It is a field where there is so much to learn. What challenges did you face during the process?

In early adulthood you have to work very hard, you give up a lot, and make sacrifices. Out of college, your friends are getting jobs and making money, and you are going into more debt and studying all the time. They are going out and having fun and you are working. During that time, all my friends were people that I was in medical school with. I had less time with my family, it was a very busy time, and I was sacrificing for something that was important to me, it was a give and take situation. Medicine is not perfect, there are still a lot of answers we don’t have, and having to tolerate not having an answer can be tough. Sometimes you do things wrong, and that impacts someone’s life and that can feel like a huge burden, figuring out how to manage that and doing the best you can is hard and that still may not be good enough. What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Interactions with other people make it not feel like a job. To go through a difficult time with that person, to provide strength and to be able to offer something that can be helpful. This is not a job to me, it is such a privilege. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to impact people, even if it is a small snippet of their life. To provide them with hope, to see their strength, and be able to offer something that can be helpful. The second most rewarding part of my job is my colleagues; you go into health care because you care about people. █

Did you know that ? Elizabeth Blackwell

was the first female to graduate from medical school in the United States in 1849 despite the criticism she faced from fellow male students and the general public.

In 1970,

the percentage of women training to become physicians was 6%. Since then, the percentage of female doctors has grown to 46% in 2013 according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 5

BIOLOGY FOCUS

Genetics

Research Neuroscience

Lydia Fairchild The Case of the Chimera Imagine genetic tests failing to recognize you as the mother of your children and the strenuous judicial process which would ensue. That’s the unfortunate story of Lydia Fairchild, later diagnosed as a genetic chimera. by Kelsey Hern

ydia Fairchild was a mother in her 20’s, pregnant with her third child when she discovered that her children were not biologically her own. It began in 2002 when Fairchild applied to receive child support from the father of her children, Jamie Townsend. As standard procedure, a paternity test was ordered by the state to ensure that Townsend was indeed the father. While the tests showed that Townsend was a parent, it also revealed that Fairchild herself was not.

Lydia’s case went to court but it was difficult to prove whether or not her children were her own, as she did not match in the maternity test but nobody came forward

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Fairchild was desperate to find the cause of this bizarre occurrence. A breakthrough came when Lydia’s lawyer found a paper in a medical journal about Karen Keegan, a woman who was a chimera. In the Greek mythology, the chimera is a hybrid monster described in the Iliad by Homer as a creature with the head and body of a lion, the head of a goat attached to its back and a tail ending in the head of a snake. The beast was known to reside in Lycia (Turkey today), terrorizing and killing the population in the area.

Fortunately, Lydia did not see a goat’s head sprouting from her back as a result of her chimerism. Chimerism is a condition in which one organism contains cells that are genetically distinct from one another. In other words, chimeras have two complete sets of DNA, one set which is expressed in some cells and another set which is expressed in other cells. It may not have any obvious phenotypic consequences, but may result in hermaphroditic characteris-

Image: visitstudio/Shutterstock.com

Because she was found to not be the biological mother of her children according to DNA tests, Lydia was subjected to questioning by state officials who even threatened to administer a lie detector test if she did not admit that her children were not her own. They argued that based on the results of the lie detector test, Lydia must have committed fraud and stolen someone else’s child. In fact, it is not uncommon that a surrogate mother, after delivering the baby, becomes attached and kidnaps the child from their biological parents. Until they could come to a conclusion about Lydia’s case, her children were taken into care.

claiming that they were the biological parents either. In an unlikely and questionably invasive request, the judge ordered a witness to be present during the birth of Fairchild’s third baby and to take blood samples from both mother and child immediately following the birth. The maternity tests revealed that Fairchild was not the mother of this child either.

tics and the formation of both male and female sex organs. How are chimeric animals formed?

After a female egg has been fertilized, a single, diploid cell is formed called a zygote which contains a complete set of 46 chromosomes in humans. The zygote remains single-celled for approximately 24 hours and then has its first mitotic division after which point it forms an embryo. Fraternal twins are the result of two different eggs being simultaneously fertilized and resulting in two genetically distinct individuals. In humans with chimerism, two female eggs in the zygotic stage fuse resulting in an individual who contains two different sets of DNA. Unlike in humans, chimerism in other animals such as cattle is common and can occur through other mechanisms besides zygote fusion. When a cow gives birth to fraternal twins, one being male and the other female, it has been frequently noted that often the male is phenotypically normal but the female is sterile and has underdeveloped genitalia. This is a result of placental fusion during development, which allows circulation of cellular material and hormones between her and her brother. These sterile females, called Freemartins are XX/XY chimeras and are a fairly common occurrence in the case of mixed-sex pregnancies in cattle. Chimerism results in individuals who may have 2 blood types or who may have cells containing Y chromosomes and other cells containing only X chromosomes. Such as in the case of Lydia Fairchild, some individuals can go many years or even their whole lives without knowing that they have the condition.

Lydia’s Battle The discovery of chimeric humans was instrumental in solving Lydia’s case. Following up on his prediction, Lydia’s lawyer did more research into Karen Keegan’s case of chimerism and discovered that Keegan’s doctors had been able to establish familial connection between her and her children by taking blood samples from the children and their grandparents. Tests on these samples revealed a grandparent-grandchild genetic connection. Putting his hypothesis to the test, a similar test revealed a familial connection between Lydia’s children and their grandparents and the court finally ruled Lydia as the biological mother of her own children. Lydia later had a cervical smear done and the elusive DNA, which was a 50% match to her children, was finally found. Some doctors believe that Lydia may only be a chimera in her ovaries, thus explaining why no kinds of sample collection methods had revealed a DNA match with her children. How much should we rely on DNA testing?

DNA testing has been a revolutionary tool in recent years; helping us to put people behind bars and to release those who were wrongly convicted. But what about chimeras who may be criminals? Are these individuals escaping conviction because they may leave a different set of DNA at a crime scene that a blood sample would not show? A case like that of Lydia Fairchild raises new questions about our legal system and our reliance on DNA evidence. Can science really give us the whole story about a crime? █

1. Which Half Is Mommy?: Tetragametic Chimerism and Trans-Subjectivity. (n.d.) 2. Lydia Kay Fairchild The Twin Inside Me - Chimera - Extraordinary People. (2015, July 8) 3. Freemartinism. (2011)

1 2 3

Did you know that ?

A genetic mutation can make some women tetrachromatic, leading to the formation of four different types of cone cells in their eyes, which enables them to see 100 million different colors compared to the roughly one million colors most of us see.

The blue-skinned people of Kentucky were found to present a rare genetic condition as a result of inbreeding, called methemoglobinemia.

According to biologists from the University of Liverpool, the plagues of the middle ages gave resistance to HIV to about 10% of Europeans. These individuals carry the genetic mutation CCR5-Delta32 and is rarely found in Africans and Asians.

Two individuals share as much as 99.9% of the same genetic material and differ in only 0.1% of it.

According to an international group of geneticists studying Y-chromosome data, the dreaded Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan (13th century) may have been a prolific lover. Indeed, nearly 8 percent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry Y-chromosomes that are nearly identical. That translates to 0.5 percent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants of Genghis Khan living today.

The naturally dark outlining of the famous actress Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes were actually due to a rare genetic mutation giving her “double eyelashes.”

There is genetic proof indicating that the San people (also known as the Bushmen of Southern Africa) are one of the oldest peoples in the world. They may well be the most ancient, and are considered to be a “genetic Adam”.

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 7

BIOLOGY FOCUS

Gene Editing The CRISPR Revolution If you have never heard of CRISPR before, its name may evoke a bizarre, supernatural fictional force. But in the minds of molecular biologists and geneticists, CRISPR has become the trendy new jewel of the scientific research hub. By Leila Bellou Since its “re-discovery” in 2013, CRISPR/Cas9 has rapidly evolved into a powerful gene editing tool with the advantages of being faster, easier to use, and relatively cheaper than traditional techniques such as zinc finger nucleases or TALENs generally used to knock out genes (inactivate existing genes artificially by disrupting or suppressing the gene’s sequence). Fascinating by the simplicity of its concept, let’s dive into an overview of the technique and its most recent and exciting applications. What is gene editing?

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What is CRISPR/Cas9?

CRISPR/Cas9 stands for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat” and “CRISPR Associated System 9”. Originally described as a naturally-occurring prokaryotic immune system (in bacteria), it was first adapted by Jennifer Doudna from Berkeley University to be used in eukaryotic cells, derived from plants and animals, as a gene editing tool. Other prominent groups such as the ones led by Feng Zhang at MIT and George Church at the Wyss Institute have also contributed to the developmental stages of the technique. Several biotechnology companies, such as Editas in Cambridge MA, have sprout with the fast-growing need for the technique, now adopted almost routinely in many labs. To oversimplify and summarize the mechanism of this editing tool, we can think of CRISPR/Cas9 as the assembly of two main components: a “guide” that leads the way for “scissors” to cut a specific target DNA sequence.

Image: Lightspring/Shutterstock.com

Gene editing has rapidly evolved over the past decade with the first whole-genome sequencing and our increasing understanding of the field of Genetics. Editing genes has become primordial to understanding the function of genes by enabling the manipulation of genetic sequences by inserting, deleting or substituting nucleotides (the fundamental units of DNA and RNA) in a gene sequence. This can facilitate biological research studies to demystify the function of proteins, and their implication in molecular pathways and in pathogenesis. Ultimately, gene editing brings hope in the realm of gene therapy. Having the ability to precisely and specifically edit a defective gene and replace it is necessary for the development of this type of ther-

apy which consists in the delivery of the corrected gene into cells to produce normal proteins. Before the advent of CRISPR/Cas9, our ability to manipulate genomes was limited, time-consuming and expensive. However, CRISPR has shown great promises for gene editing, rapidly growing and outshining its predecessors in the past few years.

