New Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar to establish GSU research center in inflammation and infectious diseases

A Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar will establish a Georgia State University center that will focus on discoveries in inflammation and infectious disease treatments.

Dr. Jian-Dong Li, M.D., Ph.D., who is currently with the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, will lead the new Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection (CIII) at GSU, to be launched in January 2011 and housed in the new state-of-the-art Parker H. Petit Science Center.

"Georgia State University is excited to welcome Dr. Li and his laboratory to Atlanta," said Robin Morris, vice president for research at GSU. "He is a top researcher in the field of inflammatory diseases, and his arrival at GSU will not only enhance the university's research profile, but will also boost the state of Georgia as a hub of innovation and discovery in the biomedical field."

Li said he is looking forward to working at Georgia State and is grateful for the significant support and commitment by the Georgia Research Alliance.

"This is an excellent opportunity to join GSU at a time when the university is making an enormous effort to bring an already outstanding university to the next level in many areas, particularly in translational biomedical science," Li said.

"Dr. Li is an extraordinary scientist and entrepreneur," said Mike Cassidy, president of the Georgia Research Alliance.  "He adds to our cadre of GRA Eminent Scholars not only great insight in immunology and inflammatory diseases, but also a commitment to translating his discoveries into new treatments on which new companies can be built."

Li received his doctorate in medicine from Tsingtao University School of Medicine in China in 1983, and his Ph.D. from the biomedical sciences program of the University of California San Francisco in 1997. Prior to his time at the University of Rochester Medical Center, he served as a section chief and professor at the House Ear Institute of the University of Southern California from 1998 to 2005.

Li will also bring ROCK Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a company he co-founded, to Atlanta. The company's major focus is to develop novel anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents for treating a variety of inflammatory diseases.

The new CIII has a goal to better understand the molecular basis of inflammatory diseases so that novel therapeutic strategies can be further developed. Inflammation is one of the body's defense mechanisms in response to infection or injury. But when inflammation is uncontrolled, it causes diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

"We feel like we know inflammation. But in fact, we don't," Li said. "We understand relatively well how inflammation is initiated, but in many cases, we don't know how it's turned off."

Some of the drugs used to turn off inflammation - namely steroids - cause serious side effects, including the risk of infection and liver damage. The center's goal is help develop better therapeutics without significant adverse effects so that they can be used for long-term treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

The CIII will build upon Georgia State's existing strengths in drug discovery and diagnostics research, including the Center for Biotechnology and Drug Design, led by medicinal chemist and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar Binghe Wang, and the Viral Immunology Center led by another Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, Julia Hilliard.

President Mark Becker said that the synergies between Dr. Li's nascent center and the centers led  by Wang and Hilliard stand to elevate all three centers to levels not possible individually.

"It is exciting and rewarding to recruit a scientist of Dr. Li's caliber, particularly when the result will be three centers where 1+1+1 will amount to something much greater than 3!" Becker said.

Li said the center will also collaborate with researchers across the university and with other Atlanta entities like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University.

"I've been impressed and excited by the excellent opportunities for collaboration among many departments and centers, such as chemistry, biology, the Molecular Basis of Disease Program, Neuroscience Institute, psychology as well as the Institute of Public Health," he said.

The CIII will engage in drug discovery in the traditional way of screening for effective chemical compounds, evaluating effectiveness in the laboratory, and then moving toward clinical trials. This process is quite lengthy, and many drugs fail because they are too toxic to use. But the center will also work to find new uses for existing drugs in what is called a drug repositioning strategy.

"We can screen for those drugs that are potentially very powerful anti-inflammatory agents, and because they have already been used for years and years, we don't need to worry as much about side effects and safety issues," Li said.

For example, Li and his lab have found that Vinpocetine, a neurological drug used to treat memory loss that has been on the market for more than 30 years in Europe, Japan and China, is a very potent anti-inflammatory agent.

The university will hire additional faculty members under GSU's Second Century Initiative, an ambitious faculty hiring initiative to recruit 100 more faculty members to the university over the next five years, to serve as part of the CIII.
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UGA cotton and peanut field day Sept. 9 in Tifton

Anyone who wants to see firsthand the latest cotton and peanut research conducted by University of Georgia scientists should attend the annual UGA Cotton and Peanut Field Day Sept. 9 in Tifton, Ga.

The event will start at 8:30 a.m. at the UGA Tifton Lang-Rigdon Farm on Carpenter Road. Hot topics will include peanut disease management, stinkbug control, crop fertility and current and future varieties of both crops.

“Participants will not only get to see the research for these two important Georgia crops, they’ll be able to hear from the researchers and ask them questions about it,” said Phillip Roberts, a UGA Cooperative Extension entomologist and the field day organizer.

Lunch is provided. Along with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the event is cosponsored by the Georgia Peanut Commission and Georgia Cotton Commission. To find out more or get directions, call (229) 386-3424.

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Electrified Water Packs Powerful Health Punch

Health-conscious consumers know the benefits of eating high-antioxidant foods like fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts. A University of Georgia researcher has uncovered a way to provide antioxidant-rich water in a bottle.

For 10 years, UGA food scientist Yen-Con Hung has studied electrolyzed oxidized, or EO, water. EO water is created when a saltwater solution goes through an electrolysis process, which separates the water’s positive and negative ions. This makes two forms of water: one very acidic and one very alkaline.

Works like an antioxidant

“Alkaline EO water has low dissolved oxygen, high dissolved hydrogen and functions as an antioxidant,” Hung said.

The problem is it can be unstable, he said. Its antioxidant capacity, or OPR reading, can quickly change from a strong antioxidant to a strong oxidation agent.

The UGA Research Foundation has filed for a patent on Hung’s process that allows the alkaline EO water to be bottled with its high antioxidant benefits remaining stable for more than six months.

“The water isn’t new,” Hung said. “Consumers in Japan, Asia, Europe and the U.S. have been drinking it for years.”

Bottled version more affordable

What is new is alkaline EO water as a bottled product in the marketplace.

“Right now, you have to have an EO water generator to get the benefits of the drinking water,” he said. “And they cost from $1,000 to $3,000, which doesn’t fit into most household budgets. Our invention preserves the healthful properties of the water and makes it so more people will be able to enjoy the benefits.”

There is no taste different between alkaline EO water and traditional bottled waters. “That’s the beauty,” he said. “It’s just like drinking water you are use to, but you get many additional benefits.”

The EO water shouldn’t cost much more than currently available bottled waters, he said.
Manufacturer needed

“The next step is for us to find a company that wants to license the technology and begin providing the water to the public,” Hung said.

