tsmith

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Tara C. Smith

Associate Professor, lab rat (microbiologist/infectious disease epidemiologist) and occasional blogger, full-time nerd.

Posts by this author

May 15, 2008
I'm taking a quick hiatus from my hiatus. I mentioned that I had quite a bit of travel upcoming, and I happen to be in the midst of my first trip. However, it just so happens that where I've landed--Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--is experiencing an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease in kids,…
May 1, 2008
May and the first week of June bring an R01 deadline and 2 weeks of travel, and I'm trying to get 2 more manuscripts out the door by the first of June. To minimize distractions, I'm closing up shop here for about 5 weeks. I'm also mulling about a new comment moderation policy; I'm tired of the…
April 24, 2008
You may recall the case of geneticist Robert Farrell, who had been initially charged with bioterroism for sharing generally-harmless strains of bacteria with a colleague, SUNY-Buffalo art professor Steven Kurtz. Farrell plead guilty to a reduced charge last fall and received a fine and probation…
April 22, 2008
Via Razib, Obama on vaccines: "We've seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it's connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it." --Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Rally, April 21, 2008. and Clinton: I…
April 22, 2008
I realize art is, of course, subjective. I know what I like; sometimes I can explain why, and sometimes I'm not sure what it is about a piece that draws me to it. Certainly good art evokes emotion and can stir controversy and push limits. And like the notorious virgin Mary/elephant dung uproar,…
April 16, 2008
This is the sixth of 6 guest posts on infection and chronic disease. By Courtney Cook Kidney stone disease affects approximately 5% of Americans. While several risk factors are well-established, including genetic predisposition, metabolic diseases, lifestyle, and diet, there are still questions…
April 16, 2008
This is the fifth of 6 guest posts on infection and chronic disease. By Whitney Baker My previous blog post examined the idea of an infectious etiology for obesity by a group of possible infectious agents. While these pathogens have been associated with obesity in humans or animals, their…
April 15, 2008
This is the fourth of 6 guest posts on infection and chronic disease. By Ousmane Diallo Last week in class we tackled an interesting topic, the role of Mycobacterium Avium Paratuberculosis (MAP) in the genesis of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The authors Saleh E. Naser (oops…
April 15, 2008
This is the third of 6 guest posts on infection and chronic disease. Does chronic IL-6 levels lead to epigenetic changes in DNA methylation that contribute to this pathway? By Matthew Fitzgerald How can infection be a carcinogen? How do infectious diseases lead to cancer, if at all, is still a…
April 14, 2008
This is the second of 6 guest posts on infection and chronic disease. By Rachel Kirby In light of April being Autism Awareness Month it is only natural that certain topics be brought about in the media. Until now I was not aware of the controversy behind the "risk factors" of autism. Let's begin…
April 14, 2008
This is the first of 6 guest posts on infectious causes of chronic disease. By David Massaquoi Is this the Beginning of the end of antibiotic resistant problem or just another scientific false hope of eradicating microorganisms that have co-existed with humans for millions of years? In the days…
April 14, 2008
My students are back with their second writing assignment, which I'll be posting for the next few days. As I mentioned previously, constructive comments on their posts are appreciated, but keep in mind that they're students doing this as an assignment and still learning--and comments that I feel…
April 11, 2008
I don't understand how some segments of the population believe that "natural" always equates to "better." I certainly get the appeal of being close to nature; the romanticism of living simply and from the earth. I grew up and live currently in a rural area where people are close to animals and…
April 10, 2008
It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years since Iowa's 2006 mumps outbreak (more background and details on that here, here, here, and here). By the time the outbreak ended, 8 states had been heavily affected (and 45 reported at least one case), with a total of 6584 cases of mumps and 85…
April 8, 2008