The “guide” consists in a small single strand RNA sequence called guide RNA (gRNA), specifically designed to target a gene of interest. Its function is exactly that of guiding the “scissors”, the endonuclease Cas9, to the specific target. This endonuclease is an enzyme that can induce double strand breaks, a blunt cut across the two strands constituting the gene. However, one of the limiting factor of the technique is the necessity for the gRNA sequence to be adjacent to a specific “PAM sequence” (Protospacer Adjacent Motif) which acts as a signal for Cas9 to generate the cut (three nucleotides upstream to the PAM). The blunt cut induced by the nuclease, can then be repaired by non-homologous end joining repair (NHEJ) or homology directed repair (HDR).

Non-homologous end joining repair is a natural pathway used by the cell to repair double strand breaks in the DNA by simply ligating the two ends back together. However, this can lead to mutations with the insertion or deletion of several nucleotides in the vicinity of the cut. This induces random mutations which can hardly be controlled in the lab with our current state of knowledge. The other pathway which may be used by the cell is HDR (homology directed repair), requiring the presence of a template in the form of a plasmid DNA or a single-stranded donor oligonucleotide (ssODN) used to correct the double strand breaks according to it. This pathway has been successfully used in the lab to mediate the generation of precise targeted mutations by specifically designing a template containing the mutation of interest, and co-transfecting it with CRISPR/Cas9 into the cells. However, the frequency of this pathway happening instead of NHEJ remains significantly low, leading predominantly to the generation of random mutations rather than targeted ones. What are some examples of its most recent and exciting applications?

Treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive genetic disorder, which predominantly affects males and leads to progressive muscle weakness and atrophy especially of the lower limbs. A mutation of the DMD gene leads to the loss of production of dystrophin, a protein required to prevent the breakdown of muscles. Breathing complications and cardiac deformities worsen the symptoms of the malady and few individuals survive beyond their 30’s. No effective tratement has been found to prevent the progression of the disease, but CRISPR shows great promise for a cure. Researchers have been able to correct DMD by delivering CRISPR components to postnatal mdx mice presenting the disease phenotype to restore the gene and the normal production of dystrophin protein in cardiac and skeletal muscle. This gives great hope for gene therapy in humans suffering from the disease Reviving the Wolly Mammoth: A project led by Harvard geneticist George Church rather belongs to the realm of science fiction by attempting the “de-extinction” of mammoths. The project consists in using CRISPR to insert mammoth genes into the Asian

elephant’s genome, coding for example for hair length or subcutaneous fat, and obtained from DNA preserved in the remains of a wolly mammoth discovered in the frozen tundra. Mammoth DNA would be spliced into Asian elephant’s cells in an effort to produce a hybrid with both elephant-like and mammoth-like characteristics which may be more adaptable to the cold. The ultimate goal would be to repopulate the large frozen lands of Siberia or North America to prevent melting and help protect Asian elephants, an endangered species. “Gene drive” to eradicate malaria Malaria is caused by the plasmodium parasite which is transmitted to humans through infected mosquito bites. It is mainly spread in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and the South Pacific; and causes every year the death of 1 to 2.7 million victims. First symptoms may be difficult to recognize and can include fever, shivering, pain in the joints, headache and repeated vomitting. If not treated within a day, the parasite progresses rapidly and can cause severe symptoms of kidney failure, convulsions, and cerebral malaria eventually leading to coma, and death. Eradicating this disease is a great public health concern: about 3.2 billion people are at risk of malaria infection at present. However, there is new hope of eliminating the disease based on the results of a team from the University of California, which has reported to have successfully inserted genes designed with CRISPR/Cas9 to block the malaria parasite. These “anti-malaria” genes would then be passed down future generations, and this “gene drive” would quickly produce a mosquito population unable to transmit the disease to humans.

What are some of the limits of the technique? Even though CRISPR/Cas9 is brilliantly ingenuous, the technique remains relatively new, with its own current sets of limitations and setbacks. Indeed, CRISPR is not absolutely specific, which can lead to several off-target and unwanted effects. Guide RNAs being 17 to 20 nucleotides long, the risk of complementarity with other parts of the genome can be high, leading to unwanted cuts of unforeseen consequences. The use of other types of nucleases, such as Cpf1 (developed by the Zhang lab), may be an interesting alternative as it uses another “signal” PAM sequences and generates staggered ends which are more stable than the blunt cuts of Cas9. Other enzymes such as recombinases may be used in the future to further increase the specificity of gene targeting. More importantly, the development of such a technique raises an important ethical concern. The failed experiment of a Chinese group on human embryos which had generated multiple off-target effects prompted scientists such as Jennifer Doudna or George Church to take a stand on the issue, raising the question of the necessity of a moratorium. The boom in scientific research around the world has led to an ebullient partnership of ideas and discoveries. But with CRISPR, the idea of generating genetically modified humans becomes a reality, which will require controls and regulations to prevent a potentially

Read More: Ledford, H. (2015, June 3). CRISPR, the disruptor. Nature, 522(7554), 20-24.

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 9

BIOLOGY FOCUS Genetics

Research

Neuroscience

Adipocytes

may prevent Staphylococcus infections Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Libray

A recent study by a research group at the Department of Dermatology at Johns Hopkins University have found that dermal adipocytes (fat cells) have a role in the innate immune system to fight staphylococcus aureus infections. by Fatima Khan

he human body has a variety of host defense mechanisms against microbial infections from histatins found in human saliva to lysozymes found in tears. Researchers at the Department of Dermatology at Johns Hopkins University have identified a new role of dermal adipocytes in innate immunity against Staphylococcus Aureus.1

S. Aureus is a gram-positive commensal bacterium that is commonly found on the surface of the skin and in the noses of healthy humans.2 However, if the skin becomes wounded, S. Aureus can easily become a pathogen that causes soft tissue infections such as cellulitis, fasciitis, and even fatal bacteremia.3 Additionally, the Methicillin Resistant strain of S. Aureus (MRSA) is one of the leading causes of death due to hospital acquired infections in the United States, and is responsible for nearly 18,650 associated deaths annually.3

The skin can be divided into three major layers:

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the outermost epidermis, the middle dermis, and the bottom hypodermis. The epidermis is stratified and contains keratinocytes, or cells that make keratin protein which contributes to the toughness of skin. These keratinocytes have been found to release antimicrobial peptides in an inflammatory response to pathogenic microorganisms.4

Additionally, the epidermis consists of epidermal dendritic cells, or Langerhansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cells, which process foreign material such as bacterial particles and present an antigen on their surface to T-cells in the lymph node in an effort to start an adaptive immune response.5 Finally, below the dermis containing blood vessels, hair follicles, and nerve endings lies the hypodermis containing adipocytes. It is known that the infection of adipocytes with S. Aureus triggers the production of the cytokine interleukin-6, which stimulates the production of the Hepcidin protein. Hepcidin causes macrophages to sequester iron, thus decreasing serum levels of iron available to bacteria.

Decreasing serum levels of iron hinders bacterial growth because the bacteria do not have access to iron that they need to make an enzyme called superoxide dismutase, which protects them from the damaging free oxygen radicals in the host.6,7 Hence, while previous research had shown that adipocytes have an immunological role in host defense, their specific role had yet to be found, until Zhang et al. discovered that injecting S. Aureus into the skin’s subcutaneous layer of ZFp423nur12 mice and mice given Peroxisome proliferator-activated gamma inhibitor showed increased susceptibility to S. Aureus infection due to impaired adipogenesis and consequently lack of production of an antimicrobial peptide called Cathelicidin. Zhang et al. found that upon infecting ZFP423 mice with S. Aureus compared to a control group of ZFP423 mice injected with PBS (phosphate buffered saline), the mice infected with S. Aureus showed a great increase the thickness of the adipose tissue layer at injection site. The increased layer of adipose tissue was due to both an increase in size of individual adipocytes (hypertrophy) as well as cell proliferation. Zhang et al. confirmed that adipogenesis was due to the expression of two transcription factors, ZFP423 (zinc finger protein 423) and PPAR-gamma (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma) using mutated ZFP423nur12 and chemically treated PPAR gamma inhibitor wild type mice that exhibited impaired adipogenesis. After observing that S. Aureus infection causes adipogenesis, the researchers studied the susceptibility of ZFP423nur12 and chemically treated PPAR gamma inhibitor wild type mice to infection. They found that mice with impaired adipogenesis exhibited greater susceptibility to S. Aureus infection. Additionally, systemic bacteremia was also observed in the Zfp423nur12 mice when S. Aureus when detected in these mice’s spleens, while there was no detected S. Aureus in the spleens of the Zfp423 with normal adipogenesis. Clearly, the mice exhibiting impaired adipogenesis were more susceptible to S. Aureus infection compared to their normal adipogenesis counterparts, but why? To understand the role of adipocytes in warding off S. Aureus, Zhang et al. used a wild-type murine adipocyte cell line (3T3L1 cells) to detect and identify which antimicro-

bial peptides (AMP’s) these cells produce upon infection with S. Aureus. They found that the adipocytes produced a peptide called cathelicidin at highest concentrations in the first few days of infection; before other adipokines and AMP’s were produced later. The researchers also found that primary human adipocytes also produce cathelicidin against S. Aureus. Zhang et al. found that 373L1 adipocyte conditioned medium containing the cathelicidin secretions exhibited potency against S. Aureus. Zhang et al suggest that the cathelicidin directly kills S. Aureus. To confirm the effects of cathelicidin production against S. Aureus growth on adipose tissue, Zhang et al. used Cathelicidin knockout mice infected with S. Aureus to show higher levels of S. Aureus in knock out mouse fat tissues compared to lower levels of S. Aureus in infected wild-type mice. Additionally, Zhang et al. found that the Zfp423nur12 and PPAR-gamma inhibited mice with impaired adipogenesis producing lower levels of cathelicin were more susceptible to S. Aureus infection than control mice. Zhang et al. suggest that local expansion of adipocytes and production of cathelicidin are the dermal fat cell’s defense response at the site S. Aureus infection.