Companies interested in obtaining a license for this technology should contact Gennaro Gama with the UGARF Technology Commercialization Office at (706) 583-8088.
Acidic EO water beneficial, too

Scientists in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are studying ways to use the acidic EO water produced with the electrolysis process to control food-borne pathogens on plastic kitchen cutting boards, fresh poultry and lettuce, and to fight diseases on greenhouse plants.

"This water drastically cuts down the levels of salmonella and campylobacter on chicken carcasses," Hung said. "It would be a very effective addition to chicken processing plants."

Acidic EO water can be up to 10 times more effective at killing harmful bacteria than traditional methods.

By Sharon Dowdy
University of Georgia

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UGA Researchers Could Help Restore Devastated American Chestnut with Genetic Engineering

In their prime, the American chestnut trees stood a hundred feet tall and six feet wide. Now, they’re typically no bigger than shrubs, thanks to a fungal disease that spread down the East Coast decades ago, virtually wiping out the hardwood tree.

But researchers in the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, with support from ArborGen LLC, a leader in tree improvement and commercial production of trees, have developed a method for inserting anti-fungal genes into the tree’s DNA. They hope the new genes will fight off the fungal disease and help restore the American chestnut to its former glory. The results of Scott Merkle’s 20-year effort are detailed in a new paper published in the journal Plant Cell Reports, where he and associates Gisele Andrade and Joe Nairn describe the system they developed to insert new genes into the tree’s DNA and to propagate trees that carry the genes.

“The gene transfer system described in the new paper has already been used to produce some trees with genes that may confer resistance to the fungal disease,” said Merkle, “and ultimately could be used to help restore the tree to our eastern forests.”

The American chestnut used to grow from New England down the East Coast, abundantly through the Appalachians. It was a valuable resource for the U.S., Merkle explained, as it was a fast-growing tree that was used in construction, leather-making and as a dependable nut crop. But in the 1880s, people began to import Asian chestnuts to plant in their yards and with these trees came the fungus that attacked the American trees. The first documented instance of what became a widespread blight was in what is now the Bronx Zoo. A forester noticed the American chestnuts planted along the streets were dying. By 1904, the fungus had been identified as Endothia parasitica (eventually renamed Cryphonectria parasitica), but it was too late: The fungal disease spread rapidly, infecting Georgian trees by the 1940s.

“It happened amazingly fast,” Merkle explained. “They were actually stunned at how fast it spread.”

Merkle began researching the American chestnut blight in 1989, and has published several papers on the subject. In the past 20 years, he and his team of research associates and graduate students have been studying ways to get the chestnut trees to fight off the fungus. The disease works by attacking the chestnut after the bark has been injured, fanning out and killing the inner bark layer, eventually girdling the tree so that food and water cannot move up or down the stem.

So while the American chestnut used to grow more than a hundred feet tall, now they are usually no more than six feet tall before they are killed by the fungus, Merkle said. Most are just shrubs before they die, although larger surviving chestnuts have been found in isolated areas.

Merkle hopes to change that. After years of research, he and Andrade devised a way to grow chestnut trees from single cells and then found an effective way to separate the genetically engineered cells from the cells that did not have the inserted genes. Now, they’ve used their system to insert an anti-fungal gene, obtained from collaborator William Powell at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, into chestnut trees that are being grown in a Warnell greenhouse in preparation for testing the ability of that inserted gene to fight off the fungus.

"The way they’ll do that," Merkle said, "is by infecting the tree with the fungus and measuring how well it fights it off. It’ll be at least two years before they can take that next step in the research, however, since the trees have to grow to a certain size before they can be screened."

“It’s been a real challenge working with it,” he said. “But the potential is there.”

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UGA researchers achieve breakthrough in effort to develop tiny biological fuel cells

University of Georgia researchers have developed a successful way to grow molecular wire brushes that conduct electrical charges, a first step in developing biological fuel cells that could power pacemakers, cochlear implants and prosthetic limbs. The journal Chemical Science calls the technique “a significant breakthrough for nanotechnology.”

UGA chemist Jason Locklin and graduate students Nicholas Marshall and Kyle Sontag grew polymer brushes, made up of chains of thiophene and benzene, aromatic molecules sometimes used as solvents, attached to metal surfaces as ultra-thin films.

“The molecular wires are actually polymer chains that have been grown from a metal surface at very high density,” said Locklin, who has a joint appointment in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Science and on the Faculty of Engineering. “The structure of the film resembles a toothbrush, where the chains of conjugated polymers are like the bristles. We call these types of coatings polymer brushes. To get chains to pack tightly in extended conformations, they must be grown from the surface, a method we call the ‘grafting from’ approach.”

Using this approach, the scientists laid down a single layer of thiophene as the film’s initial coating, then built up chains of thiophene or benzene using a controlled polymerization technique. Their research, funded by the Petroleum Research Foundation, was published in the June issue of the journal, Chemical Communications.

“The beauty of organic semiconductors is how their properties change, based on size and the number of repeating units,” said Locklin, who is a member of UGA’s Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center. Thiophene itself is an insulator, said Locklin, “but by linking many thiophene molecules together in a controlled fashion, the polymers have conducting properties.”

More importantly, he said, “this technique gives us the control to systematically vary polymer architecture, opening up the possibility for various uses in electronic devices such as sensors, transistors and diodes.” The ultra-thin films are between 5 and 50 nanometers—too small to see, even under a high-powered optical microscope.

Locklin said it’s difficult to harness a fuel source in the body, such as glucose, for use in biofuel cells that could replace the need for batteries in an implanted device. And while humans have enzymes in the body that do a good job of converting chemical energy into electrical energy, “they aren’t very useful in this application because they have natural protective insulating layers that prevent good electron transport from active site to electrode,” he said. “Hopefully our molecular wires will provide a better conduit for charges to flow.”

While “flexible electronics” is a large and growing area of research, it’s still in its infancy, Locklin said. “For example, we don’t yet understand all of the fundamental physics involved in how electrical charges move through organic materials.”

The next step for Locklin is to develop appropriate applications. For example, his polymer brush technique might be used in a range of devices that interface with living tissue, such as biochemical sensors, prosthetic limbs, pacemakers or bionic ears. “The film itself might be used in transistors—or in photovoltaic devices such as solar cells,” said Locklin.

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Study: Indirect transmission can trigger influenza outbreaks in birds

New data on the persistence of avian influenza viruses in the environment has allowed a team of University of Georgia researchers to create the first model that takes into account both direct and indirect transmission of the viruses among birds. The model, which is detailed in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has the potential to shed new light on how outbreaks begin in wild bird populations.

“The environmental transmission of avian influenza among birds is quite rare, but our model shows that it can play an important role in outbreaks,” said lead author Pejman Rohani, professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology. “There are situations where ignoring the possibility of environmental transmission would cause you to significantly underestimate the probability, magnitude and duration of an outbreak.”

