May 13, 2008
Category: Academia
I'm not sure whether this story qualifies as alternative medicine or religion, or neither. I throw it out to you because I and other sci/med bloggers widely criticize the infiltration of so-called alternative medicine in our academic medical centers.
But here in today's Health Journal section of the Wall Street Journal, Melinda Beck tells us of the application of mindfulness, a practice derived from Buddhism, to overcoming binge-eating disorders. Sure, this may be considered alternative medicine but it's really an application of psychology under the auspices of integrative medicine:
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 12:03 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 11, 2008
Category: Personal
I had a lovely chat with PharmMom today and I am truly grateful for her example and all of the opportunities she gave me. Mom, I love you - but I urge you and all of my readers to saunter over to Thesis - With Children written by acmegirl, one of the stars-to-be of the science blogging community.
I cannot add anything more to better express her sentiments about her two mothers than the words written on her blog.
Here's to you AG and to both of your Moms.
Let me go find the Kleenex before I press "publish."
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 9:34 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 10, 2008
Category: Politics
Effective science communication and science advocacy in the public arena has been much discussed in the science blogosphere. But is ranting on science and medical blogs the most effective way to promote science, especially in the United States?
I've had some discussions with other scientists, including blog colleague PhysioProf, who submit that the best way for scientists to advocate for science policy is to become politicians themselves. To this end, I read with great interest this morning of an AP story written last night by Seth Borenstein, "A Crash Course in True Political Science":
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 1:33 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 8, 2008
Category: Academia
Alison McCook has a lengthy article now up on The Scientist website that illustrates how NIH grant funding shortfalls are coming home to roost, with soft money faculty first to be jettisoned.
In 2007, more than 4,000 NIH-funded researchers were denied grant renewals. For some, that means they have to close up shop.
The article itself is well-done, chronicling the experience of Alan Schneyer, a well-established and productive reproductive endocrinology researcher formerly at Massachusetts General Hospital, whose research program was shut down after three tries for a competing renewal of his NIH grant. However, I'll be equally interested in following the comment thread, particularly for any responses to this anonymous poster's queries:
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:43 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
Category: Cancer
Sorry to get to this so late but I wanted to weigh on an excellent post from my cancer blogging colleague, Orac, the other day on the investigation of CAM therapies in cancer. The post covers a lot of ground, as expected from any of Orac's exhaustive missives, but I wanted to focus on the comparison and contracts between NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine within the National Cancer Institute (NCI-OCCAM).
I am on record as a strong critic of NCCAM but a supporter of NCI's OCCAM in that the latter is much more committed to real science and issues of cancer patients being preyed upon by unscrupulous marketers. I would argue that each NIH Institute would best have a division like OCCAM to focus on the most widely used alternative therapies within each disease area and dismantle NCCAM.
One of Orac's commenters, factician, commented that she might swallow her ethics and apply for some of this NCCAM funding:
It makes me more than a little bit angry to know that if I were dishonest or incompetent, that I would have an easier time getting money applying to the NCCAM.
But contrary to what you might think, NCCAM funding is not easy money at all. Looking at the
NIH IC rankings for FY2007, overall funding success % (not percentiles, which are much lower) is barely 11% for NCCAM while it is about twice that for NCI, NIDDK, etc. In fact, many superb investigators are quite surprised when their NCCAM-directed grants get shitcanned.
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:45 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 7, 2008
Category: Blogging community
We're not a political blog here but I certainly care about politics as it relates to national science policy and social justice.
Last night, North Carolina's Jim Neal lost in his bid to fight against Sen Elizabeth Dole for her seat in the US Senate. Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend has all the details from last night's gathering at the campaign's election hub, including video of Neal's concession speech. However, he and his supporters have everything to be proud about and I wish Mr Neal all the very best in deciding next how he will continue his service to the community.
Many of us who attended the international Science Blogging Conference in North Carolina in January had a chance to meet with Mr Neal, an investment banker who blew off a Friday night to spend it with a bunch of science blogging geeks. Neal is a warm and impressive gentleman with a record of using his business background to fight for social justice, equality, and economic development of science and technology via entrepreneurship.
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 10:22 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 5, 2008
Category: Stuff I don't know about
I did not know this:
In the spirit of our recent hosting of the Tar Heel Tavern blog carnival and our general posts on debunking alternative medicine, I learned today about the source of these two words with ties to the homeland.
Miss Cellania's always informative posts at mental_floss blog linked today to Neatorama's, 10 Insulting Words You Should Know. The outstanding list, which you should read in its entirety, includes the origin of the word, "bunkum," which is derived from Buncombe County, NC:
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:16 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 4, 2008
Category: Tar Heel Tavern
Well, we kept the polls open as long as possible and some bloggers voted early and often while others waited 'til the last minute. We've had some locals and some out-of-staters with recollections of North Carolina. So, without further adieu, the NC primary edition of the Tar Heel Tavern:
NC Politics
Political bloggers in the state were not surprisingly among the first to submit entries. Perennial NC blogging fave, The Olive Ridley Crawl, gives us NC Primary - Vote for a Non Panderer.
Jim Buie submitted several of which I picked Obama, in Raleigh, Shows He's No Elitist Egghead and In NC, Michelle Obama Draws Larger, More Intense Crowd Than Bill Clinton.
We don't have many posts from the western part of the state but here is one on the Hillary Clinton Army arriving in the idyllic mountain town of Boone, home to Appalachian State University.
Quite troubling is a post from Vivian J. Page about an "official" ballot that appears to be circulating the state so authentic that some voters have tried to submit it at precincts offering early voting.
Nick D. at Buckeye State Blog posts on reports of attempts to squelch the African-American vote in NC.
A final post on NC politics comes from a Henderson Times-News review of Rob Christensen's, The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics, which dissects the last 110 years of state history in an attempt to explain why Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt (or Elizabeth Dole and John Edwards) could be elected by the same voters. I just picked up this book the other day and am really excited to be digging into it.
Education in NC
Readers of ScienceBlogs would be most familiar with the fact that NC is home to some outstanding academic institutions, and not just the major research universities and three NCI comprehensive cancer centers. Less widely known is that NC is home to 11 historically-black colleges or universities (HBCUs). The Randolph Community College Library blog explains the Higher Education Act of 1965 that officially classified HBCUs, lists the NC HBCUs, and offers some inspiring facts about these unique institutions.
After this superb introduction, Baltimore blogger, Jonzee, at Keeping Up With Jonzee explains why HBCUs are still necessary, noting that "this comes from a woman who went to a majority, expensive-ass "elite" school." Through her school's HBCU exchange program, Jonzee speaks from her experience at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC.
We've even got science for the kids as detailed by Trperry42 (now at UVa) and their extensive post on the NC Museum of Life and Science.
Read on »
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:02 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
May 3, 2008
Category: Humor
I was unaware the DrugMonkey and PhysioProf were on the payroll of The Onion.
I'm not a behaviorial pharmacologist but I know quite a few and it didn't keep me from howling out loud at yet another gem from one of my favorite satirical pubs.
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:34 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks • View blog reactions
Abel Pharmboy is the 
