Gainesville Sun: All Hail the Florida Gators

Category: Florida

Wishing I was in Hogtown last night and today.

However, my joy and delight is not for Tim Tebow or any of those other youngsters.

Mine is for George Edmondson, Jr.

What a fabulous way to send out Mr. Two-Bits.

We love you George - thanks being an integral part of my Gator experience.

Photo credit: George's MySpace page.

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:39 AM • 1 Comments • View blog reactions

Kev Leitch (LeftBrainRightBrain) live-twitters his vasectomy

Category: Blogging community

With tears in my eyes and my head bowed in deep respect, I share with you the account of Kevin Leitch's vasectomy via Twitter:

http://twitter.com/kevleitch

Kev is an autism and manic depression advocate in West Midlands, UK, who blogs at LeftBrainRightBrain and was one of my earliest followers on Twitter. (P.S. you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/abelpharmboy)

All Twittering in response, which includes Kev's own tweets, can be found using the hashtag, #kevsnip.

I first learned of his plans via Twitter but he also posted his scheme here. I am largely credited with the first vasectomy liveblog but readers will recall that my Treo 700p didn't render the MovableType blogging platform. So, I had to post in real-time to a discussion forum and then put the entire accumulated account up on the blog. If I had my iPhone, I would have directly live-blogged or Twittered. Kev has a Blackberry Storm which allowed him to Twitter using TwitterBerry.

Kev appears to have had a bit of a complication with his right vas deferens and bled more than the average patient, but he now appears to be home and resting. I send him my warmest best wishes for a quick recovery - please feel free to do so yourself.

I posted on my own procedure back in February largely to get men discussing their concerns and apprehensions, encouraging my brethren to do this as a favor to their wives who suffered far far more in bringing their offspring into this world.

Where do we go from here as an online vasectomy community? Perhaps the real coup de grâce would be to have a physician blogger perform a vasectomy on another science blogger, then have each blog from their perspectives.

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 3:37 PM • 3 Comments • View blog reactions

Refining thoughts on Sanjay Gupta - gravitas

Category: Politics

Just another quick note reflecting further on my 8-minute gut reaction yesterday to word that Sanjay Gupta might be nominated as Surgeon General in the Obama administration.

I still contend he's a great communicator but realize that the "both sides of the story" aspect of journalism has made some uneasy about where he'd actually stand on issues as a government leader of public health. In my post yesterday, I also neglected to consider some of the more controversial moments in Gupta's past stories as elegantly and comprehensively pointed out by my colleague and surgeon, Orac.

I was also delighted to see Dr Val's scoop in interviewing the current SG, Dr Richard Carmona, on just what the job of Surgeon General entails (megaprops to Val Jones for getting Carmona before even CNN!). I did not truly appreciate the comprehensive responsibilities, especially the military leadership position, of the SG as described by Carmona at Better Health:

The Surgeon General is the commander of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which consists of thousands of officers in hundreds of locations around the world working anonymously to keep our nation and our world safe. The Surgeon General interfaces on a daily basis with the NIH, CDC, SAMHSA, HRSA, and all of the federally related health agencies as well as global health organizations like the World Health Organization, Pan American Health Association, and the American Public Health Association. The Surgeon General provides in-depth analysis of health policy for every cabinet minister, including the Interior, Commerce, and Homeland Security. It's a very visible, credible, and iconic position.

The primary concern that many in the blogosphere have expressed is that Gupta lacks the seniority, respect - gravitas - to assume such a senior position. Here, again, Orac's analysis is quite valuable in noting that Gupta, while a neurosurgeon, is even fairly junior to mid-career by academic standards (Assistant Prof of Neurosurgery at Emory, Associate Chief of Neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital), although I suspect that he'd be higher in the academic ladder if he wasn't a full-time journalist.

Read on »

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 10:39 AM • 4 Comments • View blog reactions

Why I think Sanjay Gupta is a good pick for Surgeon General

Category: Health Care

PharmGirl just sent me this tip after I got out of a meeting but I see that some bloggers have already weighed in about Obama's apparent selection of Dr Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General.

PalMD was briefly positive but PZ is concerned that Gupta is merely a talking head or placeholder and an apologist for the US health care system. However, I see two main advantages.