Rohani explained that current models of avian influenza only take into account the direct transmission of the virus that occurs when infected waterfowl and shorebirds shed the virus in their feces and those nearby drink contaminated water. But research in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine has revealed that some avian influenza viruses can persist in water for up to 150 days. So even when no infected birds are present, Rohani said, virus present in the water can trigger an outbreak. Models that only take into account direct transmission, he pointed out, would incorrectly conclude that there’s no risk of an outbreak when no infected birds are present.

The viruses the researchers studied are known as low-pathogenicity viruses and do not infect humans. Low-path viruses only cause mild symptoms in birds but have the potential to swap genes and give rise to high pathogenicity viruses that can cause massive die-offs in poultry and—in rare cases—can infect humans. The H5N1 avian influenza virus, for example, has a 60 percent mortality rate in humans and is responsible for 262 deaths worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

“We need to understand low-path viruses because they are a storehouse of genetic variation that can give rise to new and potentially dangerous strains,” said study co-author John Drake, assistant professor of ecology.

In addition to the environmental persistence of the virus, the team’s model takes into account variables such as lake size and the rate at which infected birds recover to describe likely and worse case outbreak scenarios. The model also reveals that environmental transmission extends the duration of an outbreak by infecting birds that haven’t come into contact with other birds yet have consumed contaminated water.

The data on the environmental persistence of avian influenza viruses comes from the lab of David Stallknecht, associate professor in the department of population health in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. In a study recently published in the journal Veterinary Microbiology, Stallknecht and lead author Justin Brown determined the persistence of 12 low-path avian influenza viruses under natural ranges of pH, salinity and temperature.

The researchers found that the duration of persistence varied widely among viruses, but that the viruses generally are most stable at a slightly basic pH, temperatures of less than 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) and in fresh to slightly brackish water.

“The role of the environment in the transmission of avian influenza has been almost completely undefined, and that’s what makes this research so exciting,” said Brown, a post-doctoral researcher. “Migration and other factors relating to the biology of the avian host are still very important factors that drive the epidemiology of avian influenza, but now we can look at various environments and ask if they’re better or worse for the transmission of avian influenza.”

The research was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morris Animal Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foundation and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study.

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UGA School of Social Work receives $839,735 grant to research PTSD, substance abuse treatment services

The National Institute on Drug Abuse—one of 27 institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health—has awarded the University of Georgia School of Social Work $839,735 to research the connection between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse treatment services.

The grant, a NIDA Mentored Research Scientist Development Award, was awarded to School of Social Work faculty member and Master’s of Social Work Program Director Brian Bride. Bride’s teaching and research interests focus on mental health and substance abuse services for special populations including women, older adults, persons living with HIV/AIDS, persons with co-occurring disorders and traumatized populations. Bride also has a particular interest in studying secondary traumatic stress/compassion fatigue in human services professionals.

Bride’s research has multiple dimensions: It will document current trauma-focused services in substance abuse treatment centers; identify factors associated with adoption of trauma-focused services in substance abuse treatment centers; document the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress among substance abuse counselors; examine the influence of the provision of trauma-focused services, clinical supervision, and organizational culture on counselor secondary traumatic stress; and examine the relationship between counselor secondary traumatic stress and counselor turnover.

“Little is known about the assessment and treatment of trauma/PTSD within substance abuse treatment settings, which in turn impacts the efficacy of treatment efforts for individuals with co-morbid substance use disorders and PTSD,” said Bride. “This grant will provide the mechanism for understanding the current state of the field in regards to trauma-focused services, which has significant implications for effective substance abuse treatment.”

Bride’s grant proposal was developed as part of his participation in and support from the Faculty Research Funding Mentoring Program of the UGA Institute for Behavioral Research. This interdisciplinary program pairs junior faculty with teams of faculty who have been successful in obtaining extramural funding. Working in concert with the senior faculty as well as peers from diverse behavioral science backgrounds, the program participants experience every phase of the application process from initial inquiry to administration of awarded funds. The program, active for 18 years, has had considerable success with its “learn-by-doing” format.

Paul Roman, UGA Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, will serve as Bride’s Primary Mentor and Lillian Eby (UGA Psychology Department), Robert Vandenberg (UGA Terry College Department of Management) and Kathleen Brady (Medical University of South Carolina Department of Psychiatry) will serve as co-mentors for the five-year duration of the NIH funding.

For Bride, the grant provides the opportunity to further explore two areas of interest.

“One of the things that excites me most about this funding is that it allows me to integrate two lines of my research—substance abuse treatment and secondary traumatic stress,” Bride said. “Though I have always seen the link, I have had little opportunity to integrate the two into a single study.”

The grant represents a major achievement for Bride, the School of Social Work and the university, according to Dean Maurice Daniels.

“Dr. Bride’s exceptional work is sure to make an impact on social work practice and research for many years to come,” said Daniels. “This grant also represents the culmination of scholarship by an outstanding faculty member, our research interests and our mission as a school to promote social and economic justice.”

The UGA School of Social Work has been preparing students for challenging and rewarding careers in social work for more than four decades. SSW is fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and offers five degrees including the BSW, MSW, MSW/JD, Ph.D. and Master of Arts in Nonprofit Management.

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One in Five Augustans With Type 2 Diabetes Mistakenly Believe That Being Obese or Overweight Can Positively Impact Their Disease

/PRNewswire/ -- Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) announced findings today from a recent survey conducted by national research firm Yankelovich that found that more than one in five Augustans with type 2 diabetes mistakenly think that excess weight has a positive effect on the disease. In fact, research shows that being overweight often contributes to the development of diabetes, complicates proper management of the disease and can lead to other serious conditions, including blindness, kidney damage and cardiovascular disease.

Survey findings also revealed that the recession is taking a negative toll on how Augustans manage their diabetes. One in four have reduced their level of diabetes care to save money, either by limiting treatment supplies, skipping doctor visits or taking medications less often, which can all lead to significant long-term health risks.

"These findings underscore the need for more education on the importance of proper diabetes management, including the impact of weight, in Augusta and the variety of options available to them," said Dr. Steven Edelman, physician, author and founder of TCOYD.

The survey, which assessed the behaviors and attitudes of Augustans with type 2 diabetes, was commissioned by TCOYD, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 diabetes education organization that offers programs to inform, motivate and empower participants to take control of their diabetes. TCOYD is also holding a diabetes education conference that will help Augustans with diabetes and their loved ones learn how to better manage the disease. The conference and health fair, taking place on Feb. 28, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Augusta Marriott, will feature national and local medical experts in diabetes care discussing the latest developments in the treatment of diabetes, the complications of the disease, psychological barriers to controlling diabetes and nutritional issues.