Additionally, these researchers found that mice fed a high fat diet also showed greater adipogenesis and cathelicidin production. However, it is important to note that mice with mutations in the leptin receptor that develop obesity and type-2 diabetes actually show an increased susceptibility to S. Aureus infection.8 Similarly, obese humans also show a greater susceptibility to soft tissue infection.9 There are a few hypotheses regarding the increased susceptibility to skin infections in obese humans. It has been suggested that insulin resistance may play a role in altering adipogenesis-cathelicidin production during bacterial infection, adipokines produced by adipocytes may influence the production of cathelicidin, and even the post-translational cleavage of cathelicidin into its active form may be affected in obese individuals.7 Currently, the mechanism of cathelicidin activity against S. Aureus has yet to be elucidated. Additionally, studies should be done to further understand the adipogenesis-cathelicidin producing defense mechanism in humans against S. Aureus so that we can find ways to aid this pathway in an attempt to protect susceptible individuals. █

1. L.j.Zhang et al., Science 347,67 (2015) 2. Causes and Symptoms of Staphylococcus aureus. (2010, February 1). 3. MRSA: Causes, Symptoms, Prevention and Treatments. (2015, October 19). Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10634.php 4. Menzies, B., & Kenoyer, A. (2005, August 1). Staphylococcus aureus Infection of Epidermal Keratinocytes Promotes Expression of Innate Antimicrobial Peptides. Retrieved from http://iai.asm.org/ 5. Chomiczewska D, Trznadel-budźko E, Kaczorowska A, Rotsztejn H. [The role of Langerhans cells in the skin immune system]. Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2009;26(153):173-7. 6. McGrath Jr., H., & Rigby, P. (2004, July 27). Hepcidin: Inflammation’s iron curtain. Retrieved November 22, 2015. 7. J.F.Alcorn, J.K.Kolls.,Science 347,26 (2015) 8. S. Park,J.Rich,F.Hanses,J.C.Lee,Infect.Immun.77,1008(2009). 9. P.Sreeramoju et al.,Am.J.Surg.201,216 (2011). Fall 2015 N° 1 | 11

Synthetic Organ Systems to replace animal subjects In animal testing, introducing diseases and drugs to animal models has been a time consuming and expensive task, but an overall vitally important one. The Wyss Institute in Cambridge, MA has developed an alternative way to study the physiology of organisms in vitro. Discover what an organ-on-a-chip is. by Annika Gibbs

Their current lung-on-a-chip contains two small channels separated by a porous membrane. One channel remains open to the air, and can be lined with human lung cells on top of the membrane, while the other side of the membrane is lined with human capillary cells immersed in a liquid media containing human white and red blood cells. Side channels in the chip are connected to a vacuum, and can rhythmically contract and expand to simulate the breathing motion that would normally be present in the alveoli of the lungs. The porous membrane easily moves

Studies have already been done to evaluate the efficacy of these lung-on-a-chip used to test bacterial infection models. Bacteria was allowed into the air channel to mimic an infection, and fluorescently tagged white blood cells were introduced into the liquid media on the other side of the porous channel. These blood cells moved between the capillary cells, through the membrane, and onto the outermost cell culture in order to target the bacteria. Additionally, pulmonary edema models have been successful in using these chip cultures. When exposed to interleukin 2, a cancer fighting drug which has an unfortunate side effect of decreasing the adhesion between capillary cells and increasing the leakage of blood across the membrane within alveoli, the chipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airspace filled up with fluid just like alveoli do in a human body. Blood clots also formed in the airspace, just as they would form in the lungs of patients suffering from pulmonary edema. Without the movement of the side channels, little fluid leakage was observed, which indicates that the simulated breathing works well in accurately depicting a living lung. While these chips are still in the development stage, they hold a lot of promise for accurate simulations of whole organs and even organ systems in the future. The institute hopes to develop a total of ten chips which may work together in order to simulate the physiology of an entire organism. â&#x2013;&#x2C6;

Interested in learning more? Look up the Wyss Institute at wyss.harvard.edu.

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Image: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

any of us would rather not think about the implications the testing process for the development of new drugs and the understanding disease mechanisms may have on animal lives, but the fact is that animal testing has been important in understanding drug interactions within a living body. Without this kind of testing, many scientists would never have been able to model their new potential life-saving drugs. The ends justify the means, right? What if drugs could be tested on something other than a living animal? Perhaps colonies of living cells could be arranged in space so that they would interact in the same way they would in vivo, rather than isolated in vitro. This is the aim of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering located in Cambridge, MA. Wyss is currently working on developing chips which mimic the physiological environment of cells which inhabit the body, so that cheap and cruelty-free methods may be used in the future for drug development.

with the side channels, and the cell cultures on either side of the membrane are likewise exposed to the stress of movement.

BIOLOGY FOCUS Genetics Research

Neuroscience

The Age of Opiate Addiction: Treatments, Typical to Extreme, Efficacy and Ethical Concerns

By Katherine Nelson

A Image: Freeimages.com/Andrzj Gdula

ddiction is in part quite a conundrum for humankind since addictive substances mimic the neurotransmitters our brains normally produce. One of the main model used to explain the addictive tracts used by the brain is the dopaminergic drive system. This system explains that the neurotransmitter Dopamine is released whenever something our body needs is done or provided. For example, in the case of a dehydrated individual, drinking a sip of water induces the release of dopamine, resulting in an “ahhh” experience, translating into a burst of pleasant feelings. Similarly, opioid neurotransmitters help to curb pain, and many other neurotransmitters, such as oxytocin or serotonin make us feel better. However, these pathways and systems can be hijacked and misused by prescription drugs, over-thecounter substances, legal and illegal drugs and even foods or drinks we consume. A huge area of issue in relation to addiction is the overuse of opiate pain relievers. Indeed, the New England Journal of Medicine reports that, deaths related to overdoses of prescription opiates have more than quadrupled from 1999 to 2010, and we have all seen news reports providing evidence that the rates are far from decreasing.1 Two questions then arise, how do we

treat addiction, and what can we do to curb these deaths?

Numerous avenues for the treatment of addiction exist. The three treatments I will discuss range from minimally invasive to extremely invasive and are surrounded by ethical and effectiveness concerns. These three types of treatment are behavioral therapy, replacement therapy and surgical treatment. The least invasive treatment approach is behavioral therapy, which can take many different forms, but mainly works by developing a relationship with a therapist and/ or social worker, in which the patient and the therapist tackle and try to reshape the addict’s drug seeking behavior and their rationale behind their self destructive decision making.

The biggest criticism of cognitive behavioral therapy based approaches, is that individuals are at the greatest risk of relapse. To improve the effectiveness of behavioral therapies, many clinicians use incentives, coupled with close urinalysis monitoring. One incentive-based avenue, similar to the classic 12-step ab stinence program, provides vouchers and attempts to reintroduce the individual in a Fall 2015 N° 1 | 13

supportive community, with skills training, and the option of additional support. Incentive therapies have worked best in conjunction with replacement therapies, which improved patient compliance, and decreased the usage of illicit substance.2 Many wonder whether the use of replacement can be considered effective and ethical alternative treatments.

A second and more common type of addiction treatment is replacement therapies, consisting in replacing the addictive substances (usually illegal drugs) by other ones such as methadone, which helps to reduce feelings of withdrawal. However, such replacement therapies using compounds such as, methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone, are underutilized. To some, it seems questionable to use medications to treat substance abuse, as many individuals became drug addicts through the use of prescription drugs.1 Research seems to demonstrate that patients are more likely to utilize replacement therapies when receiving behavioral therapies.2 Together these therapies attempt to alter the addict’s destructive urges, induced by withdrawal, and the individual’s ineffective behavioral patterns. Neither of these approaches work to irreversibly alter the brain’s reward system or pleasure center, known to be affected in the case of addiction. By far, the most extreme proposed treatment has been studied in China, and consisted in the entire removal of the pleasure center of the individual’s brain. It is a surgical treatment, which has been banned in China since 2004, and is not considered a treatment option in the US.

This treatment results in the surgical destruction of the nucleus accumbens, which is known as the pleasure center. This region is a part of the dopaminergic drive system, involved in the formation of feelings and the perception of desire, motivation, and reward. The risks from neurological surgery alone far outweigh the risks of the treatments previously described. Yet, it is understandable why this region would be targeted as a treatment for addiction. However, the inevitable side effects far outweigh potential benefits, making it hard to justify such a radical approach. Patients who have undergone such a procedure face potential personality changes, reduced sex drives, memory deficits, decreased motivation, and some may even became more impulsive and aggressive. More than half of the patients who went through the procedure relapsed, questioning the efficacy of the treatment itself. Additionally, over half of the patients experienced long term side effects, mentioned above, which further questions the procedure’s ethical implications, as well as its efficacy.3

Throughout the description of these three proposed treatments, we must keep in mind that individuals suffering from addiction need to be taken care of, deserve an ethical, humane and effective treatment. Many individuals fall into the unfortunate path of addiction simply through access to the healthcare system. Although there may be certain underlying factors associated with those who become addicts and those who don’t, it is hard to believe that anyone would truly want to be enslaved by the need for a substance. █

1. Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Pamela S. Hyde, J.D., and Stephen S. Cha, M.D. (2014). New England Journal Medicine, 370,2063-2066. 2. Carroll, K. M., & Onken, L. S. (2005). Behavioral Therapies for Drug Abuse. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(8), 1452–1460. 3. Szalavitz, M. (2012, December 13). Controversial Surgery for Addiction Burns Away Brain’s Pleasure Center. Time.

Did you know that ?

Opioids are a class of drugs including the illicit one heroin, as well as licit prescription pain relievers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codein, morphine, fentanyl among others.