1. He knows firsthand the limitations of the US health care system, especially in poor rural and urban areas where access to care is a challenge even under normal circumstances. Gupta has also been on-site for several of the most challenging medical emergencies the US has faced in recent years, most significantly the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

2. Literally millions of Americans already trust him for health care information. Some may consider this a detriment but let me frame this in the context of the recent brouhaha between science bloggers and traditional science journalists: as accurate and influential as science bloggers or top-tier science journalists think we may be, the vast majority of Americans still obtain health information from television, again, in poor or rural areas where internet access is limited or too expensive. The Sanjay Gupta's of television play an incredible role in dissemination health information to much of this country.

Be thankful Obama didn't pick Dr Phil.

The primary question is how Gupta would use this position in the Obama cabinet to promote health care reform and improved access to care for the indigent and the increasing number of un- or underinsured. But he is an expert in framing messages and complex medical issues to a diverse audience. This could be very good, if the position is used wisely to effect health care reform and improved public health.

Addendum: My dear friend and colleague, Dr Val, levies her disappointment at Better Health.

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 4:55 PM • 5 Comments • View blog reactions

Allies: Duke's Henry Friedman, MD

Category: ScienceOnline'09

In preparing for the ScienceOnline'09 session on Gender in Science - Online and Offline, one planned discussion point will be how to enlist allies representing the dominant power structure to enhance equality and diversity in the STEM disciplines. No one ally can do it all but a combination of like-minded people can make a huge difference.
Here is a terrific example of an ally, written by superb higher ed reporter, Eric Ferreri, of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, on Dr Henry Friedman and CAPE, the Collegiate Athletic Pre-Medical Experience:

Georgia Beasley was practicing her jump shot and needed someone to rebound for her. Ten-year-old Sara Friedman was waiting for a ride after a Duke basketball camp session.

For Beasley -- a Duke basketball star who then went by her maiden name, Schweitzer -- this chance moment nine years ago proved momentous. It led to a conversation with Friedman's father, Henry, a Duke oncologist. Beasley was then a Duke junior with an eye on medical school. She wanted a better idea of what awaited her, but didn't know where to turn.

Friedman was sympathetic. He invited her to shadow him at the hospital. She balked at first, saying she couldn't commit to the fixed schedule doctors generally follow.

No problem, Friedman told her. Come when you can. Get a feel for medicine.

She did. A decade later, she's a Duke surgeon.

Henry is a remarkable guy - a bearded, hyperkinetic native New Yorker who developed his science chops early at the city's well-regarded Stuyvesant High School. He joined Duke in 1983 as an assistant professor where he has remained, rising to serve as co-director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Institute, a center that dates back to 1938 (eons ago in brain tumor time). He is often mistaken for his unrelated Duke colleague, Allan Friedman, the neurosurgeon cited more often in the national press for having operated on many high-profile patients. (I wrote a few months ago about the Drs Friedman here).

I need to ask Henry how he developed such a passion for the advancement female athletes but I suspect having a daughter plays into the mix. What I love about Henry is that he has taken his stature at an extremely competitive medical school and cancer center and provided opportunities for women in medicine.

Read on »

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 2:02 PM • 0 Comments • View blog reactions

Sean Wilson: Pop-the-Cap leader and Fullsteam Brewery founder named Tar Heel of the Week

Category: Beer

I should really save this new item for next week's Friday Fermentable but I was too excited walking back from picking up the NYT and local fishwrapper from the cold, rainy driveway this morning.

Beer enthusiast, brewer, and public policy wiz, Sean Wilson, is starting back at me on the front page of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer as "Tar Heel of the Week," in a Josh Shaffer article entitled, "Brewer to blend mad science, local flavor."

Each week, the N&O recognizes a citizen making substantial and often unique contributions to the state's economy, community, cultural patina, or all of the above.

In this case "Tar Heel" refers to all North Carolina residents rather than specifically those who attend(ed) the University of North Carolina. Hence, while some discomfort may result for some, even a Duke University graduate can be named a Tar Heel of the Week (Wilson earned an MBA and a master's in public policy from the university-that-tobacco-built).

I can say without hyperbole that Sean Wilson is among those with the greatest impact on my day-to-day life and, most certainly, on my enjoyment of said life. I probably also speak for thousands of North Carolina beer lovers. And with his current push to finish the last round of investor fundraising, he continues to further promote beer as Southern culture with his new Fullsteam Brewery.