The survey also found that many Augusta residents with type 2 diabetes struggle with managing their weight because of a lack of knowledge of their disease and available treatment options, as well as local challenges specific to Augusta. Survey results include:

* Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents describe themselves as
overweight, and 81 percent say that their doctor has told them to lose
weight to better manage their disease
* Seventy-one percent are aware that there are diabetes medications that
cause weight gain, but almost half are currently taking these
medications. A startling 77 percent are unaware that there are diabetes
medications that can help people lose weight



"These survey findings show that many Augusta residents with type 2 diabetes are unclear on how to manage their disease and do not have the educational and economic resources to make healthy choices," said Dr. Charles Shaefer, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. "It is vital that Augustans receive the necessary information and resources to take care of their health and prevent serious related conditions."

Both diabetes and obesity are growing national epidemics, affecting millions in the United States and worldwide. Recognizing the impact of these and other chronic diseases on the American healthcare system, the new Obama administration is making them a primary health focus. These diseases also have a significant impact in Richmond County, where more than 10 percent of the population has diabetes and more than 30 percent are obese. With so many Augusta residents affected by these diseases, it is vital to understand the best way to manage them.

Pre-registration for the conference is recommended and is $15 per person. On-site registration begins Feb. 28, 2009 at 9 a.m., and costs $20. Financial assistance is available by calling TCOYD. To register or get more information, call (800) 998-2693 or visit http://www.tcoyd.org/.

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Georgia Ranks Fourth in the Number of Untreated HIV Patients in the United States

/PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that despite being the ninth largest state, Georgia ranks fourth in the number of untreated HIV patients in the United States.

"HIV prevalence is linked to ethnic/racial demographics as well as to urban/rural variations -- Georgia's larger than average black population drives Georgia's high prevalence of HIV," stated Jason LaBonte, Ph.D., vice president of new product development at Decision Resources. "Our epidemiologic model predicts that eight out of 1,000 people in Georgia have the disease versus the national average of five out of 1,000."

The new analytics tool entitled PatientFinder: HIV estimates that this high prevalence is compounded by Georgia's lower than average treatment rate for the disease (ranked 28th in the United States) which leaves a large number of HIV patients without drug therapy. Despite the abundance of untreated patients, however, Georgia remains a difficult target for pharmaceutical companies wishing to grow their patient base. Only 82 percent of the state's population has prescription drug insurance, which ranks 37th in the U.S.

Why Pharmaceutical Companies Need this Information

With the type of information included in PatientFinder, pharmaceutical organizations can identify the local markets that offer the greatest opportunity for their branded drug. Companies can identify markets that are underserved and determine if they should increase direct-to-consumer advertising, work with the local managed care organizations to increase awareness of the disease and benefits of their drug or align sales representatives to maximize market potential.

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Georgia State Lecture to Explore Link Between Reproductive Technology, Stem Cell Research

Taking Women to Market: Eggs, Embryos and Informed Consent
3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 26
Room 170, Georgia State College of Law, 140 Decatur St., Atlanta

In the fields of assisted reproduction and embryonic stem cell research, there is a common thread: human eggs.

The collection of eggs, whether for in vitro fertilization or for research purposes, involves the same processes and poses the same risk to women’s health, says University of California-Davis law professor Lisa C. Ikemoto. And increasingly, eggs are being treated as a commodity with little oversight over their collection.

“There’s very little direct regulation of the fertility industry,” said Ikemoto, who will discuss the links between the fertility industry and embryonic stem cell research next month at Georgia State University. “In the research context, it’s mixed right now. Some states, like California, are regulating the procurement process and some states and countries are not.”

Ikemoto’s presentation, “Taking Women to Market: Eggs, Embryos and Informed Consent” will be from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 26 in room 170 of the Georgia State University College of Law, 140 Decatur St.

Ikemoto, who specializes in bioethics and has written extensively about reproductive technology use, is concerned that the market for human eggs may be unduly influencing women to sell or donate eggs without fully understanding the risks. “The disclosure tends to be on paper and it’s not necessarily reflected in conversation,” she said.

“People tend to gloss over what’s in print when they get a long document [to sign],” she said.
The lecture is free and open to the public. RSVP by Jan. 19 to rsvp@lawandhealth.org or 404-413-9084.

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UGA's Newest Eminent Scholar to Expand Bioenergy Research Efforts

Harry Gilbert, who has worked extensively on carbohydrate enzymes, focusing primarily on how these biocatalysts contribute to plant cell wall degradation, has joined the University of Georgia's Complex Carbohydrate Research Center as the latest Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Gilbert, who comes to UGA from the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences at Newcastle University, joins faculty in the CCRC who seek to unravel the secrets of cellulosic biomass, a basic component of green plants and a key to the mass production of biofuels. The group's primary goal is to make lignocellulosic-based ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline, thereby reducing the nation's gasoline consumption by some 20 percent in the decade ahead.

"The search committee chaired by Professor Michael Adams, of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology, set a very high bar of recruiting the world's best scientist working in this area," said UGA Vice President for Research David Lee. "We are all delighted that they hit the mark. Professor Gilbert is a world-class scholar with diverse interests and a highly creative mind. He will add considerably to our bioenergy initiative."

A native of England, Gilbert earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and a B.S. in physiology and biochemistry at the University of Southhampton. He worked in a research institute as a biochemist and a microbiologist before entering academia at Newcastle University in 1985. Since then he has conducted research and taught courses in genetics, biotechnology, transgenic animal technology, enzymology, carbohydrate biochemistry and biomedical sciences.

"I'm excited about the opportunity to work with this group of knowledgeable scientists," said Gilbert. "My research looks specifically at the degradation of cell walls, and I look forward to developing synergistic interactions with colleagues who are working on other aspects of carbohydrate research."

Gilbert has published a number of peer-reviewed research articles on the enzymology of plant cell wall degradation, and has held several patents on the use of xylanases in the paper industry. Xylanases are a class of enzymes that aid the breakdown of hemicellulose, a major component of the cell wall of plants.

"We are so pleased that UGA has hired Professor Gilbert as a GRA Eminent Scholar in Bioenergy," said Alan Darvill, Regents Professor and director of UGA's Complex Carbohydrate Research Center. "He brings to Georgia a wealth of knowledge and expertise in understanding the deconstruction of biomass by microbial enzymes that could result in novel methods to produce biofuels."

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Soybean Grant Gives Researchers Tools to Unravel Better Bean

For millennia, people have grown soybeans and turned them into many useful products. But when it comes to understanding why a soybean grows, blooms or produces like it does, researchers are left with unanswered questions.

University of Georgia professor Wayne Parrott aims to find the answers with a three-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation and a jumping gene in rice found by a UGA colleague.