2 3

According to the American Society of Addiction Medecine, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, causing 47,055 lethal drug overdoses in 2014. About a quarter of those deaths are related to heroin addiction.

More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism and more than 9 million children live with an alcoholic or drug-addicted parent. This represents about 18 millions American suffering from alcoholism and about 5 to 6 million with drug addiction.

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Alcohol and drug abuse requires importantmonetary expenses. It costs the American economy about $276 billion each year in lost productivity, health care expenditure, crime, motor vehicle accidents and other related conditions.

Since 2014, heroin overdoses are on the rise in Massachusetts because of its high potency and low price as opposed to precription opiate which are more costly and harder to get. The state’s relative close proximity to New York’s drug trade as well as the preponderance of college campuses also explain the important alcohol and drug consumption found in Massachusetts.

Facts from: health.howstuffworks.com

BIOLOGY FOCUS Professor Bruce Gray is the Chair of the Biology Department and teaches Neurobiology and Animal Physiology at Simmons.

Discover here the History of Opioids around the World!

His interest in Neurobiology led him to study Alzheimer’s disease, Glaucoma and other neurodegenerative diseases in his lab on campus.

3400 BCE

Opium poppy was cultivated in Mesopotamia and Sumerians called it Hul Gil (Joy plant) which was consumed by chewing

500 BCE

Hippocrates wrote of painkiller use and styptic (stopping blood flow) use of opium

Arab traders brought opium to China

400 AD

Early 15th Century

Portugese sailors may have been first to smoke opium in Europe

The center of opium trade spread in Egypt, all over the Middle East and into Europe

330 BCE

Alexander the Great military campaign

introduced Opium to Persia and India

In middle ages,

1527

600’s

Laudanum introduced to England. England

controls international Opium trade by picking up opium from India & Persia and selling it in China where smoking in pipes had become a popular custom Opium trade had increased hundred-fold and helped fuel the dominance of England in international trade and economic power

1300 BCE

1850

Meanwhile in Europe

Friedrich Sertuerner, a German chemist

synthesized a compound which was the active ingredient of the opium poppy: Morphine. When a Scottish doctor, Alexander Wood, developed a method of injecting morphine intravenously, it was found to be an extremely potent pain-killer still used today. In addition to morphine the opium poppy contains Codeine, taken for coughs and colds, which is also a painkiller

use declined in Europe but expanded in the Middle East and China

Paracelsus compounded opium in an alcoholic extract called Laudanum

1799

Citing adverse health effects of increased use on its population, China banned its use. Not surprisingly, use of opium soared through illegal smuggling financed by English shipping magnates

In the 1839-56

China waged several wars on England for its illegal exploitation of the opium trade. England won and took Hong Kong for its own and made China declare opium legal again

1878

Seeing the devastation brought on by opium use, Britain passed the Opium Act to forbid opium use except by a smaller registered group of smokers. Smuggling however continued unabated. German and British drug companies hail the synthetic new drug that had the pain killer properties of Opium & Morphine but with no side effects and addictive properties. It was Heroin and was marketed globally as a cure for addiction, and an overall health tonic Fall 2015 N° 1 | 15

PHYSICS FOCUS Supermoon Stars The Observatory

The following series of articles was contributed by the Hub of the Universe class, a new Boston course designed for first-year students and led by Dr. Michael Jordan from the Chemistry and Physics Department. The class explored the solar system and presents us here a recount of their most exciting moments spent in the course.

by Breann Ware

n Sunday September 27th, 2015, a complete lunar eclipse as well as a supermoon and red blood moon occurred. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth is perfectly lined up between the sun and the moon, so the moon directly appears in the shadow of the Earth. The moon will slowly disappear as the Earth orbits closer to the line-up position and will slowly reappear as it moves away from it. While lunar eclipses occur frequently (the next one happening on March 23rd, 2016), witnessing a blood moon is however rare. The last supermoon to appear in

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the sky happened in 1982, and the next one will take place in 2033. The blood moon is due to the light scattering off the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s atmosphere, giving the moon a coppery tint. Coincidentally, this lunar eclipse was also a supermoon, happening when a full or new moon is at its closest to the Earth on its orbit, thus appearing bigger and brighter to onlookers. The Hub of the Universe class at Simmons College decided to make an event out of this rare phenomenon. The class invited the entire school to come witness the magic that is a lunar eclipse and a blood moon. Around forty to fifty people showed up to the event, which was held on the roof top deck of the management building. Three telescopes were set up for guest viewing and a webcam was

Witnessing a total supermoon lunar eclipse

tea for guests to make and prepare themselves. This was a much welcomed beverage by onlookers of the eclipse, seeing as the night was rather chilly.

At about 8:45 p.m., the eclipse began. Onlookers observed that one side of the moon started to darken: it was as if a shadow was slowly draping it. In reality, the earth was moving in between the sun and the moon, thus cutting off the light that reflected off of the moon from the sun. The moon continued to be covered by the black shadow as time went on and onlookers stood by waiting expectantly for the entire moon to be covered by the shadow of the Earth. The moon was covered slowly, not all at once. While waiting for the eclipse to occur onlookers spent a lot of time looking through the telescopes. “Seeing the moon so closely is a really beautiful experience,” said Ronnie Scharton ‘19. Onlookers were also able to take pictures of the moon by putting their phone camera up against the eyepiece of the telescope and allowing it to focus. Janelle Mandigo ‘19 was “really excited to show people the awesome pictures” she took through the telescope. Taking pictures of the moon through the telescope was so popular that lines formed just to get the chance to snap a shot. Around 10:15 p.m. onlookers got what they came for as the full eclipse began. A red hue appeared over the moon and people stared in awe at the rare and beautiful sight. It continued to grow redder and redder until it reached its maximum eclipse at about 10:45 p.m.

(The moon almost fully eclipsed taken from the telescope)

The chance to get to see this event with a telescope and friends was a great experience for the students that showed up on the roof top. The supermoon was a rare and very beautiful sight that brought silence to its spectators, which is usually unheard of coming from college students. The Hub of the Universe class will go on to learn more about the moon and its phases, but this was definitely a great first look for the class, into the wonders of the moon. █

Simmons Students reach for the Stars by Cara Daybré

n Wednesday October 7, 2015, a group of students from Simmons College came together under the supervision of Doctor Jordan to kick off their new project for their Boston Course. The purpose of the class is to explore Boston through an astronomical lens by taking, analyzing, and presenting observations of celestial bodies.

Shivering against the crisp autumn air, the students wandered out to the academic quad to set up their electric telescopes. The students were divided into four groups to observe one of four celestial objects: the Sun, Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon. Once the telescopes were carefully set up in the shadows, each was pointed at the moon as an

orienting point. Then, each group proceeded to program their telescope to search for their assigned object. Due to the clear and sunny afternoon sky, most of the groups were successful in locating their object. The only object that was not visible was Jupiter. Once the visible celestial bodies were focused in the telescopes, the students took pictures and carefully documented their observations.

Although it was daytime, the moon was visible to the naked eye as a pale bright crescent against the blue sky. It was fascinating to see the moon in this usual state after the lunar eclipse that took place a few days back. When the moon was focused in the telescope, a closer-up picture of the Moon could be observed. The students were able to see some of the craters on the surface of the moon

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 17

PHYSICS FOCUS and collect some pictures to take back to the lab and analyze. These pictures would allow students to determine the Moonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s size and its relative position to the Earth. the Moonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s size and its relative position to the Earth.

Set up in the shadows, the Venus group attempted to observe Venus. Before heading outside, Venus was located with a program called Stellarium that allows one to virtually explore the celestial bodies in the sky. Once outside, the group focused their telescope on the Moon and then programmed it to locate Venus. After a few moments, the telescope adjusted itself to point at a small bright sliver, unable to be seen with the naked eye. After the telescope was fully focused, the students were able to identify the sliver as Venus. It appeared in the sky as a small white crescent, much like the moon but facing the opposite direction. After zooming in, the students were able to take a few pictures to be further analyzed.

(A daytime view of the Moon taken from the telescope)

The sun group could easily find their object as well, seeing as it was shining bright in the sky for all to see. The challenge was to avoid pointing the telescope directly at the sun, which could result in blindness. The telescope was set up so the sun and focused in the corner of the field of view. The students used a camera attached to the telescope to take a picture of the sun instead of looking directly at it through the telescope. After collecting their pictures and observations, the Sun group enjoyed what their star had to offer by huddling in the comfort of its warmth.

(Photograph of Venus taken by the Venus group using a Cannon camera attached to the Celestron telescope) Although the Jupiter team was unable to locate their planet that afternoon, the first day of the class project was overall a success. The students and their professor will continue to take measurements and observations weekly to compile enough data to track the path of their celestial objects. With their data, the students will practice their writing and presentation skills by writing different types of scientific articles and journals as well as creating visual and oral presentations. â&#x2013;&#x2C6;

(Photograph of the sun taken by Lykeastria)

1 2

Did you know that ?

Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It is the second planet in the solar system and it takes about 225 Earth days for Venus to rotate around the sun.

The sun is so big it could be filled by almost one million Earths and represents 99.86% of the mass in the Solar system.

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The Moon is the largest natural satellite in the solar system and has been visited by 12 people (all American males) between 1969 and 1972. However, NASA is planning on sending manking to walk on the moon again by 2019. Facts from: space-facts.com

An Out-Of-This-World View by Alexa Bader Students boarded the Simmons bus last Wednesday evening on October 7th 2015, to take part in an expedition to the Clay Center Observatory at the Clay Center of Science and Technology in Brookline, Massachusetts. Nearly thirty students--made up of two of Professor Jordan’s classes--gathered to view the evening’s stars and planets as well as learn about the different moon phases, planet sizes, constellations and more.

