05.28.08

Rodeheaver and PluraGel

Posted in Biology at the University of Virginia, Jacob Canon, The Oscar Show, U.Va. Patent Foundation, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, pharmaceutical, physical health, technology at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, written by Morgan Ellen Estabrook, outreach and communications manager for the U.Va. Patent Foundation, we look at Dr. George T. Rodeheaver and PluroGel™, his patented gel which reduces suffering and improves the recovery of burn victims and patients with chronic wounds.

The Edlich-Henderson Inventor of the Year award, the highest honor bestowed by the U.Va. Patent Foundation, recognizes an inventor or team of inventors each year whose technology has proven to be of notable value to society. This year, Dr. George T. Rodeheaver was honored May 19th at the UVa Patent Foundation’s annual awards banquet at the Boar’s Head Inn in Charlottesville.

Robert S. MacWright, executive director of the UVa Patent Foundation, said, “…Dr. Rodeheaver was chosen for this top honor because of his work to reduce the suffering and improve the recovery of burn victims and patients with chronic wounds. This work has made a big difference for patients at the U.Va. Health System, and Dr. Rodeheaver’s continued efforts will bring its benefits to patients everywhere.”

Dr. Rodeheaver, the Richard F. Edlich Professor of Biomedical Research, said he is especially thrilled to have been selected as the winner of an award named in part for his friend and long-time collaborator. “This award is not only an honor for me but also a tribute to Dr. Edlich, who has made so many contributions to emergency medicine over the years.”

Dr. Rodeheaver’s most notable invention is an ahead-of-its-time antimicrobial gel that has proven significantly more effective than existing therapies in treating severe burns and chronic wounds, such as diabetic ulcers, pressure ulcers and venous leg ulcers.

Trade-named PluroGel™, the topical treatment is unique in that it thickens at high temperatures (such as body temperature) and liquefies at cooler temperatures. As a result, PluroGel effectively delivers healing medication when applied to the body but is easily removed by cool water, making it much less painful to remove than existing therapies.

Dr. Rodeheaver’s innovative technology, for which he received a full U.S. patent in 1997, has been used to treat patients throughout the U.Va. Health System. More than 2,000 patients — some referred from up to 400 miles away to receive the treatment — have benefited from the invention.

Rodeheaver said, “The technology has had a dramatic impact so far. The fact is that in our burn center, we have been able to eliminate infection, which was the leading cause of death 15 years ago. And we have had great success in healing chronic wounds, many of which, with traditional remedies, had not healed for numerous years.”

Because of the level of success achieved within the U.Va. Health System, Rodeheaver has worked diligently to commercialize the technology through a start-up company, PluroGen Therapeutics Inc., which he founded with associate professor Adam J. Katz, M.D., also of the Department of Plastic Surgery. PluroGen is currently seeking Federal Drug Administration approval on the product so that it can be made available commercially to the public, beyond the University hospital.

After 36 years at the University and over 200 journal articles, Rodeheaver, who was filling out a grant application when he received word of his award said, he continues to enjoy pushing forward on the frontiers of science. According to the faculty member-cum-inventor and now entrepreneur, who considers himself to be “old-school. It is a new paradigm for me; it’s unique and exciting. Entrepreneurship in particular is something I see as a brand-new adventure.”

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will well look at Dorrie K. Fontaine, recently named Dean of UVa’s School of Nursing, and her career advocating better care for critically ill patients.

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05.21.08

Girls and ADHD

Posted in Jacob Canon, Psychology, Social Psychology, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, anxiety, pharmaceutical, physical health, sociology, stress at 11:04 am by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, adapted from an article published on the Oscar Web site written by Amber Davis, we look at UVA psychologist Amori Yee Mikami, her research of ADHD, and how intervening factors have made this disorder more complex and detrimental for young females.

In studies conducted on the effects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in young children, researchers often turn to the most likely exhibitors of the impulsive and aggressive behaviors associated with the ailment — young males. What University of Virginia psychologist Amori Yee Mikami sought to uncover in researching ADHD, however, were the intervening factors that made this disorder more complex and detrimental for young females.

Mikami said, “We know a lot about boys with ADHD, partially because the disorder is three times more common in boys. Many research studies on ADHD have focused on how the disorder affects young boys. What I became interested in was how ADHD affected girls’ behaviors, particularly in adolescence.”

Since her original research at the University of California Berkley — where she found evidence supporting the hypothesis that ADHD contributes to social isolation — Mikami has focused on untangling the gender differences in children suffering with ADHD. Her most recent study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, concludes that girls with ADHD are at a greater risk for the binge eating and purging behaviors associated with bulimia nervosa.