"I'm convinced that soybeans would be so much more useful and flexible if we knew what genes we need to be working with," said Parrott, a crop and soil sciences professor in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The soybean's genome was sequenced, or mapped, earlier this year. Now Parrott and his colleagues from the universities of Nebraska, Missouri-Columbia and Minnesota are taking soybean's genetic map and translating it so that soybean breeders can use it to produce a better bean.

Parrott is using a jumping rice gene for his part of the research. His counterparts are using radiation.

UGA plant biology professor Sue Wessler found the jumping gene in rice. Her discovery is unique. The gene is one of only a few with the ability to cut themselves out of and move to another location in the genome, altering it, Parrott said.

She shared the technology. Parrott's lab will insert the jumping rice gene into soybean plants. When something changes in a plant with the added jumping gene - such as how fast it flowers - they will then search the plant genetically. When they find the jumping gene - presumably in a new location in the genome - they can identify the modified gene there and, in this example, know what caused the plant to bloom faster.

The more genes they identify using the jumping gene technique, the more they'll know about the soybean and what they can do to improve it. The soybean has a few issues that could stand modifying, Parrott said.

On grocery store shelves, soybeans may seem like the perfect plant. It can be made into tofu and its synthetic meat products. However, the bean's protein is not balanced to the 21 amino acids humans need for a healthy diet. In addition, soybean oil contains trans fats after it's processed.

On the agricultural side, an improved soybean variety would allow farmers to plant a crop that produces more soybeans using the same amount of land. And with soybean plants that are disease and insect resistant, farmers wouldn't have to apply as much money - draining pesticides.

Farmers could also grow varieties that produce more oil or more protein.

"Genome sequencing and gene discovery is starting to open a new, exciting era for us," Parrott said.

It's a good time for soybeans. Since 1982, the U.S. has had a 15 percent increase in total soybean production.

"Acreage-wise, soybeans are among the top three crops in the United States," Parrott said. "It's the No. 1 source of vegetable oil and vegetable protein. In that regard, it's the most important of the crops."

Soybeans are used for adhesives, alternative fuels, disinfectants, plastics, salad dressings, particleboard, candy, cookies and swine feed, to name a few. "It just boggles the mind that it lends itself to so many different uses," Parrott said. "It's even in furniture care products."

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Researchers Investigate Acceptability of Potential HIV Prevention Device in Africa

For some women in the poorest parts of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, being paid for sex is one of the few ways they are able to feed themselves and their children. In a region hit hard by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, they are at very high risk for contracting the disease.

Georgia State University researchers recently investigated whether these women, and their male clients, would accept a potential method of preventing HIV/AIDS which allows women to take control of their own health.

The device, an intravaginal ring containing chemicals microbicides, has the potential to let women reduce their risk of contracting the disease in an environment where many of their clients refuse to use condoms.

“This group of women are really stressed, and are often supporting children,” said Donna Smith, a research associate with the Georgia State Institute of Public Health. “These are not women who are making a decent living. They’re just getting by and just one client walking away could be the difference between eating or not.”

Working with colleagues such as Frances Priddy of Emory University, as well as Sabina Wakasiaka and the late Job Joab Bwayo of Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Smith and data coordinator Tina Hoang asked questions among female sex workers in the Nairobi slum community of Mukuru.

Scientists are working to develop microbicides which reduce the spread of HIV, and several types which could be used by women are in development. None have been found yet which have been proven effective in reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS, but it is believed that an effective one will be developed in the future before a vaccine becomes available, Smith said.
An intravaginal ring, similar to the NuvaRing used currently for birth control in developed countries, could be used to release the microbicide, allowing women to potentially use the device without their partner becoming aware of it.

In the qualitative study published in the Journal of Women’s Health, some women reported that they were comfortable with the idea of using the ring without letting their partner know, however, some of the male clients insisted on knowing that it was being used — and that if they became aware of the device, they would not pay or would pay less.

Overall, though, those participating in the focus group research, sponsored by the CDC Foundation, were open to the use of the ring.

“This should be your secret,” one woman responded. “You don’t need to tell him. You would be protecting yourself from those who want to infect you.”

Smith and Hoang are also working on a six-month cohort study to track rates of STD infection among sex workers, which will help give future microbicide and vaccine researchers more knowledge about high-risk populations.

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Blueberry Grant Focuses Research on Significant Georgia Fruit

Blueberries are becoming big business in Georgia. University of Georgia experts plan to use a $1.7 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant to lead an effort to make the Southeast the leading producer of the fruit.

The U.S. has 75,000 acres of cultivated blueberries. A third of that is grown in the South. The region is on track to become the hub of U.S. blueberry production within the next five years, said Harald Scherm, a plant pathologist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

A spring freeze severely damaged Georgia’s blueberry crop in 2007. But the 2006 crop was worth $75.8 million. The berry has the potential to add millions of dollars more to rural economies, said Gerard Krewer, a UGA Cooperative Extension fruit crop horticulturalist.

“Blueberries are grown in rural areas, areas that really need economic boosting,” Krewer said. “Blueberries are becoming a major horticultural commodity in southeast Georgia.”

Scherm will lead a team that includes Krewer and CAES horticulturists Dan MacLean and Anish Malladi, plant pathologist Phil Brannen, food scientist Rob Shewfelt and engineer Changying Li. The team will collaborate with colleagues in Florida, North Carolina, West Virginia and Mississippi.

The grant will be used to develop a way to harvest the berries mechanically while not damaging or dropping a majority of the fruit. The research team will also use the grant funds to genetically improve fruit quality and to fight diseases that are just starting to plague blueberry bushes.

Georgia producers predominately grow two types of blueberries – rabbiteye and southern highbush.

Rabbiteye – the variety traditionally grown in Georgia – has a thicker skin and is generally harvested in June and July. The development of the southern highbush variety allows growers to start harvesting blueberries in April and May, a period when berries are in short supply and prices are much higher.

But with the extra profits came new problems. The southern highbush has thin skin and bruises easily. Because of this, most are currently harvested by hand. Competition for farm workers and tighter immigration restrictions could cause the cost of harvesting to skyrocket for the crop in coming years. Hand-harvesting now cost farmers as much as 70 cents per pound.

Farmers now need machines that better harvest their crop. Current harvesting machinery drops too many blueberries – as much as 25 percent of the crop and can bruise delicate berries. Damaged berries are only good for the frozen market, and producers get much lower prices for frozen berries than they do for fresh.

Besides coming up with a better harvesting method, another way to deal with the thin skins of southern highbush is to breed new varieties with thicker skins, or with a crispy flesh.

Crispy flesh varieties are currently being developed by university breeding programs in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia. After narrowing down the varieties, UGA food scientists will use taste panels to determine which type of new southern highbush blueberry consumers would most likely buy.

“With so much blueberry acreage going in the last few years, there’s not been enough new plants to go around,” Scherm said.