At around 6:45 pm, curious astronomy students were delivered to the observatory, where the sun had just set over the horizon. As the daytime sky transitioned into the darkness of the night, the stars became noticeably visible compared to the city where light pollution lessens their visibility. Students were welcomed to the facility by director Bob Phinney along with astronomer Marek Kozubal who has worked on staff for the past 16 years. We began the first hour into the tour with a comparison of the ratio size between the sun and the different planets as students circled around a visual model of our galaxy’s solar system. Eventually, students entered the building in astonishment at the variety of historic scientific artifacts collected over the years, such as a NASA shuttle tire that orbited in space and helped the space shuttle in landing, as well as two fossilized dinosaur eggs.

“I loved being able to interact with the objects they had in the case. I didn’t expect them to hand us a fossilized dinosaur egg,” said student Hannah ‘Nori’ McGregor. “It was so cool that they gave us the opportunity to touch these things. I can see how this can excite the kids they give tours for.”

Both Phinney and Kozubal continued the tour of the building by identifying few of the 88 constellations through representations of animals, people or shapes as well as star-lit models outside the top of the second floor building. Both faculty members led the group outside to observe not only the constellations, but also the Earth’s moon phases. One student was satisfied to learn something new saying, “When they taught us about the North Star being located under the little dipper, I finally learned my sense of direction.” As the night progressed, it was time to take a look through the Clay telescope. The Observatory is located atop the five-story building housed in a 24.5-foot-diameter Ash Dome--the building was built around the structure of the telescope. As the thirty students gathered atop the observatory, astronomer Kozubal identified multiple clusters of stars and planets through the lens of the telescope. “Seeing the stars through the large telescope was something that you don’t do everyday. It made viewing stars more enjoyable and surreal as to how far from us the stars really are. I am glad I got to experience that!” said the Hub of the Universe student, Mariam Doss.

The night came to a close when students had a chance to explore the unique artifacts of the fifth floor. Not only were there state of the art magnifying glasses, telescopes that could see inside the Prudential building or an actual piece of Mars encased in a glass case brought over to earth by a fallen asteroid, a replica of the famous R2D2 robot was also present to greet students, who gathered around it in delight as it came to life reciting songs and lines from the ‘Star Wars’ movies. Overall, the Clay Center observatory truly gave the Simmons students an out-ofthis-world sight to remember. █

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Meet

your professors Simmons alumni

Life at the intersection of Arts and Science Interviewed by Leila Bellou

Professor Michael Berger has been teaching Chemistry at Simmons College for the past 11 years. He obtained his BA in Chemistry from Cornell University, Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University, and MBA from Boston University. He is a digital artist and saxophone player who has always been drawn to the beauty of art. Read more about his interesting perspective of life at the intersection of art and science. You have been teaching Chemistry for several years now at Simmons College, could you tell us more about your path to Chemistry: how did you get interested in it? Was it a subject you have always been interested in, even as a child? When I was in grade school, I used to do experiments with the Gilbert Home Chemistry kit, a blue metal standing box swung open to display small plastic bottles containing an assortment of chemicals with strange names. You can’t find this chemistry set today since many of the chemicals that were used at the time were just a little bit hazardous. I would make things like ink, explosives, rubber, plastics, and had a lot of fun. That’s how I first got interested in chemistry. I was always interested in gardening as well and doing experiments with growing vegetables. The theme continues to this day as Simmons seniors research the effect of chemistry on plants. Last year, Julie Pallozzi ‘15 evaluated whether radishes could effectively scavenge lead from contaminated soil. This year Ainsley Li ‘16 is evaluating the effectiveness of grass to clean up contaminated soils. So I must say I’ve always been interested in tinkering around with various things related in one way or another to chemistry and gardening. 20 | MindScope Science Magazine

Were you a chemistry major as an undergraduate student? I did major in Chemistry. I minored in Russian literature. Boston was the home of many Russian émigrés in the 1980s, and many found themselves driving taxis to get some income. I found my Russian to be very useful in getting around Boston during those years, which has been very useful, especially taking a taxi in Boston over the last few years. Thinking about it though, if I were to go back in time and choose a language, I would probably choose French, which I find to be a very beautiful language. What is your main interest in research?

My doctoral thesis focused on atmospheric chemistry; specifically the reaction of nitrogen atoms with cyanogen in the gas phase. The problem was to come up with a mechanism that explained the observations. I remember my advisor, George Kistiakowsky, who showed me an article laying out the same problem I was working on and asked me whether I still wanted to continue the project. I was faced with the challenge of proving them wrong and I decided to go for it. The fun part of being a graduate student is that you really get to work with many dif-

-ferent people and learn new skills. I built my own mass spectrometer and learned how to blow glass in order to do the necessary experiments. While the thesis was the focus, graduate school draws upon a wide set of skills. Also, it can’t be done alone, which means there is an important social part of science that you learn in graduate school. Even Einstein needed a group of friends to exchange and discuss ideas.

oratory” where he would create thousands of sketches to explore a variety of compositions. I think there is a lot of commonality between art and science. I enjoyed working with professional photographers who were beginning a new journey from film to digital - and I was beginning to give workshops to teach how to use the new technology. So I did quite a bit of teaching.

I was teaching in the local area at Brandeis and Wentworth. There was a position here and did a replacement for a sabbatical. It was love at first sight and I’ve been here for 11 years now.

The most important skill is to ask questions, very good questions. Unfortunately, traditional education focuses on training students to give the correct answer in order to get good grades or reproduce what’s on the board, but it’s not the most important component of learning. I think here at Simmons we are doing a great job by integrating research with classwork and by providing the opportunity for students to work closely with professors as freshmen or throughout their undergraduate career. As a student, you can get involved in some great research projects.

How did you end up teaching at Simmons College?

What made you want to start teaching rather than exclusively focusing on scientific research?

Before I came to Simmons I actually worked in industry at the Polaroid Corporation where I invented different types of photographic film. I enjoyed working with a lot of different people, because again, you need to work with others: it is an enormous job and the experiments were big and expensive. At the end of the day, there might have been thousand of chemicals involved in preparing a piece of film. We would test them in the lab and I’d get to take photos with the experimental films. Polaroid was a unique company, founded in the 1930’s, at the intersection between art and technology. We would give our new films to famous photographers like Ansel Adams who would tell us whether our films were good or not. So I got to work a lot with artists. As digital technolgoy came along, I got involved with digital technology and I became interested in digital art. It was a great opportunity: I became very sensitive to artists and how they look at things. Art is very important to me; I actually met my wife in a sculpture class. Art can enhance what you do in the laboratory too. Picasso referred to his studio as his “lab-

What skills do you think would be most important to develop for students in science?

What advice would you give students interested in STEM fields like chemistry to be more marketable and competitive in the future?

For your immediate future, it’s great to get involved in research. You can read about science, but that only gets you so far. Science is in many ways coming to the laboratory, meeting people and talking about it. You can’t work alone in a lab, teamwork is important for your success as well. Trying things out, and in your class, raising your hand and asking a question are both very important. Research is about solving a problem and that’s what gives me satisfaction in science: coming up with a question, a problem, addressing it. What’s interesting is when it’s only partially solved, then a new problem arises, and you have to start again. That’s the most interesting part.

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Science and research in itself could be considered an art. Do you find that your work in Chemistry allows you to combine both science and art? What would it mean to say that “science is an art”? We use these two words differently. We sometimes say “we have raised this to an art,” that it’s up there, or that we have “got it down to the science,” meaning that we have it somewhere else, separate from art but down there. I think the popular view of science is that it is very predictable like a scientific method. Is there an artistic method, or a creative method? How could it be creative if it’s a method? In reality, I think it’s the challenge of trying to figure out a problem where art and science overlap. The problem involved the imagination, and the unconscious, as well as the skill and practice and methods. I think it’s a combination of both, two sides of a same coin. Is there any other art you do beside painting?

I used to play the piano, but I was never very good because my left hand and my right hand didn’t know each other and usually went in different directions. My hands and my brain are too compartmentalized and I could never get them coordinated. But when I was in graduate school, I took up the saxophone with this instrument I figured that both hands had to work together to come up with one note. I fooled around with jazz, and it was terrific; I joined a group when I first started at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education – someone on the drums, someone at the piano and then out of the blue, it was my turn to improvise. A lot of pressure and a lot of humility were necessary. Once in a while, while playing, I would hear this amazing sound and I would wonder: “Where is this incredible music coming from? It’s beautiful!” I would open my eyes only to realize that these sounds were coming from me. Wow. But only a handful of times. Music is amazing. And that’s what artists strive for: these few moments of bliss while they are usually unhappy with whatever they create.

Yes, exactly and that’s the same with science. You do

22 | MindScope Science Magazine

an experiment, and it almost always goes wrong. You have to do it again and again until you finally get that art of the science and you finally begin to see what is going right. For example, Fleming (who discovered penicillin noticed an unusual pattern on some unwashed petri dishes. Not he expected. Caught his attention and he realized that he had discovered something very special – it turned out to be penicillin. Anyone else would have only seen trash in the sink. But he had another narrative going on where he noticed the unexpected. In fact, during Hub Week this Fall I attended a panel discussion where a scientist and an artist reflected on “beauty.” The artist painted enormous images of donuts. She was exploring what changing scale does to our perception of beauty. It occurred to me that beauty is analogous to resolving to a certain resonance after the build up of tension. It is like a resolution of music from the 7th to the dominant, it’s beautiful. You find that in story, in jokes going from high tension of mystery to the solution. That resonance put things in order and provides a solution to a puzzle, to an irritant. Einstein spoke about a “beautiful theory” or “beautiful equation.” I think he was referring to an illusive puzzle being solved (or resolved) in an artful (intuitive?) way. That’s one of the things that science brings a certain dynamic and beauty to a scientist’s life, like an artist trying to find the right color or a musician trying to find the finest tune. Is there anything else you would like to share with the Simmons community?