Mikami said, “We know that children with ADHD have increased risk for delinquency, aggressive behavior problems, drug use and depression in adolescence, and now this study suggests they may also be at risk for an eating disorder problem. Since eating disorders are 10 times more common in females, and the effects of ADHD on girls are not as widely understood, the link between eating disorders and ADHD may have gone unnoticed or untreated.”

According to Mikami, the impulsive behaviors common in ADHD can make it difficult to maintain healthy eating habits and a healthy weight, leading girls to become self-conscious about their body image. Meanwhile, current ADHD medications on the market such as Ritalin may actually exacerbate the problem.

Mikami, who is currently conducting research to determine potential effects of these medications on bulimia nervosa symptoms said, “These drugs tend to make youth a little thinner because a common side effect of stimulant medications is appetite suppression. What I’m testing is whether this medicine is something that might discourage or encourage eating disorder problems.”

Mikami’s research plans include studying whether young males with ADHD have similar potential to develop eating disorders.

In addition to her ongoing research, Mikami oversees the “Friendship Clinic” in Charlottesville, which offers children with ADHD and their parents an eight-week program in which both parents and children learn how to cope with the disorder together. The clinic allows Mikami to observe how children with ADHD interact with their peers while introducing them to an environment that encourages typical social behavior.

Mikami said, “Early intervention is one of the most effective ways to combat the negative effects of ADHD. Girls with ADHD are often teased and rejected by their peers. Childhood peer problems seem to predict eating disorder symptoms in adolescence. Getting parents and teachers involved might help prevent these instances.”

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will well look at Dr. George T. Rodeheaver and PluroGel™, his patented gel which reduces suffering and improves the recovery of burn victims and patients with chronic wounds.

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05.14.08

Is Candor Best

Posted in The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, history, sociology at 11:04 am by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, adapted from an article published on the Oscar Web site written by Margaret Grundy, we look at be the research of Richard Handler, UVa professor of anthropology, and how the popularized story of colonial Williamsburg, upon reexamination reveals different side of tale.

When Americans visit Colonial Williamsburg, they come to celebrate their nation’s history, to learn about the ways of the past and to experience firsthand the ideals and idealism of the Founding Fathers. They come to try on hoopskirts and three-cornered hats; to make their own candles and to take carriage rides down Duke of Gloucester Street. They come, in short, to have a good time.

Yet the story of Colonial Williamsburg is not entirely pleasant. While remembered for asserting the fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, colonial America was also a place of inequality, oppression and disenfranchisement. For Richard Handler, professor of anthropology and associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Arts & Sciences, Williamsburg was begging to be reexamined.

In 1989, Handler, alongside anthropologist Eric Gable, a PhD in Anthropology from the class of 1990, embarked on a major study of Colonial Williamsburg. They began their research guided by one overarching question: “How do you tell the story of the American revolution in a way that honors the founding fathers while still telling the story of slavery?

Although it was a complicated pursuit, Colonial Williamsburg seemed the perfect site for exploring this dispute. Handler said, “In history as a discipline, and academia generally, there’s been an ongoing argument about whether history is objective or relative. Different historians tell different stories about the same events; professional historians know that the facts are only the beginning. At a museum, this debate takes on a funny flavor, because museums are dedicated to objects, which are seen as straightforward facts.”

With this knowledge in mind, and using grants from the Spencer Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Handler got to work. During the next three years, he, Gable, and later Anna Lawson, a PhD in anthropology from class of 1995, conducted hundreds of interviews with Colonial Williamsburg staff; examined archival documents and in-house newspapers, and toured the buildings over and over again. Gable even enrolled in a docent-training course.Handler said, “We studied how a large corporation tells history to a large audience. At places like Colonial Williamsburg, there is a complicated hierarchy of historians, managers, trainers and front-line people. We were interested in exploring not just the story they were teaching but how that story changed as it worked its way through this complicated organization.”

Their exploration yielded interesting results. First of all, they recognized a palpable awareness of the tension between education and entertainment, as Colonial Williamsburg employees repeatedly emphasized that “this is not some historical Disneyland; it’s a serious place.” They also confirmed their initial suspicions that integrating candid discussion of slavery into a celebratory context was a delicate and difficult task.

Specifically, Handler noted the challenges facing African-American employees at Colonial Williamsburg. He said, “For African-Americans who work at these sites, it’s a really tough dilemma. On one hand, they want to talk about the oppression of the system, but they also want to portray their ancestors as strong survivors. And they have to deal with the psychological challenges of dressing up as slaves.”