New plants are propagated through cuttings, and he thinks this may help spread debilitating diseases not seen before. These diseases include blueberry red ringspot virus, bacterial leaf scorch and Botryosphaeria stem blight. Leaf scorch and stem blight have killed many southern highbush blueberry plantings in recent years.

Bacterial leaf scorch was first documented in 2006. Very little is known about how to control it. Scherm hopes to find answers to these questions primarily by studying disease epidemiology, transmission modes and cultivar resistance.

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Healthy, Marketable Chicken Feet

Dermatitis in humans can make skin itch and burn. When it hits chickens, it drastically reduces farmers’ profits and cuts the supply of an Asian delicacy – chicken feet. It also leads to an estimated loss of about $100 million for the Georgia poultry industry each year.

Chicken feet, or paws, are the third most demanded part of the chicken, coming in behind the breast and wings, said Eric Shepherd, a poultry science graduate student in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Georgia produces roughly 20 percent of the paws exported from the U.S. each year.

Too much moisture

Footpad dermatitis, a burn-like condition on chicken feet, is caused by excess moisture in chicken litter, Shepherd said. Litter, which is the wood shavings chickens walk on, contains bacteria naturally and from chicken waste. When there is too much moisture in the litter, however, it allows for greater bacterial growth and increases the bacteria count.

Bacteria breaks down fecal matter and releases ammonia as a by-product, Shepherd said. And the chemical reaction of the ammonia causes the burns.

To test litter moisture, poultry farmers scoop up a fistful of chicken litter and squeeze it. Shepherd is testing more accurate methods of moisture monitoring and researching moisture prevention methods. He hopes his research will improve the quality of the birds’ lives, make poultry farmers’ jobs easier, and cleaner, and help them produce better poultry.

Huge export for poultry industry

“In the last decade or so, chicken paws have become really important to poultry companies in the U.S. because there is such a high demand in Asia,” he said. “If the paws have dermatitis, you can’t sell them.”

Georgia’s is the nation’s leader in poultry production. The Georgia poultry and egg industry generated $18.4 billion for the state’s economy in 2006 alone.

Although poultry producers in Georgia already sell an average of about 130 million pounds of paws each year, Shepherd and Mike Lacy, head of the CAES poultry science department, estimate producers could be selling about 320 million pounds of paws.

With more precise testing techniques, moisture levels can be better monitored. This will help prevent dermatitis from occurring and increase paw exports.

Helping chickens and farmers

Shepherd is also look at ways to keep excess moisture out of litter. Moisture tests and preventative methods will help farmers eliminate dermatitis before it begins.

Along with studies on litter, Shepherd observes and samples chickens with dermatitis and studies the burns.

“I hope to help poultry producers better use the information learned through our research and convince them to spend a little bit of money up front to make their lives easier and make better products,” he said. The poultry industry employs over 100,000 people in Georgia.

By Allie Byrd
University of Georgia

Allie Byrd is a writer with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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UGA Study Helps Clarify Role of Soil Microbes in Global Warming

Current models of global climate change predict warmer temperatures will increase the rate that bacteria and other microbes decompose soil organic matter, a scenario that pumps even more heat-trapping carbon into the atmosphere. But a new study led by a University of Georgia researcher shows that while the rate of decomposition increases for a brief period in response to warmer temperatures, elevated levels of decomposition don’t persist.

“There is about two and a half times more carbon in the soil than there is in the atmosphere, and the concern right now is that a lot of that carbon is going to end up in the atmosphere,” said lead author Mark Bradford, assistant professor in the UGA Odum School of Ecology. “What our finding suggests is that a positive feedback between warming and a loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere is likely to occur but will be less than currently predicted.”

Bradford, whose results appear in the early online edition of the journal Ecology Letters, said the finding helps resolve a long-standing debate about how unseen soil microbes respond to and influence global climate change. Other scientists have noted that the respiration of soil microbes returns to normal after a number of years under heated conditions, but offered competing explanations. Some argued that the microbes consumed so much of the available food under heated conditions that future levels of decomposition were reduced because of food scarcity. Others argued that soil microbes adapted to the changed environment and reduced their respiration accordingly.

Bradford and his team, which included researchers from the University of New Hampshire, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Duke University and Colorado State University, found evidence to support both hypotheses and revealed a third, previously unaccounted for explanation: The abundance of soil microbes decreased under warm conditions.

“It is often said that in a handful of dirt, there are somewhere around 10,000 species and millions of individual bacteria and fungi,” said study co-author Matthew Wallenstein, a research scientist at Colorado State University. “Our findings add to the understanding of how complex these systems are and the role they play in feedbacks associated with climate change.”

The researchers studied soil microbes at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, the site of a soil warming experiment that began in 1991. Scientists took soil samples from two plots, one in which buried cables heat the soil to five degrees Celsius above the ambient soil temperature (a condition that is expected to occur around 2100) and a control condition in which cables are buried but not producing heat.

In the first set of experiments, the scientists compared microbial respiration in the two groups and found lower rates of decomposition in the heated plots. This finding supported the idea that respiration decreases after a few years of warming, but didn’t explain whether the cause was substrate depletion in the warmer soils or adaptation by the microbes.

In the next set of experiments, they added the simple sugar sucrose to both sets of soils to alleviate any food limitation for the microbes. They found that microbes from both conditions increased their respiration, but that the increase was greater in the unheated control soils than in the heated soils. “That finding told us that substrate depletion played a role,” Bradford said, “but it also told us that there were other factors involved.”

The researchers then measured microbial biomass and found that there were fewer microbes in the heated soils. To test whether thermal adaptation occurred, they measured respiration while keeping temperature constant. They found that respiration rates were indeed lower in the heated versus the control soils, even when adjusting for microbial biomass.

Wallenstein pointed out that the study is among the first to demonstrate that microbes, like many plants and animals, can adapt relatively quickly to changes in climate. “This research presents a new challenge to scientists trying to predict effects of climate change on forest ecosystems because it shows that these soil microbial communities are very dynamic,” Wallenstein said. “We cannot simply extrapolate from the short-term responses of soil microbes to climate change, since they may adapt over the longer-term.”

Bradford notes that there is still much to be learned about how soil microbes respond to global warming. His team is currently working to understand whether the reduced microbial respiration in heated soils is caused by the adaptation of individual microbes, by shifts in species composition or a combination of the two factors. He warns against minimizing the role of soil microbes in global warming, even though his findings suggest that current models overstate their contribution.

“Although our results suggest that the impact of soil microbes on global warming will be less than is currently predicted,” Bradford said, “even a small change in atmospheric carbon is going to alter the way our world works and how our ecosystems function.”

The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

By Sam Fahmy
University of Georgia

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U.S. Suicide Rate Increases

The rate of suicide in the United States is increased for the first time in a decade, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy. The increase in the overall suicide rate between 1999 and 2005 was due primarily to an increase in suicides among whites aged 40-64, with white middle-aged women experiencing the largest annual increase.