The Simmons community is very diverse and broad and I think it’s good to get ideas from other folks in other disciplines - Arts, English, Philosophy, etc. The more often that we can talk to people with different backgrounds, different interests, and different skills, the more often that we can come up with novel and creative ideas. I’m hoping that MindScope can become a catalyst for this type of interchange.. That makes Simmons a dynamic and interesting place where you may bump into somebody who may just have a few questions for you, to keep you on your toes and keep you creating. █

You can find Prof. Berger’s art on his personal website bergerart.com. Two of his paintings are also exposed in his office on the 4th floor of the Science building (S442).

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Perspectives in STEMs and Education Interviewed by Leila Bellou

Professor Nanette Veilleux is the Director of Computer Science and Informatics Program at Simmons College. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biophysics from Brown University and her Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Boston Univeristy. Could you tell us a little more about your studies? How did you become interested in Computer Science? Was it something you were already interested in as a child? Obviously, as a child, there were no computers yet. People were studying it, but it was mostly as mathematicians. I was almost completely unaware that there was such a thing as computer science. But I was good at maths and science, and started as a Physics major as an undergraduate. The problem with Physics was that it’s hard to do basic research: you can do subatomic research but it takes a lot of money to get proper instrumentation, you could do theoretical physics but it takes a long time before you can tell what the new problems are, or you could do astronomy but then you basically need a big telescope. So physics to me wasn’t that tangible and I didn’t have a sense of what graduate school would be like. Even as an undergraduate, I started looking for more tangible sciences. I virtually majored in both Biology and Chemistry and was one course short to majoring in both. I actually ended up majoring in Biophysics. I then got a job at MGH, did radiation safety running (which basically consisted in running around with a Geiger counter yelling at people). And then I heard about an engineering master’s program at BU. I went there and started doing engineering and I loved it. You could see a direct relationship between the things you did and those you observed, which was nice. At the time though, in the

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80s, computers were becoming powerful tools. They began to shift from being finicky, not that useful, to actually powerful tools that everyone could use. The day of punch cards were gone and you could basically go to a counsel and write a program. I started taking a few programming classes and I decided along the way that I wanted to do research and change from a Master’s program to a Ph.D. program. What did you research consist of at the time?

I had heard of someone doing really exciting research at the time. Now, neither engineering nor computer science are really research focused areas; but you can do research with them. The research I did was broadly called “Computational linguistics,” which was basically the beginning of what Siri is today. People were doing computer recognized speech and at the time, if you got 35 words out of a 100 right, you were just happy. In the time I was working in this lab, it went from being 65% of the time wrong to 1% wrong: things changed a lot in those 5-6 years. I was doing something a little different though, which I am still doing, which is instead of trying to recognize the words in speech, I tried to model how people said things. That’s called the prosody: not what but how you say things, your accent, where you put emphasis and how you phrase things. I work with linguists and psycholinguists and am the

the only engineer on my team, but we basically try to make models of what people do with their prosody and we have been quite successful in doing that. Basically, we are trying to model how people say things so that a computer can understand whether someone is irritated or continuing or starting a new subject, all these different subtle things we signal to other humans with prosody. Is prosody basically trying to achieve modeling with a computer a way to translate emotions?

You could translate emotions, and whether someone is angry or happy or sad. Actually, what you can actually perceive would be the strength of an emotion but not its polarity: it’s hard to tell the difference between someone who is very happy or very sad. You can tell whether someone is low on emotions, but you can’t tell if someone is really happy or really angry if you don’t know the context. Voice and context are important in prosody, which is why with Siri or other current speech recognition programs, when she’s asking you the same thing over and over again, it is because she cannot connect that the sentences you said are connected with the previous ones. Everything to Siri is a new topic unconnected to other ones. Is this research on going at Simmons?

Yes, and I have colleagues, John Barrons and Celina Brugos at BU and Stephanie Chatakofnego at MIT, with whom I worked for at least 10 years. I have engaged some very successful psychology students and computer science students who have done a few projects. We have been able to get funding in computer science for student research since it is an interdisciplinary science. If any of our readers find your research and projects interesting, can they reach out to you?

They should come and see me! There is one project that we are about to launch, in which we are reading a bunch of comic strips that have to do with two people and how much the speaker knows about what the hearer already knows and how he would respond based on that. For example, if you just walked in from outside with a wet coat on and I didn’t have a window, if I say: “It’s raining?” I would not actually be asking a question. I can tell that you already know and you could tell that I have a pretty good idea that it is indeed raining. So the question would be asked in a slightly different way than if you came in without a wet coat and I asked out of the blue: “It’s raining out?” I would be a little more surprised and would have no clue as to whether it is raining or not. That slight difference in prosody is what we are interested in, and we are about to launch a study on that. Are you taking part in any other kinds of research?

The other part of my research has nothing to do with prosody: I study STEM pedagogy and what is the best way to teach students science and technology, and how to make successful and effective students. I have done a lot on the idea of belonging: when a student feels like they

belong, then they are more likely to persist and thus more likely to be successful. We found that what makes a student feel like they belong has to do with faculty interaction, feedback, what their perceived GPA is, and the student’s feeling of self-advocacy, not only whether they feel like they belong socially but rather whether they feel like they belong as in they can do a particular discipline. So when teaching, you want to make sure that your students don’t just get disappointing information. For a long time in science, there was always this idea of “weeding out” the students in the first class to only end up with the best ones. It turns out you actually end up with the most stubborn ones. So having students get feedbacks on what their strengths are actually helps them truthfully figure out what their self-efficacy is, in other words, how well they really can do it. Professors, teachers have to make sure they are not discouraging of totally encouraging but rather giving realistic feedbacks about students’ abilities. If they then find that they are able, which is mostly if they are focused and motivated, then they will go on. We also found out something we are about to publish which is that Simmons is different from other places that we study. Simmons students don’t like to form study groups, whereas at other larger or even of similar size institutions, almost everyone is in a study group. At Simmons, being in a study group is seen as what weak students do, whereas there, it’s the strong students that form study groups. We think that this is because Simmons students have access to faculty and in class, faculty form groups. They essentially have students form study groups and work on problems in class so that students are actually getting that practice and working it out with a peer that other students are having to get for themselves outside of class. My concern is whether we are making students who are less able to be independent, which I don’t think is true: we are rather modeling how group work is so that they can work in teams later. Because the truth of the matter is that all science is done as a team. It’s not done by a crazy person in the garage anymore! STEM fields in general, but more especially engineering and informatics are mainly male dominated. Do you think being a woman could be a disadvantage? What advice would you give to young women in the field?

I am not the best person to give advice to young women because the field has changed so much since when I first went through it. Sincerely, at this point, I don’t really care about what others think of me. I don’t have anything to prove since I’m at the top of my career. Perhaps that’s the advice: don’t care about what others may think of you even though I know it’s very hard to do so. I think that one way women may be at a disadvantage is that people look at your work far more critically and how people watch you work is far more invasive. People notice everything you do: something that a man may do and go unnoticed, a woman will be under scrutiny all the time so everything she does wrong is under notice. On the other hand, this is a field which tends to be a meritocracy: if you do good work, no one can say you’re not. It’s very tangible. Fall 2015 N° 1 | 25

A wonderful alum of mine, Elizabeth Baker, regularly comes back to take a group of seniors and juniors at Simmons to hold a “bootcamp” or workshop to make sure that students are in shape to be impressive, that their resumes look good to technical people, that they have demonstrated projects that are publicly available, etc. Tweeting also turns out to be a thought leader in this field now. The hard thing for students is to make their competency visible so that employers will see them. Men go to hackatons and are very obvious there, which is where the top CS companies sit and pick the best students, which can be intimidating. This year, we actually had our first hackaton on September 25th, which was a great success: about 45 students from all over Massachussetts, even a few men, and mentors from local companies came in to help with the different projects. To those who may not know, a hackaton consists in small teams formed to work on a project and code for 24 to 48 hours to complete it as much and as well as possible; the rule being that you cannot code something already started. At the end, small prices are given out to the best programs created. Essentially, the big advice I would give is to just forget about other people and their opinion of you and just jump into what you are passionate about. If you can demonstrate that, then you will get plenty of opportunities. These days, companies are hiring a lot: I get an email almost every week asking for any graduates. Why should Simmons students choose to major in Computer Science and what would you say are the strengths of the program at Simmons?

Definitely the fact that you are mentored by actual professors and form relations with them. Students here are, I think, very smart and very collaborative so you can work with other people, which is a really good model. Simmons is a great place to learn: we have great alumni that are willing to help. Computer Science is a wide open field that is changing all the time: it’s just starting out, unlike Physics for example in which making contributions today is a lot harder and less significant than at the beginning of the field. So with Computer Science there are so many things to be done, you can make a great contribution, even without going to grad school, to things that would positively impact people’s lives right away. For some reason, people usually associate Computer science with numbers. But, your phone is a computer: when you are making a call or playing at Flappy Bird, you are using something that people like me wrote. We are the authors of everything that stands in pop culture these days, which is a good feeling and to be someone who is writing what is happening as opposed to someone who is standing back and watching it happen is truly rewarding.

“Young women being empowered to be the authors of the next generation of reality is really powerful”

I’m doing a course open to students with at least a semester of programming in the Spring called Human-

26 | MindScope Science Magazine

itarian, Free and Open source softwares in which we’ll look at big software applications. Many people have volunteered to make the world a better place and softwares have been playing a big role in it. For example, we will be looking at an application as a way to keep track of loans through microfinancing in Africa to allow local people to start small businesses. This is a software that helps facilitate the tracking of funds, which is a small thing but will be extremely useful locally. Other similarly helpful softwares could be open source medical records or open source connections to doctors which would be very useful in other underserved parts of the world. Many young women worry about balancing a successful professional career and a family life. How did you manage to balance the two?