Read on »

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:53 AM • 0 Comments • View blog reactions

Scientiae carnival up at acmegirl's Thesis - With Children

Category: Carnival barking

I absolutely love the Scientiae blog carnival, established originally by and for women in the STEM blogosphere (but has occasionally accepted the blatherings of us with Y chromosomes).

What I enjoy most about this carnival is that the host puts out a call for posts on a specific, usually introspective topic related to being a woman in science. Since the carnival is monthly, it gives the bloggers sufficient time to really reflect and develop a solid series of wonderfully-written posts.

This month's carnival is up at Thesis - With Children, the blog of acmegirl, a graduate student whom I admire greatly. The topic:

[F]or this month's Scientiae Carnival, I asked you all to tell me about the doors YOU have opened and closed this year.

acmegirl opens with her own essay, one that characterizes just why I am in awe of her dedication and perseverance. Each subsequent selection comes from women across the spectrum of the career timeline and I derive great enjoyment in seeing how acmegirl's point for reflection is interpreted by each writer in the context of their own experiences of the last year.

So pull up some couch and enjoy each of the 17 essays and think about your own doors that have opened and closed and how you are riding the waves.

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:30 AM • 1 Comments • View blog reactions

The Friday Fermentable: A Liveblogging Wine Tasting at ScienceOnline'09

Category: ScienceOnline'09

Let's face it, after the holidays I'm not terribly interested in drinking any beer or wine for the next two weeks.

However, two weeks from today will mark the beginning of ScienceOnline'09, the online science communications unconference being held in our little ol' neck-o-the-woods. Being as how I'll have the chance to meet so many of you then, I'd like to throw out the idea of having a live Friday Fermentable.

On the evening of Friday, 16 January, conference attendees will be gathering at the Radisson RTP headquarters hotel bar and Sigma Xi conference center between returning from laboratory tours at 4 pm and the 7 pm reception preceding Rebecca Skloot's much-awaited talk, "Women, science, and storytelling: The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks (a.k.a. HeLa), and one woman's journey from scientist to writer," on behalf of Duke's Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) organization.

My proposal is this: I'd like to host about 20 of you for a private, free-of-charge winetasting from 6 to 7 pm, Friday, 16 January 2009 at the Sigma Xi center with the only obligation that you liveblog the event. With the help of my advisors at the Wine Authorities and with the input of readers like DrZZ and guest blogger, Erleichda, we'll select three or four fine offerings, talk about the wines, drinks the wines, then write about the wines.

The wiki page is growing a little cluttered for a signup list. So, if you are attending the conference and want to spend a little time enjoying some fine fermentables with other like-minded bloggers, either 1) drop your indication of interest in the comments below and/or 2) send a note to fridayfermentable [booga-booga] gmail [unga-bunga] com.

Feel free to also suggest a theme of wine varieties (e.g., same varietal from different parts of the world, two whites/two reds, random selection. I look forward to seeing y'all.

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 3:40 PM • 20 Comments • View blog reactions

The motivation of disease

Category: Cancer

Regular readers know that I am a big fan of the Wall Street Journal Health Blog. While the WSJ is often most associated by us lefties with its conservative op-ed page, the Journal has consistently maintained a high standard for science and medical reporter (which I hope continues under Rupert Murdoch).

With that said, Jacob Goldstein today brings us a good news post on childhood cancer survivor, Dr Trevor Banka, who is now doing his oncology residency (presumably surgical oncology) at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital with Dr Michael Mott. Mott is the very same surgeon who operated on Banka's knee for osteosarcoma 15 years ago. Banka continued as his patient through his teenage years and through medical school at Michigan State.

Banka said Mott had a lot to do with his decision to become a doctor.

"Going through this, I saw the ability the physicians had with, not only saving my life, but to give my life back," he said.

"I was able to keep my leg," Banka said. "He would often tell me, `Trevor, you have to treat this leg like you're a 60-year-old man.' He told me I could swim, golf and maybe bowl."

Those options weren't too appealing, so Banka took up biking and has made two cross-country trips.

"I had to balance his medical advice with being a young teen," he said. [source]

Read on »

Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 12:02 PM • 1 Comments • View blog reactions