Katie Inderbitzen, PhD is a C-DEBI Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Alaska Fairbanks Dr. Katie Inderbitzen (NH 1998) is a Postdoctoral Researcher working on subseafloor fluid circulation and its effects on the physical properties of rocks and rock/fluid geochemistry, in an effort to better understand subseafloor hydrothermal systems. In addition, she assists with the maintenance of subseafloor observatory systems (CORKs) on the eastern Juan de Fuca Ridge flank and in the Middle Valley sedimented rift (where her PhD research was focused) and is involved in exploratory work on low temperature fluid discharging from basaltic outcrops off the western coast of Costa Rica. She has spent a year of her life at sea and has used numerous deep sea vehicles to collect data (ROV Jason, AUV Sentry, etc.). She has also made 7 dives in the human-occupied Alvin submersible. When she's not being an awesome scientist, Katie enjoys watching hockey, camping, karaoke, and is also a seamstress and Master-level competitive costumer. Seventy percent of the Earth is covered by the global ocean, and 37% of the ocean is more than 4000 meters (~2.5 miles) deep. But why should we care about this dark, inhospitable environment? In this lecture, Katie will discuss the truth behind the phrase “We have better maps of the surface of Mars than we do of the Earth's seafloor” and how this relates to mapping and exploring the deep sea. She will also expound on more than a decade of deep sea research experiences using submersibles, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and scientific ocean drilling to explore locations that had not been previously seen by human eyes. Date: July 19, 2022 (edited)
Cleft palate is a common developmental disorder resulting from failure of growth, migration, elevation, and osteogenic fusion of palatal shelves. While considerable progress has been made in unraveling the molecular mechanisms that lead to the lack of fusion of palatal shelves at the midline, critical gaps in knowledge remain regarding the molecular mechanisms that control cell fate, differentiation, and bone formation during palatogenesis. Such information can be applied to the development of novel therapeutics that can benefit individuals with isolated cleft palate defects who face complex surgeries and the arduous burden of life-long care. Herein, I will highlight my Ph.D. dissertation work through which a novel therapeutic target was identified and treated via intrauterine injection of a monoclonal antibody therapy for the in utero correction of murine cleft palate. Lecture: July 15, 2022 (edited)
Sydnee McElroy, MD is the Family Physician & Podcast Host at Marshall Health & Sawbones Sydnee McElroy, MD is a Family Physician who works with the Department of Family and Community Health at Marshall Health. She provides volunteer medical services for people experiencing homelessness at Harmony House and she provides advocacy and medical service for LGBTQ people in the Tri-State area. She’s the co-host of medical history podcast Sawbones, New York Times bestselling author and mother of two. Dr. Sydnee McElroy will explain how she uses her medical history podcast Sawbones to entertain, but also educate while dispelling medical misinformation. Lecture: July 18, 2022 (edited)
Rachel Cooke is the Sr. Director of Impact at One Community Rachel E. Cooke is an innovative communications professional who has shaped out-of-the-box storytelling strategies for brands and nonprofits. Rachel has played a key role in product launches for McDonald’s; has developed successful multi-media projects to reach Millennials and GenZ activists and most recently is helping to drive social impact at One Community, a production company that nurtures bold, unexpected scripted projects in film, TV, theatre, and digital content across all genres to generate broadscale commercial success and drive positive social change. Prior to coming to Hollywood, Rachel worked and the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation and Khan Academy in Silicon Valley, the national nonprofit Advocates for Youth, and the global PR agency Golin. Rachel hails from Washington, DC and is a graduate of The George Washington University. How are you feeling about the world today? Many would say, not great. If we want to a new world, one where people are treated fairly, those in power are held accountable, and everyone has equitable access to basic needs then we need to build it. But first, you have to give folks a blueprint. Film and TV are unique in their ability to build new worlds that seem familiar and yet new all at once; making them the perfect tool to enact narrative and cultural change. Socially conscious narratives kick-start the visualization of the impact of our actions, mobilize communities to stand up for what they believe in, and inspire youth to become leaders of their generation. Even better, good storytelling in film and TV can help dismantle the destructive "us versus them" dynamics that are fueling our current political crisis and tearing the social fabric of our country. If activists need courage to fight for change, and legislators need the will of the people to make it law, perhaps they can find it...at the movies. Lecture Date: July 11, 2022 (edited)