It wasn’t too bad, maybe because I didn’t do it the usual way. Just as I was finishing my Ph.D., I met a man who was a widow: his wife had died of breast cancer just before and had two very young children. I married him, adopted them and have been their mum ever since. I cut out that stage, which did not overlap with my thesis. I also had a partner who balanced his work time as well so that we could do it together. I think it would be really hard if you don’t have a co-parent. Other than that, I found it to be possible and manageable. Between research and academia, which one do you like most and why?

I like what I am doing now. I teach at Simmons where teaching is valuable and I have a research affiliation at MIT where research is valuable so I actually have the best of both worlds. I never teach in the summer and focus on research. In the academic year, I meet with my research group every week and it turns out to be fine. Of course, soetimes I crunch time and wish I had more hours in a day but I think anyone who does anything passionately is going to find that you just want to do more Could you share with us a fun fact or a hobby of yours?

The hobby that I have actually isn’t much of a fun fact. Another thing that I do and that I have done, though a little less now, is that I got involved with what was called at the time “the battered women’s movement” for victims of domestic violence. This was back in the 80’s when it was normal if you beat your wife. I was a volunteer there for many years, then Chair of the Board of Directors for many years after that and now I am just a friend of the shelter, which is in Cambridge. It is called Transition House. We are about to have our 40th anniversary and looking at how so many things have changed is incredible. Now, if a person hits another person they have been involved with, like a husband hitting his wife, nobody says: “She had it coming.” They may understand him or not think it’s that serious but they won’t say it’s right. That has changed a lot and it makes me very proud to see I had my part in changing the world for the better in that way. Transition house, also called T House takes volunteers and interns, usually with backgrounds in social work, but anyone is welcome! █

CLOSE-UP

Meet Interviews by Joud Mulla

your professors Simmons alumni

ALUMNI PAGE: What are they doing now? Name – Jennett (Jenna) Chenevert Year of Graduation – 2015 Major(s) – Chemistry

Fun Fact – I really love miniature glassware.

What have you been doing since graduation?

What is your most memorable moment at Simmons?

I have been studying Forensic Chemistry and Forensic Toxicology at Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

My most memorable moment as a Simmons student was graduation. I saw so many of my friends and family, and it felt like everything and everyone that contributed to my completion of my degree had come together in one place at the same time.

What was your favorite class at Simmons? Why?

My favorite class at Simmons was Quantum Mechanics because it was the class that I felt explained everything I had learned in chemistry classes to that point. Honestly, I wanted to take all of the other courses again after taking Quantum to enhance my understanding of the other topics in chemistry. Who inspired you the most at Simmons?

What is one advice you would give to Simmons students interested in pursuing a scientific career?

Simmons is a supportive, invigorating learning environment; you won’t get that everywhere you go. I would recommend having research experience at Simmons, but also outside of Simmons. █

I’m not sure I could pick out any one individual in the college who inspired me most. I think one of the most unique strengths Simmons has is its sense of community, and every person I interacted with at Simmons contributed to my education and development as a scientist and as a human being. I am most inspired by the Simmons community.

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 27

CLOSE-UP

Name – Zun Zar Chi Naing (Snow) Year of Graduation – 2014

Major(s) – Biochemistry, Physics

Fun Fact – I was a buddhist nun for three consecutive summers when I was in middle school, and I loved it.

What have you been doing since graduation? While at Simmons College, my interest in both Physics and Biological sciences intensified and I wanted to explore academic fields that combined both Physics and Biology. I participated in an 11-week biophysics summer research program at UNC Chapel Hill right after graduation where I was exposed to a graduate level research atmosphere. I worked with Dr. Amy Oldenberg in the Optical Coherence Imaging Lab, at the Department of Physics and Astronomy where I studied how extracellular matrix (ECM) is remodeled by fibroblasts in 3D cell cultures by imaging with Optical Coherent Tomography (OCT) using Gold Nano-Rods. In this project, I generated a MATLAB script to predict ECM remodeling using the diffusion rate of the gold nano-rods and the nanostructure spatial changes within the ECM-fibroblast samples. I also worked as a research assistant at a biotechnology company called Applied StemCell, Inc. (ASC) immediately after my internship at UNC Chapel Hill. I was mainly involved in molecular projects, particularly in DNA cloning. I designed vector constructs using CRISPR-Cas9 systems that were then used in cell transfections and microinjections to produce genetically engineered animal models. Even though I enjoyed the fast paced small start-up company atmosphere and working on different projects at the same time, I wanted to focus on human disease research that inquired about the disease mechanisms. After three months at ASC, I left for a research technician position at Channing Division of Network Medicine, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where I am currently working under the supervision of principle investigator, Dr. Xiaobo Zhou. The Zhou lab studies functional genomics of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). 28 | MindScope Science Magazine

What was your favorite class at Simmons? Why? I enjoyed all the classes I took at Simmons. If I had to choose, it would be Mechanics with Dr. Michael Kaplan. We were only two students and Professor Kaplan adapted the class to our interests in addition to following the curriculum. We had discussions ranging from classical mechanics to string theory and quantum mechanics. It was always nice to learn from a professor who has a passion in many diverse aspects of physics. Who inspired you the most at Simmons?

My peers are the people from which I get most inspired. Everyone has big goals and we all try as hard as we can. The drive, the passion, and the thirst for learning in all of my peers are truly inspirational and motivate me even further to pursue my own goals. What was your most memorable moment at Simmons?

When I organized an event called “Trip Around the World” an a junior with the Multicultural and International Students Organization (MISO), which I founded as a freshman.We showcased the different cultures of international students on campus through their diverse foods, dresses and crafts. What is one advice you would give to Simmons students interested in pursuing a scientific career?

Never sell yourself short. Don’t doubt yourself. Everything is hard in the beginning and just because you are struggling now doesn’t mean you are not capable to achieve great things in the future. If you believe you can do something, and try your best (and I mean, best) at it, then you will be able to achieve anything you want. █

Name – Mariamawit Gebremeskel Year of Graduation – 2015 Major(s) – Biochemistry

Fun Fact – I played tennis intensively in middle and high school and represented my country Ethiopia in international competitions.

What have you doing been since graduation? I have been working at Harvard Medical School in the Genetics Department under the Churchman Lab as a Research Technician. I have been looking for a position in a biotechnology company to go and gain more experience in the industrial aspect of biotechnology/pharmaceutical research. On the side, I also help my brother in his business, importing Opal Gemstones into the US from Ethiopia. What was your favorite class at Simmons? Why?

My favourite class at Simmons was Biochemistry with Dr. Jenna Canfield. Even though it was hectic, with a lot of new information, I felt like that was the class in which I really got tested and challenged, especially in terms of how to articulate myself in an efficient manner. Who inspired you the most at Simmons?

My very close friend Andree Sime ‘14 was a student who inspired me the most into becoming a better and stronger person. She was a true ray of sunshine on campus and the one who made my experience at Simmons memorable. She helped me feel at home even though I was more than 20,000 miles away from home. She also gave me many advice on how to adapt to life in the US

What is one advice you would give to Simmons students interested in pursuing a scientific career? Unfortunately, it is not easy getting a position after graduation in the science business, competition is very high. You can’t let it get you down though, keep hammering away and submit your CV everywhere. Something will eventually come up. With the advent of online applications employers get thousands of applicants in the first hour of posting. Hang in there and cast an even wider net. It may seem counter intuitive but that is the best way to get in somewhere. Try to follow up with the person you are talking to in the interview to see if there are any other openings in their company or even somewhere else. While at Simmons try to branch out and network with your different professors and see if they can connect you with others. Going into industry especially with start up companies is a really great way to start your career, it gives you a chance to expand your skills rather than huge Fortune 500 companies where you are stuck in only one specific job. If you work hard and do well for most companies, after a year or so they can provide tuition reimbursement and fund you to go to graduate school to receive a Masters or Doctoral degree. █

What was your most memorable moment at Simmons?

My most memorable moment at Simmons was when I met my squad. I’m just joking, my most memorable moment is definitely when I got to present my senior thesis and defended it at the 73rd Eastern New England Biology Conference and was nominated in the Sigma Xi National Research Society. Fall 2015 N° 1 | 29

STUDENTS VOICE

A glimpse of the British healthcare system Sara Haque ‘17, spent her summer 2015 in Carlisle, England where she shadowed physicians and nurses in North Carlisle Medical Center. She shares with us the details of her trip and the striking differences of the British healthcare system as compared to the American one.

e all know that the healthcare system in the United States does not favor those who are not part of the upper and middle class, and therefore do not have private insurance covered by a job. Obamacare is what retiring senior citizens are referred to, as well as the lower class which may not have access to any other form of insurance. Under Obamacare, there are many restrictions, and the cost of simple things, such as eye glass prescriptions, is present. This summer I decided to head over to Europe, specifically Carlisle in England to take a closer look at what at first glance looks like an ideal healthcare system. When I wasn’t having tea with the Queen, or viewing the city landscape from the Londonian Eye, my day consisted of heading over to North Carlisle Medical Center and shadowing one of the doctors or fellow nurses in duty. The first major difference I noted between the two healthcare systems, was how emergencies were handled and the professional atmosphere in the hospital. Waiting rooms were large, dimly lit, and open to allow patients to feel comfortable and prevent any claustrophobic fears. Receptionists handled calls and instead of taking down emergency messages, they would book the doctor to call back the patient at a certain time slot during his or her afternoon shift. Surprisingly, the concept of doctors calling patients and booking home visits still exists in England. Of course, there are benefits as well as disadvantages to this. Patients who are weak and older, would benefit from having doctors visit them. However, the increasing load of paper work on doctors and the requests of patients with minor issues to have doctors visit them, is an obstacle. This system is beneficial for lazy or seriously immobile patients, but is starting to take a stressful toll on doctors.

