Next semmester I will be enjoying Physics and Organic Chemistry. Sounds a bit torturous......... it will be. I will also take Global Health and a gym. Maybe bowling or archery, something fun. I will also be finishing my credit internship at the Vermont Cancer Center.
Hello all, I was born and raised in South Jamaica Queens in NY. I was born in Jamaica hospital and then travelled just a few blocks over to a six story red brick building where I have lived all my life. All my tight friends are back home and I kind of miss them and try my best to stay in touch with them during the semmesters. Okay I'm getting too many nostalgic feelings.................. this should be long enough.
I am an Integrated Natural Resources Major with a “Human Health & the Environment” theme. You might be wondering what our not so green environment has to do with public health. There are many endemics and epidemics that are prevalent due to environmental conditions e.g. Chagas Disease, Asthma, Malaria, Lyme disease, Cancer etc. Some factors increasing the prevalence of these diseases include:
1. Increasing global temperatures
2. Host-parasite life cycles altered
3. Loss of natural habitat
4. Lower human habitat quality
Specifically to my project I will be looking at Chagas Disease, spread by a protozoan in a “beetle-looking” insect. Chagas Disease once heavily affected 22 Latin American countries. But programs aimed at altering the host-parasite relation e.g. fixing poorly built homes, filtering affected blood etc. has decreased its prevalence. But Bolivia is still suffering from thousands of infections and deaths yearly. One hypothesis is that sylvatic strains of the insect host are reinfesting domesticated homes after they are sprayed with DDT.
A paradox quickly arises; we are using DDT a known carcinogen (Cancer-causing agent) to kill off insects carrying the protozoan. So are we using one disease to fight off another? How do we outweigh the risks?
If we wish to deter from orthodox and often environmentally degrading solutions, we must better understand the enemy, for example the feeding preference of the insect-host.
Therefore it is imperative to understand the migration and feeding patterns of sylvatic insect populations. What component of their diet derives from domesticated animals, therefore infecting them with the protozoan? With the help of my mentor Dr. Lori Stevens, I will be utilizing molecular ecology to answer this question and more.
For some reason my mouth is open in this picture, oh well my haircut looks fresh.