Jessica Frey, MD is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at West Virginia University Dr. Jessica Frey's (PA 2008) research focuses on invasive and non-invasive forms of neuromodulation to improve the quality of life for patients with neurologic disorders. Her current areas of interest include using transcranial magnetic stimulation to help improve the quality of life for patients with Tourette Syndrome as well as cervical dystonia. She completed her medical training at Penn State and her neurology residency at West Virginia University. She just finished her fellowship training in movement disorders at the University of Florida and will be starting as an assistant professor of neurology at West Virginia University in July 2022. She was a 2008 PA delegate to NYSC, returned as staph in 2013, and has returned as a presenter for the past several years. In her free time, she practices tae kwon do and enjoys competing in agility trials with her dog, Ollie. The world of neuromodulation is an exciting and developing field that is revolutionizing the way we think about medicine and neurologic recovery. My lecture will start with the basics of neuroplasticity, including a historical overview and surrounding controversy of neurogenesis. Then we will go through the current neuromodulatory technologies that are using ideas of neuroplasticity to enhance patient outcomes with accompanying videos of real patients. This will include: · Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) a. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) b. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation · Invasive Neuromodulation a. Spinal Cord Stimulators i. Allowing patients with spinal cord injury to walk again ii. Helping Parkinsons patients walk better iii. Helping patients with multiple sclerosis b. Deep Brain Stimulation i. Parkinsons and Essential Tremor ii. Traumatic Brain Injury iii. Post-stroke hemiparesisc. c. Robotics/Neuroprosthetics/Brain Computer Interface Date: June 27, 2022 (edited)
Alyson Wilson, PhD is an Associate Vice Chancellor for National Security and Special Research Initiatives at North Carolina State University Dr. Wilson (WV 1985) says: I always knew that I liked math, but growing up, I didn’t know how to make it a career. As an undergraduate, I changed majors (at least in my head) about every two weeks, from linguistics to mechanical engineering and everything in between. But I kept taking math courses. After my junior year, I had a summer internship at Burroughs Wellcome, a pharmaceutical company, in their Clinical Statistics Department. I was doing what undergraduate interns do – I was counting things (how many women in the study, how many over 30). But others in the group were working on the clinical trial for AZT, which was the first medication to treat HIV. I was hooked. Math – or more specifically statistics – could help solve real-world problems. So I decided on graduate school in statistics. First a MS at Carnegie Mellon, then work at the National Institutes of Health, and then a PhD at Duke. Family took me to southern New Mexico, where I got my first experience in defense work at Cowboy Programming Resources, a five-person company that supported operational evaluation for the Army. The Statistical Sciences Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory brought me back to research and introduced me to the fun of working on big science with interdisciplinary teams. I transitioned to academia in the Department of Statistics at Iowa State University, and then got a taste of data supporting policy at the Institute for Defense Analyses, Science and Technology Policy Institute. At NC State, I am putting this all together. As the PI for the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences, I get to bring the “national lab” feel of mission-driven problems and interdisciplinary teams to the university. And as AVC, I am helping to enable and build research in defense and security and data science, while expanding our partnerships with the national laboratories. Careers as data scientists and statisticians are consistently ranked in the Top 10 "best jobs." We often introduce statistical ideas as part of doing science – for example, checking to see if a particular treatment changed an outcome in a chemistry or physics experiment. But statistics and data science can also contribute to large-scale scientific inquiry, looking at problems like countering proliferation, or adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve problems in national security. As part of this seminar, I will discuss my career as a statistician and data scientist, where I have worked for a small business, a national laboratory, a policy think tank, and as a professor. I'll answer questions about the difference between statistics and data science, the kinds of classes you might want to take if you are interested in these kinds of careers, and the kinds of problems that you might work on. Date: July 1, 2022 (edited)
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