30 | MindScope Science Magazine

In the patient evaluation room, which is also the doctor’s actual office, the process of examining the patient ran differently. Instead of a nurse initially coming into the room to take the patient’s vitals down and confirming their medication and allergy lists, the doctor immediately called the patient in and evaluated the main problem. I later found out that unless the condition or illness of the patient was a chronic one, doctors would not provide annual health checkups for their patients and would mainly address immediate problems patients may be facing at hand. Nurse practitioners, each with a different specialization, addressed the patients for their annual health checkups. Each consultation with the doctor lasted about 10 minutes, and all information was noted down under electronic medical records, similar to the U.S. To prescribe medication, an electronically printed paper script would be given to the patient for them to pick up the medication from the local pharmacy.

The medical practice I happened to be at presented many specializations that functioned as a private practice; from general physicians, to those performing microsurgeries, or musculoskeletal therapists (try saying that in a British accent). The medical specialization fields, treatments, and on-call systems are similar to those in the U.S. The major difference between England’s healthcare system and that of the United States lies in their insurance policies. It is rare for the British to have a private insurance, a majority of them are insured by the NHS (National Health Service) which was launched in 1948 with the belief that good healthcare should be allowed for everyone no matter their financial status. It remains free for anyone who is a United Kingdom resident and covers everything from antenatal and routine screenings, to transplants, emergency treatments, and end-of-life care. However, the rulings al-

lowing assisted suicide do not yet exist in this country.

This sounds incredibly charming to anyone living in the US. However, there are numerous disadvantages for the pedestrians of England when it comes to funding a quasi-free healthcare system. Funding for the NHS comes directly from taxation, and the better the occupation a civilian has, the higher the percentage of their salary will be cut towards the NHS. Modernization in scientific technology and treatment plans are becoming increasingly expensive as research and business in these areas is further developing. As a result, the amount a person is taxed is also increasing to cover the expense of these treatments. As of right now, it is starting to take a toll on England’s economy but nothing has been put as an effort yet to cease this expensive taxation. The last major differences pertain to the treatment of the elderly. On my trips to retirement homes with one of the district nurses, the first thing I noticed was the richness and elegance of the retirement centers. They were like mansions! Each room was assigned to one patient, and each patient was taken under the care of a district

nurse to tend to their dressing, lotion applications, vital checkups, and other basic necessities. I also took a trip with the Care Home doctor on duty, who visited patients in retirement homes as well as in their houses. She attended to duties such as a breast tumor diagnosis or a heart murmur examination.

Overall, it was an exciting trip and definitely worth my time. Honestly, the hardest part was understanding the British accent! I even started to develop my own as a coping mechanism to understanding theirs. Unfortunately, they were able to single out the American from the group every single time. The British healthcare system is not all the way it is made up to be in the U.S. With its advantages to the elderly, there are many disadvantages to the working class. My observations helped me better understand how difficult it is to honor each side’s requests when it comes to healthcare. Each country has its own regulations, and certain aspects of it will benefit some more than others: it is difficult to keep everyone happy. █

If you have any questions about my trip, please feel free to ask. Until then, cheers! Left: A cyst I helped remove from the head of patient during one of the microsurgery sessions!

Bottom: North Carlisle Medical Center

Although in England, Carlisle is a small town located close to the border of Scotland, I was able to discover the greenery of Scotland, along with the fish and chips of England and the accents I received were a mixture of Scottish and British!

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 31

STUDENTS VOICE

Go for broke Annika Gibbs ‘17, has made the unusual decision of buying a horse while financing her own college education. She shares with us her thoughts, joys and struggles of her situation.

was never one to agonize over money. Perhaps this is due to my privileged upbringing in a middle class American family, but I never felt a need to have a high paying job as I grew up and became more aware of the impending changes of adulthood. I bought a horse, and paid for him myself all through high school using my minimum wage earnings from the local riding barn, and I still held a kind of indifference to the money I gained and lost each month. As long as my money was circulating around my horse so that he was fed and housed correctly, I was content. Money, to me, was always a necessary byproduct of life, but never a thing to be too concerned about. When I went to college and decided that I wanted to study to become a veterinarian, money sidled into the forefront of my thoughts.

College is expensive. Horses are expensive. Veterinary school is even more expensive. When I came into college I worked on earning enough money for tuition as well as monthly horse board payments. College wouldn’t be possible for me without the help of my parents for tuition (as I am sure is the case for many undergraduates), but this help doesn’t extend to high priced graduate programs. I’ve found myself becoming increasingly concerned with my minimum wage jobs putting funding into my bank account, and with the money being syphoned off each month to pay for my horse. I didn’t have too much time to panic before I started searching for opportunities to get my foot into the door of veterinary science.

32 | MindScope Science Magazine

Vet schools have prerequisite courses. They also have extracurricular requirements; such as a minimum amount of hours working in a veterinary setting, large animal experience, small animal experience, animal husbandry experience, and recommendation letters from veterinarians. What they don’t tell you is how difficult it is to actually volunteer at vet clinics due to insurance concerns, and how difficult it is to be accepted into programs which contain exposure to veterinary practice. From my experience very few working clinics will take on volunteers or interns, and of those few which accept select few students, I can almost guarantee that the hours you put in will not be paid. I was unbelievably lucky in that after some searching I was accepted as a volunteer at a local hospital which I adored. I managed to volunteer a few days a week over the summer following my freshman year, and work the rest of the days at the barn to pay for my horse and save for school. The following year, they offered me a paid internship position. And here I am, a junior pre-vet student terrified of the future. As I write this article I am applying to several other internships (some paid and some unpaid) so that I can be prepared for veterinary schools when I enter the very competitive application pool next year. I may be accepted, and then again, I may not. If I do get accepted,

there will be many steep loans for me to repay with my comparatively low salary job that I worked so hard to get.

Is it worth it to pursue such an expensive degree for a job with disproportionately small wages? To keep an expensive animal throughout college while you’re trying to pay for tuition costs? My situation is a unique one, and my unique answer to both of these questions would be a resounding “yes.” Keeping my horse though college was perhaps a selfish choice of mine, but while coming up with money for him is stressful, he has always been a great source of relief for me when I get to spend time with him. I earn money to spend on the important things in my life, like my horse who is as much my family as my parents are, and tuition which will hopefully lead me to a job which I can enjoy for the rest of my life. Money facilitates these things, sure, but money also comes into my bank account and flows out again like a river. As the money circulates back into commerce the important things are left like flotsam in its wake: my horse, my education. █

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 33

BOOK REVIEWS

Column written by Leila Bellou The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer By Siddhartha Mukherjee The “war on cancer” started in 1971 with the U.S. President Richard Nixon who signed the National Cancer Act in an effort to invest more heavily in cancer research to maybe one day understand and treat this “emperor of all maladies.” Since then, our efforts have shed light on numerous factors, risks, disease mechanisms which may lead to the deadly disease. However, what we tend to forget is that even though cancer is a characteristic of aging which has been recently extended in our societies of increased longevity, cancer has been present since the dawn of time. Doctors and healers of the past may have lacked the terms to describe and comprehend the disease, but cancer has nonetheless always carried the grim prophecy of death. Today,

Skyfaring: A journey with a pilot By Mark Vanhoenacker Flying has now become a mundane, sometimes even irritating, means of transportation, which has ceased to amaze us as much as it used following its discovery. However, flying remains one of the most remarkable invention of humankind. This is what Mark Vanhoenacker attempts to re-establish in this book. This native of Massachussetts, fascinated with planes since his most tender age, is an airline pilot for British Airways who is very much enamored with his job. In this book, the author transports us through his journey in the clouds. With

him, we discover how it is really like to be a pilot: the semblance of a normal working life, amidst the peculiarities inherent to the job. We discover the disorientation felt or “place lag,” every time the author lands in a different part of the world: Tokyo, Los Angeles, Johannesburg or the Arabian Gulf. We discover the amazing mechanistic and technicalities behind the 380-tonne jets we all use to fly. It is a beautiful book, full of metaphors and imageries which succeed in making us dream of far away lands and cloudy skies. If the idea of flying has always been a fascinating quasi-mystical experience, this book is definitely your gem.

Mutants: On genetic Variety and Human Body By Armand Marie Leroi This book starts by establishing an important fact: we are all mutants. No one is exempt from the mutation storm naturally occurring in our genome, which is both necessary to ensure diversity and acquire new potentialities, but can also have disastrous consequences when it induces abnormal development, deformity and pathology. Hence, while we are all mutants, some are more than others. These mutants were historically deemed monsters, until the evolution of science which has shed light on the mechanisms underlying these peculiar deviance of nature. It is this shift in beliefs that the author develops in his book, in which he summarizes beautifully the historical evolution of the study of “monsters”. By reading this book we realize how

34 | MindScope Science Magazine

we can start to describe and treat it more effectively, but the journey was paved with death, multiple attempts and failed trials interrupted by small discoveries and victories along the way. With the flair of a historian and the metaphors of a poet, the author depicts beautifully the deeply tragic and humane story of cancer. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book by Columbia professor of medicine, hematologist and oncologist, Siddhartha Mukherjee, is a masterpiece which recounts with elegance the wake of this war. While the book is dense with information on the scientific and technical aspect of the disease, it is also interspersed with narratives and stories of scientists, doctors, patients which poignantly depict the very human nature of cancer. A brilliant book which I recommend to everyone!

“mutants”, these extraordinary individuals have always been the subject of awe, be it of true admiration or pure disgust, they have never left anyone indifferent. “Monsters” were exploited and showcased in circuses or other perverse representations; they were studied sometimes in sordid ways like in concentration camps by doctors in Nazi Germany. However, they would sometimes benefit from their peculiarities. It has at times even garnered them access to the aristocracy, such as in the cases of Joseph Boruwlasky, affected with pituitary dwarfism who was ennobled by the King of the Poles and married a noble beauty in the 1800’s or the “hairy family of Burma” affected by an abnormal amount of hair growth known as Hypertrichosis who lived in the court of King Ava as entertainers. This is a beautiful book for anyone fascinated by genetics and the abnormal!

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And

Anyone else who participated in the creation of this first issue!

Fall 2015 N° 1 | 35

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