Whereas the overall suicide rate rose 0.7 percent during this time period, the rate among middle-aged white men rose 2.7 percent annually and 3.9 percent among middle-aged women. By contrast, suicide in blacks decreased significantly over the study’s time period, and remained stable among Asian and Native Americans. The results are published online at the website of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and will be published in the December print edition of the journal.

The researchers also conducted a detailed analysis of suicide methods across specific population groups. While firearms remain the predominant method, the rate of firearm suicides decreased during the study period. Suicide by hanging or suffocation increased markedly with a 6.3 percent annual increase among men, and a 2.3 percent annual increase among women.

Hanging/suffocation accounted for 22 percent of all suicides by 2005, surpassing poisoning at 18 percent.

“The results underscore a change in the epidemiology of suicide, with middle-aged whites emerging as a new high-risk group,” said study co-author Susan P. Baker, MPH, a professor with the Bloomberg School’s Center for Injury Research and Policy. “Historically, suicide prevention programs have focused on groups considered to be at highest risk—teens and young adults of both genders as well as elderly white men. This research tells us we need to refocus our resources to develop prevention programs for men and women in their middle years.”

Baker along with colleagues Guoqing Hu, PhD, Holly Wilcox, PhD, Lawrence Wissow, MD, MPH, analyzed data from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) mortality reports, which provides data on deaths according to cause and intent of injury by age, race, gender and state. WISQARS mortality data are based on annual data files of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The reasons for the increase in the suicide rate are not fully understood. “While it would be straightforward to attribute the results to a rise in so-called mid-life crises, recent studies find that middle age is mostly a time of relative security and emotional wellbeing,” said Baker. “Further research is warranted to explore societal changes that may be disproportionably affecting the middle-aged in this country.”

The research was funded by the Center for Injury Research and Policy.

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Public Symposium set for Emory University Oct. 23-24 Explores How Science Changes Life

"Evolution Revolution: Science Changing Life," a public symposium at Emory University Oct. 23-24, will explore the future of evolution as a theory and a process and the potential of recent research to transform our lives. The program features some of the world's leading scientists, from Emory and beyond, who will discuss how technology and growing knowledge of our origins may affect our future.

"Evolution Revolution" anticipates the 200th anniversary in 2009 of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of Species." The two-day event begins Thursday, Oct. 23 with free talks by biologist E. O. Wilson, known as "the father of biodiversity." Wilson will speak informally on the topic of creativity at 3 p.m. in the Jones Room at Woodruff Library, then deliver the keynote address, "Darwin and the Future of Biology," at 7 p.m. in Glenn Memorial Auditorium.

New York Times columnist Olivia Judson, one of the preeminent science writers of our time, kicks off the events of Friday, Oct. 24, with a 9 a.m. talk at the Emory Conference Center. Panels of Emory and Georgia Tech faculty will then discuss how their research is helping to explain where we came from and where we may be going — including the potential for everything from renewable bio-energy sources to bioengineering advances that could transform health care.

Conference Includes Workshop for High School Teachers

The strong educational component of the conference will include a workshop for high school teachers from throughout metro Atlanta, to discuss the difficulties and best practices for teaching evolution. Registration is required for the Conference Center events.

"Darwin's theory of evolution has been called the greatest intellectual revolution," says David Lynn, chair of chemistry and co-leader of Emory's strategic initiative for Computational and Life Sciences, the main sponsor for the event. "We want to celebrate Darwin by looking forward, at how the theory of biological evolution continues to change our world view and the understanding of what the future may bring."



Symposium Aims to Share Research With Community

The conference, which bridges the humanities, medicine, public health and the natural and social sciences, aims to communicate the potential of recent research, particularly at Emory — to improve our society.



"We may be reaching the threshold of a new era in the life sciences," says Tom Jenkins, director of the Office of Academic and Strategic Partnerships, which is assisting with the event. From the search for the pre-biotic origins of life, through anthropology and non-human primate research, and the journey into bioengineering, Emory faculty are making major contributions, he says. 



"Emory recognizes that it has a responsibility not just to conduct pioneering research, but to share that research with the community," Jenkins says. "This is a public discussion of cutting edge science that may be transforming our lives."



"Technology is moving extremely fast," Lynn adds. "We're at a critical time now. Evolution is a complex, interwoven network. From renewable energy to health care, we need to put our heads together and think about how we're going to evolve to meet the challenges and pressures we're going to face."



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Lack of Vitamin D Linked to Parkinson's Disease

A majority of Parkinson’s disease patients had insufficient levels of vitamin D in a new study from Emory University School of Medicine.

The fraction of Parkinson’s patients with vitamin D insufficiency, 55 percent, was significantly more than patients with Alzheimer’s disease (41 percent) or healthy elderly people (36 percent).

The results are published in the October issue of Archives of Neurology.

The finding adds to evidence that low vitamin D is associated with Parkinson’s, says first author Marian Evatt, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Emory.

Evatt is assistant director of the Movement Disorders Program at Wesley Woods Hospital. The senior author is endocrinologist Vin Tangpricha, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Emory and director of the Endocrine Clinical Research Unit.

Evatt says her team compared Parkinson’s patients to Alzheimer’s patients because they wanted to evaluate the possibility that neurodegenerative diseases in general lead to vitamin D insufficiency.

Most Americans get the majority of their vitamin D from exposure to sunlight or by dietary supplements; fortified foods such as milk and packaged cereals are a minor source. Only a few foods in nature contain substantial amounts of vitamin D, such as salmon and tuna.

The body’s ability to produce vitamin D using UV-B radiation from the sun decreases with age, making older individuals at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.

“We found that vitamin D insufficiency may have a unique association with Parkinson’s, which is intriguing and warrants further investigation,” Evatt says.

The connection could come partly because patients with Parkinson’s have mobility problems and are seldom exposed to the sun, or because low vitamin D levels are in some way related to the genesis or progression of the disease.

She says her team saw their results as striking because their study group came from the Southeast, not a region with long gloomy winters, where vitamin D insufficiency is thought to be more of a problem.

In addition, the study found that the fraction of patients with the lowest levels of vitamin D, described as vitamin D deficiency, was higher (23 percent) in the Parkinson’s group than the Alzheimer’s group (16 percent) or the healthy group (10 percent).

The retrospective study examined 100 people in each group, who were recruited between 1992 and 2007. Every fifth Parkinson’s patient from Emory’s clinical neurology database was selected, then healthy controls and patients with Alzheimer’s disease were matched on age and state of residence.

Vitamin D insufficiency is frequently defined as less than 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood of the 25-hydroxy form (the major storage form) of the vitamin and deficiency as less than 20 nanograms per milliliter. However, most experts agree insufficiency warrants treatment and should not be ignored.