For the most part, Handler’s research remained focused on Colonial Williamsburg employees, as visitors turned out to be challenging sources of information. He said, “Visitors are really hard to study. It’s very hard to get good answers from them. If you ask them why they’re there, they say it’s because they love history; if you ask them how they define history, they’ll tell you ‘telling the story of our nation’s past.’ It’s difficult to get beyond that. If you’re interviewing insiders, you have a lot of specifics to talk about; with visitors, it’s a lot harder.”

Overall, Handler’s investigation of Colonial Williamsburg illuminated the challenges of merging education and entertainment, fact and revision, celebration and candor. In addition to several scholarly articles, Handler and Gable used their research to write “The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg.” Since its publication in 1997, the book has secured its position in a unique genre — that of the museum ethnography.

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will be University of Virginia psychologist Amori Yee Mikami, her research of ADHD, and how intervening factors have made this disorder more complex and detrimental for young females.

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05.07.08

Negative Campaign Ads - Repeat

Posted in The Oscar Show at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon

With the results in from Indiana and North Carolina, the race for the democratic nomination is starting to see some resolution. Just last week, a noted super-delegate publicly pledge their support for one candidate, stating that part of his decision was made because of the negative campaign ads of the other candidate.

We here at The Oscar Show want to know what you think. The show that follows is a repeat concerning the effects of Negative Campaign ads. After listening to this show, we encourage our listeners to go on-line to WTJU.net and click on the Blogs and Pods link on the left hand side of the page. Follow that link to The Oscar Show site where you will be able to read the copy of the story as well as listen again. We want to hear your comments on this subject or the campaign in general. Enjoy the show and let us hear from you!!!

In today’s show, adapted from an article recently published on the Oscar Web site written by Brevy Cannon, we look at the research of University of Virginia politics professor Paul Freedman which suggests that the ever-growing barrage of political ads actually contributes to citizen education and engagement, and only rarely have negative impacts.

Television viewers may instinctively reach for the remote control when yet another political ad airs during a commercial break, but those who stay tuned may reap some surprising benefits.

A new book, “Campaign Advertising and American Democracy”, suggests that the ever-growing barrage of political ads actually contributes to citizen education and engagement, and only rarely has negative impacts. And according to reviewer Darrell West of Brown University, is “the most comprehensive examination of political advertising that has been attempted to date.”

Written by University of Virginia politics professor Paul Freedman, Michael M. Franz, assistant professor at Bowdoin College; Kenneth M. Goldstein, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Travis N. Ridout, assistant professor at Washington State University in Pullman, the book examines the political advertising of the 2004 election season.

It has been estimated that more than 3 million political ads were televised leading up to the 2004 elections, and in the race for the White House more than $800 million dollars were spent alone. Presidential candidates, along with their parties and interest-group allies, broadcast over a million ads — more than twice the number aired before the 2000 elections.

But according to the authors’ research, being barraged by political ads turns out to be a good thing. Freedman said, he sees political TV ads as “frequently informative, often funny, usually clever, and just a whole lot of fun… Only in the rarest of circumstances do they have negative impacts.”

Political ads, especially negative ads, have a bad reputation. But Freedman and his co-authors found that negative ads, in particular those that draw contrasts between a candidate and his or her opponent’s positions on issues or past record, turn out to have the most measurable positive effects.

Freedman, an election analyst for ABC News in New York since 2000, said, “candidates realize the importance of responding to opponents’ ads that raise questions about their records, character or issue stances, so negative ads help hold candidates accountable.” He went on to say, “we found that the more ads that people are exposed to, the more likely they are to vote.”

Freedman said, “this does not show a direct cause-and-effect relationship, such as X dollars spent on TV advertising buys Y number of votes, but this is a stark example of how polling numbers track and mirror the strategic decisions by campaigns.” He went on to say, “Just as citizens and the polls respond to advertising, candidates respond to the polls. They make strategic decisions based on what the contest looks like at any point in time. The average American has an “impoverished diet of political information, and TV ads can be thought of as informational multi-vitamin, wrapped up in emotional coding, positive or negative, that makes it easier to swallow the substantive information, which is usually accurate and often backed up with footnotes or references to newspaper passages.”

While some pundits consider most political TV ads “nasty, brutish and short” — an annoyance at best, and at worst, corrosive to democratic citizenship and debasing to political discourse, according to their research, just the “sorts of ads most disliked by pundits, are the ones most likely to educate, engage and mobilize voters.”

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week as we resume regular programming of The Oscar show. And please visit the Oscar Show site by visiting WTJU.net and clicking on the blogs and pods link on the left hand side of the page. We want to hear from you.

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