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Faculty member using graphic design to address changes, improve lives CAMPUS NEWS
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The University of Georgia Georgia Museum of Art displays ‘growing cubes’ in new garden exhibition
July 14, 2014
Vol. 42, No. 1
www.columns.uga.edu
UGA GUIDE
UGA researchers receive $1.8M to fight deadly parasite By James E. Hataway jhataway@uga.edu
Christy Fricks
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton gathers with a group of townspeople from Tierra Muscady, Haiti, where he and philanthropist Frank Giustra launched the new Acceso Peanut Enterprise Corp. UGA is leading peanut research and training efforts in Haiti through its Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Peanut and Mycotoxin.
Growing good
UGA received a five-year $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. Severe diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under the age of 5, killing approximately 760,000 children every year, according to the World Health Organization. Cryptosporidium, commonly known as crypto, and three other pathogens—rotavirus, Shigella and E. coli—are the most common causes of diarrhea worldwide. While scientists have made great progress in combating these other pathogens, research on crypto has been slow.
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“There is no fully effective drug or vaccine for crypto,” said Boris Striepen, Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Investigator in Boris Striepen the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and principal investigator for the grant. “This project will develop the technology to genetically analyze and modify the organism so we better understand what we need to do to treat and prevent disease.” Unlike other common pathogens, crypto is notoriously difficult to study in a laboratory. Cultures of the parasite generally only last for
See GRANT on page 4
UGA innovation lab participates in launch of commencement Alumnus Abit Massey to Clinton Foundation’s Haiti peanut depot directly to the new Acceso Peanut and sat in on a training session for address summer graduates By Christy Fricks Enterprise Corp. launched by farmers. christyfricks@uga.edu Peanut research and supply channels in Haiti were boosted recently through an initiative developed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton and philanthropist Frank Giustra, who spent June 29 touring peanut research projects in Haiti with representatives from UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Peanuts are an important source of food in countries like Haiti, where demand for the legume continues to grow. UGA is leading peanut research and training efforts in the country through its Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Peanut and Mycotoxin. The lab’s work is contributing
the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation. The supply chain enterprise is designed to improve the livelihoods of more than 12,000 smallholder peanut farmers. The goal of the project, Clinton said, is to “empower farmers to meet the nutritional needs of people.” The rural Acceso depot in Tierra Muscady is one of 35 planned throughout Haiti’s central plateau and northern regions. It functions as a site for training, point of sales for seed and other inputs, storage and distribution for the community’s peanut farmers. During the visit, Clinton participated in the depot launch, toured a peanut farm and storage facility
UGA staff on hand for the tour were Dave Hoisington, the lab’s director, and Jamie Rhoads, incoming assistant director. Known as PMIL, the innovation lab is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and is part of the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative called Feed the Future. The Acceso project supports some of the main goals of PMIL and Feed the Future: scaling up local agriculture, increasing food safety and improving nutrition. “We are working to improve the production, quality and marketability of peanuts as a crop,” said Hoisington, who is also a senior
See HAITI on page 4
By Stephanie Schupska schupska@uga.edu
Francis “Abit” Massey, a 1949 UGA graduate and president emeritus of the Georgia Poultry Federation, will give the summer Commencement address at UGA’s combined undergraduate and graduate ceremony Aug. 1 at 9:30 a.m. in Stegeman Coliseum. Tickets are not required. Doors open at 8 a.m. “Welcoming back an alumnus like Abit Massey, who is a living legend in the world of Georgia agribusiness, is an honor for the university,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “He is one of the most respected and influential
leaders in the agricultural industry, and he has given to his alma mater with tremendous devotion and generosity. The university is a far better Abit Massey place because of his contributions.” For 48 years, Massey led the Georgia Poultry Federation, a nonprofit trade association that represents the state’s poultry industry. In 2009, he was named president emeritus and continues to work full time supporting Georgia’s
See COMMENCEMENT on page 4
Office of the Vice President for Research
2014 Southeastern Conference Symposium to focus on challenge of obesity By Terry Marie Hastings thasting@uga.edu
The 2014 Southeastern Conference Symposium will bring faculty, administrators and students from all 14 member universities to Atlanta Sept. 21-23 for an academic symposium on “Prevention of Obesity: Overcoming a 21st Century Public Health Challenge.” Registration now is being accepted. Members of UGA’s Obesity Initiative will join scholars from every SEC university to discuss the development and implementation of an effective national effort to reduce obesity rates and promote better health.
Leann Birch
Deborah Murray
Faculty from UGA’s Obesity Initiative who will present include Leann Birch, the William P. “Bill” Flatt Childhood Obesity Professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ foods and nutrition department; Deborah Murray, associate dean for Extension and outreach in the College of Family and
Bradley Phillips
Patricia Thomas
Consumer Sciences; Bradley Phillips, the Millikan-Reeve Professor in the College of Pharmacy’s clinical and administrative pharmacy department; Patricia Thomas, holder of the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication; and Mark Wilson, a health
Mark Wilson
promotion and behavior professor in the College of Public Health. Obesity prevention and treatment are popular topics among media, lawmakers, health care professionals and others. And, while the subjects have gained attention during the past decade, the U.S. has not seen a significant reduction in
population-level obesity rates over the same 10-year span. Researchers at the SEC Symposium hope to identify ways to markedly reduce America’s obese and overweight populations through prevention. This year’s topics range from genetics to technology and media to environmental influences.The symposium is divided into eight sessions of formal presentations and includes informal breakout sessions intended to foster interaction and discussion among participants. In addition to university presenters, there will be two keynote speakers. On Sept. 21, Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, will open the
See SYMPOSIUM on page 4