Doctors have known for decades that vitamin D plays a role in bone formation, Evatt says. More recently, scientists have been uncovering its effects elsewhere, including producing peptides that fight microbes in the skin, regulating blood pressure and insulin levels, and maintaining the nervous system. Low vitamin D levels also appear to increase the risk of several cancers and auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

Parkinson's disease affects nerve cells in several parts of the brain, particularly those that use the chemical messenger dopamine to control movement. The most common symptoms are tremor, stiffness and slowness of movement. These can be treated with oral replacement of dopamine.

Previous studies have shown that the part of the brain affected most by Parkinson’s, the substantia nigra, has high levels of the vitamin D receptor, which suggests vitamin D may be important for normal functions of these cells, Evatt says.

Emory clinicians are conducting further research to investigate whether vitamin D insufficiency is a cause or possibly a result of having Parkinson’s. In a pilot study, Parkinson’s patients are receiving either standard or larger doses of vitamin D, with an eye towards possibly reducing the severity of their condition.

The research was funded by the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institute of Aging and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, and by an anonymous donor.

Reference:
Evatt M.L et al Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency in Patients with Parkinson Disease and Alzheimer Disease. Arch. Neurol. Vol 65, p. 1348-1352 Oct 2008.

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Pandemic Flu Models Show How Illness Would Spread in Georgia

This simulation result shows where active cases of the flu would be located 40 days after the start of a pandemic if the initial infection location was Fulton County, Georgia – the county where the city of Atlanta is located. (Image: Pinar Keskinocak)

The 1918 flu pandemic killed more than 40 million people worldwide and affected persons of all age groups. While it is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed models to help organizations like the American Red Cross and Georgia Department of Education prepare emergency response plans.

“The models are flexible so that multiple scenarios can be investigated to see which options meet a certain goal,” said Pinar Keskinocak, an associate professor in Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). “This goal can be different for various groups, such as serving the most people given the availability of limited resources or minimizing the number of people infected while not negatively affecting businesses.”

Details of the models, developed with ISyE associate professor Julie Swann and graduate student Ali Ekici, were presented on October 12 at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Annual Meeting.

Knowing how many people will need food, how many food distribution facilities will be necessary, where the facilities should be located and how the resources should be allocated among the facilities is very important, according to Marilyn Self, who is the manager of disaster readiness for the Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross. Self has been collaborating with Georgia Tech researchers on this project.

“These models have provided solid food distribution data that has helped us formulate the questions we have to ask and the decisions that we have to make about food distribution during a pandemic on a local and statewide level,” said Self.

- Watch a video showing where active cases of the flu would be located during a pandemic if the initial infection location was Fulton County, Georgia – the county where the city of Atlanta is located - here (QuickTime-30 Megs). The video begins 10 days after the start of the pandemic and ends 180 days after the start of the pandemic.
- Watch a video showing where active cases of the flu would be located during a pandemic if the initial infection location was Atkinson County, Georgia – a rural county in southern Georgia - here (QuickTime-30Megs). The video begins 10 days after the start of the pandemic and ends 180 days after the start of the pandemic.

The Georgia Department of Education is using Georgia Tech’s models to investigate whether or not schools should be closed during a pandemic.

“Closing schools affects both families and businesses because parents will have to stay home and take care of children,” said Garry McGiboney, associate state superintendent at the Georgia Department of Education. “We have to worry about important emergency workers like hospital staff members and law enforcement officers not being able to work because they have to tend to their children because schools are closed.”

To estimate the number of meals required for a given area or determine if closing schools would be beneficial, the researchers first needed to determine how many people and/or households would be infected. To do this, they constructed a generic disease spread model, which described how the influenza disease would spread among individuals.

The researchers used U.S. Census Bureau tract data – including household statistics, work flow data, classroom sizes and age statistics – to test the model. Crowded areas, including Atlanta and its suburbs, were always affected around the same time regardless of where the disease initiated. However, the time required for the disease to spread to rural areas depended on where the disease started.

With this information, the Georgia Tech researchers used the disease spread model as a forecasting tool to calculate the number of meals that would be required in metropolitan Atlanta during a flu pandemic. They tested three major scenarios: feeding every household with an infected individual (someone symptomatic or hospitalized), every household with an infected adult, or every household with all adults infected.

The simulations showed that the 15 counties surrounding Atlanta would require approximately 2.2 million, 1.4 million or 150,000 meals per day for the respective scenarios during the peak infection period. For the entire pandemic, the number of meals would reach 62, 38 or 3.8 million for the three scenarios respectively.

The researchers also determined the number of meals that would be necessary if only those households that fell below a certain income level were fed. The results showed that 200,000; 120,000 or 14,000 meals per day would be required for the respective scenarios during the peak infection period in that case.

Interventions such as voluntary quarantine or school closures could also affect food distribution by changing the number of infected individuals.

“Voluntary quarantine means that if an individual is sick in a household, everyone in that household should stay home,” explained Keskinocak. “However, we realize that not everyone will follow this rule, so the model assumes that only a certain percentage of infected individuals will stay home.”

The researchers investigated the effects of voluntary quarantine on disease spread, as well as the best time to begin the quarantine and how long it should last.

The results showed that the number of people infected at the peak time and the total number of individuals infected decreased as the length of the quarantine was extended, but there was a diminishing rate of return. The researchers determined that an eight-week quarantine was the most effective in terms of reducing the number of individuals infected during the peak time if it was implemented at the beginning of the fourth week.

“These results are important because during a pandemic, communities have limited resources, including food and volunteers to distribute the food,” noted Swann. “If fewer people require the resources, especially during the peak time period, organizations like the American Red Cross can meet the needs of more people.”

The researchers also compared the two interventions – quarantine and school closure. The results showed that closing schools reduced the number of people infected with the virus. However, a four-week voluntary quarantine was found to be at least as effective as a six-week school closure for reducing the percentage of the population infected with the virus and the number of people infected at the peak time.

The Georgia Department of Education and the Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter of the American Red Cross have used the models to gain insight into the best ways for their organizations to respond to a flu pandemic.

“Running all of these different scenarios has helped us realize that we will have a lot more people to feed in metropolitan Atlanta during a pandemic flu than we imagined. The models have provided us with a realistic idea of where we’ll need to locate community food distribution facilities and how many we might need to have given certain assumptions and decisions,” said Self.

The researchers plan to conduct future work in two areas – developing models for other states and extending the model to also include vaccine distribution. The model may also be useful for other purposes such as estimating hospital capacity needs, according to Keskinocak.

“While we hope that a pandemic never occurs, our models will help Georgia and other states across the United States prepare response plans for the potential,” added Keskinocak.

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