I spent all day yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin, at a conference on Landscape Ecology and infectious disease. I'll discuss a few of the talks and issues below, but I wanted to start out with a bit of an introduction and explain just what landscape ecology (LE) is. The introductory talk, which…
April 3, 2008
The Expelled producers lied about canceling a movie showing in Tempe. Anyone surprised?
April 3, 2008
Early this week, grant application; yesterday and today, IRB and IACUC for another project. But once again, fellow Sbers are keeping me busy reading about stories I'd like to be writing on; see yet again Mike on E. coli O157:H7--everything old is new again; Ed on a new study showing yet again how…
April 2, 2008
Sent off yet another grant, so I'm still (once again) catching up on everything. Meanwhile, some posts for you to check out: I thought I was self-sacrificing by submitting myself to Kentucky's creation museum for your amusement. Guess I could have stayed home and wasted 2 1/2 hours of my life as…
March 25, 2008
1980 marked a milestone in infectious disease epidemiology: the World Health Organization declared the smallpox virus eradicated in the wild. However, while smallpox currently exists only in frozen stocks, poxviruses as a class certainly haven't disappeared. A related virus, monkeypox, regularly…
March 24, 2008
In this NY Times article on parents who are opting out of vaccinations, one mom notes her objections: "I refuse to sacrifice my children for the greater good," said Sybil Carlson, whose 6-year-old son goes to school with several of the children hit by the measles outbreak [in San Diego]. The boy is…
March 24, 2008
As I mentioned Friday, the good folks from Google were part of the crowd at this year's ICEID. This included a talk by Larry Brilliant, described on his wikipedia page as "...medical doctor, epidemiologist, technologist, author and philanthropist, and the director of Google's philanthropic arm…
March 21, 2008
If one over-arching theme came out of this conference, it was the concept noted in the title: "one medicine, one health." In one of the early lectures, a speaker polled the audience to find out how many attending were veterinarians, and how many worked in human health. The room was divided…
March 20, 2008
PZ got kicked out of a screening of Expelled, the latest ID propaganda movie--in which he's featured. Someone else who's in it? Richard Dawkins. Guess who PZ's guest was--a guest who was let into the screening? Yep. Dawkins. The irony. The hypocrisy. Just incredible.
March 20, 2008
It's been a busy 3 days here in Atlanta. My talk Tuesday was well-received, I have lots of new ideas for future projects, and I'll have posts on the conference itself starting, hopefully, this afternoon (last night was family time, so no posting). In the meantime, I'm writing up the manuscript…
March 19, 2008
Did Yersinia pestis really cause Black Plague? Part 1: Objections to Y. pestis causation Did Yersinia pestis really cause Black Plague? Part 2: Examination of the criticisms Did Yersinia pestis really cause Black Plague? Part 3: Paleomicrobiology and the detection of Y. pestis in corpses Did…
March 16, 2008
Technically, I was supposed to be in Atlanta a good 3 hours ago, but our plane's broken down here in Moline (where I've been for 7 hours and counting now). For the next few days, I'll be at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID). Just scanning the schedule, there's a…
March 13, 2008
Via Ed, if you puked on VoxDay's shoes after his column earlier this week in WorldNetDaily: But this is not to say there is not a genuine threat to all three aspects of science today. Unsurprisingly, it comes from the same force that is the primary threat to the survival of Western civilization:…
March 11, 2008
After Karl Rove's appearance here Sunday night, Laurie Garrett's talk on Monday was downright uneventful--despite a talk which included discussion of AIDS, abortion, and welfare, among other things. Garrett, for anyone who may be unfamiliar, is currently a senior fellow for global health at the…
March 7, 2008
It's just not been Vegas' week. First a ricin-laced hotel room, then a clinic-associated outbreak of hepatitis C virus (and potentially hepatitis B and HIV) that could become enormous. Meanwhile, an outbreak of hepatitis E is raging in Uganda. So what are these virues, and how in the world could…
March 3, 2008
More grants out the door today, but check out ABC correspondent Jake Tapper's post on John McCain's views on thimerosal and autism: At a town hall meeting Friday in Texas, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., declared that "there's strong evidence" that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that was once…