MAES News
December 1, 2008
- MAES Researcher to Study Social Aspect of Deadly Disease
- Greenhouse Gas Policy Paper Wins Harvard Competition
- MichBio Names MSU Sea Grant Leader Innovator of the Year
- New Faculty Members
An MAES entomology scientist who studies the causes and transmission routes of a tropical disease known as Buruli ulcer is turning his attention to the social aspects of the disease and, in particular, how the stigma of it affects the lives of thousands of people.
MAES researcher Richard
Merritt will use a portion of a $143,000 grant from the McCord Research Foundation to develop education and family support programs aimed at teaching families how to identify and seek medical intervention for the ulcer in its early stages.
"Buruli ulcer is a devastating disease affecting thousands of children throughout West Africa, particularly in Ghana," Merritt said. "The McCord Research Foundation's generous grant will help to support research into how this horrific disease is transmitted. It also will allow us to work with staff in the country itself to establish an education program assisting parents to identify the early presence of the ulcer in their children and help support education for the children while they are in the hospital.
"We're hoping to eliminate the stigma associated with Buruli ulcer and get families to take action early, reducing the often painful suffering and isolation that goes along with contracting the disease."
The bacterium responsible for Buruli ulcer -- Myocobacterium ulcerans -- is a genetic cousin to bacteria that cause leprosy and tuberculosis. As with leprosy, patients with Buruli ulcer can develop painful and unattractive sores on their bodies that can eventually cripple and even kill them.
More common in children than adults -- about 70 percent of those with the disease are younger than 15 years old -- Buruli ulcer mainly affects children in poor, rural areas. If left untreated, the ulcer can spread and painful scar tissue develops.
The disease also destroys the social and emotional lives of school-age children because they are isolated from family and friends. Most children aren't allowed to attend school because of the condition.
The McCord Research Foundation grant enhances the funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation Emerging Infectious Disease section to conduct a five-year study investigating possible links among biting aquatic insects, water quality, landscape and Buruli ulcer transmission in Ghana. The NIH grant was awarded to MSU, with a subcontract awarded to the University of Tennessee.
Greenhouse Gas Policy Paper Wins Harvard Competition
MAES agricultural, food and resource economics researcher Jinhua
Zhao says a flexible approach is key to developing an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Zhao's policy concept won top honors in a competition sponsored by Harvard University and could be put on the table next year when Kyoto II is negotiated in Copenhagen.
Kyoto I failed to bring major greenhouse gas emitters such as the United States, China and India into the agreement, and it lacked ways to enforce emission reductions, Zhao explained. In a paper he co-authored with Larry Karp, of the University of California at Berkeley, Zhao argued that Kyoto II should impose national ceilings on affluent nations' greenhouse gas emissions, with voluntary abatement by developing countries.
To address participation and enforcement at the same time, the researchers advocate an escape clause tied to fines for nations that can't meet their treaty emissions reduction obligations.
Zhao's research focuses on global climate change, carbon sequestration and international environmental agreements. He and Karp expect to consult with Swedish officials as they develop proposals for the Copenhagen gathering in December 2009.
Zhao and Karp's paper bested 27 others to win a research paper competition sponsored by the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements. Read the paper.
MichBio Names MSU Sea Grant Leader Innovator of the Year
John Schwartz, MSU Sea Grant program leader turned medical device entrepreneur, was named innovator of the year by MichBio, Michigan's biotechnology industry association.
Schwartz, who co-founded AI (Airway Innovations) Medical Devices Inc. in Williamston 2 1/2 years ago, was honored at the group's 2008 expo and conference in Novi.
Working with his brother Richard, an MSU graduate and Medical College of Georgia emergency room physician, Schwartz developed the Airway Rigid Intubating Fiberoptic Laryngoscope (RIFL). The Airway RIFL facilitates placement of a flexible plastic tube into the trachea to protect a patient's airway and allow mechanical ventilation. The procedure, although common, is difficult and often traumatic, and, if improperly done, can cause grave damage. It is especially difficult to perform on those suffering cervical spine injuries.
Schwartz's innovation was an articulated insertion tube to better navigate the trachea, combined with fiber optics for remote vision. The second generation of the device is nearing commercial production, and Schwartz is meeting with prospective manufacturers.
The Airway RIFL is unrelated to his work at MSU, but Schwartz said AI Medical Devices received important market research assistance and other guidance from Michigan State in the company's early stages.
"They really helped with a whole variety of things to move toward commercialization of the product," he said. "We had a lot of people wanting us to go to other places, but we developed our corporation in Michigan because of the things MSU did to assist us with our business plan."
Schwartz will retire this month after 25 years with MSU. As an Extension educator, he taught hundreds of emergency medical personnel how to handle cold water near-drowning. He also developed a course in outdoor preparedness for natural resource professionals and led MSU students on study abroad courses in the Himalayas, Belize, Anguilla, the Bahamas and Antarctica.
His introduction to medicine goes back to his days as an engineering undergraduate at the University of Michigan, when he worked drawing blood from patients at a veterans' hospital.
New Faculty Members
The MAES is pleased to welcome two faculty members with new MAES appointments.
Rafael Auras, assistant professor of packaging, became affiliated with the MAES in August. His research focuses on sustainable packaging systems, life cycle assessment, carbon-neutral packaging, and the ability of packaging materials to biodegrade and be composted. His other research interests include mass and heat transfer in polymers, and food product/package compatibility and interaction. Auras is currently evaluating biodegradable polymers, especially for use at mulch farms, overwinter houses and in transplant pots. He also is developing methods to better understand how polymers degrade in soil and composting environments.
Auras came to MSU in 2000 as a Fulbright fellow in the School of Packaging until 2002. He then worked as a research and teaching assistant until 2004 and then was named an assistant professor. Auras received his doctorate in packaging from MSU in 2004, his master's degree in materials science and technology from the National University of San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1999, and his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the National University of Misiones, Argentina, in 1996.
Elizabeth
Quilliam, assistant professor of advertising, became affiliated with the MAES in August. Her research focuses on the intersection of marketing and society, especially public policy issues related to children and advertising, privacy and corporate social responsibility.
Before coming to MSU, Quilliam was Harrison/Omnicom professor of advertising at West Virginia University. Before joining academia, she worked for several companies, including Equifax Card Services, CUNA Service Group Card Services, NYCE Network and Ameritrust Corp., and as a consultant specializing in marketing communications and sales support.
Quilliam received her doctorate in mass media from MSU in 2008, her master's degree in business administration from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in 1982, and her bachelor's degree in sociology from Oberlin College in 1974.
