On Santorini, mid 80s
Man was it hot!
It is with great pleasure that I present Dr. Carol Hanchette for your admiring
attention. My enthusiasm has two
sources. First, Dr. Hanchette is an Geological Scientist, not a Biochemist or
M.D. Second, she is engaged in research
that will further Clifton Leaf’s (and my own) priority – to “preempt” ovarian
cancer. Dr. Hanchette is using the
techniques of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis to determine
whether or not proximity to pulp and paper mills is associated with an enhanced
prevalence of ovarian cancer. She is on
the faculty of the University of Louisville, in the department of Geography and
Geosciences. Dr. Hanchette is one of
eight successful applicants for the Marsha Rivkin Center’s Pilot Study grants. The award is $75,000, for one year. For many of the biological cancer studies I
have followed, $75K would barely cover the cost of feeding the lab animals, but
for an earth scientist it is a considerable chunk of change. Spend it wisely, Dr. Hanchette.
Apparently Dr. Hanchette has preliminary data suggesting a
spatial correlation between ovarian cancer and pulp mills. A systematic GIS study clearly is the way to
rigorously test the hypothesis that the two in fact are related. Then harder questions arise: (1) is the
correlation one of cause and effect, or is it more complicated? For instance, it is possible (although
astronomically unlikely) that the
increased ovarian-cancer incidence arises because women living near pulp mills
drink unusually high quantities of hard liquor, in order to be able to ignore
the smell, and the booze is to blame? And then, of course, once the
cause-and-effect is established the biochemist must step in: (2) How
does a pulp mill cause ovarian cancer, and what can be done about it.
Dr. Hanchette obtained her PhD from the University of North
Carolina. She describes herself as a
Medical Geographer. Much of her previous
work seems to involve environmental effects on the prevalence of prostate
cancer. Currently she is an Associate
Professor. One hopes that, with the
results of this study in print and validated, she quickly is promoted to Full
Professor, with a substantial raise.
Okay, now. Here’s a conundrum. This is the eighth “PROFILE IN RESEARCH EXCELLENCE” that I have written. Not counting this one, which is only minutes old, five of them have received between 25 and 30 “hits”. The remaining two, however, have piled up 95 and 224 (!) hits, respectively. Now, why in Heaven’s name is that? The big winner is my bit on Dr.Ilona Kryczek, who is from Poland. The Poles are frequent visitors to my blog, accounting for over 400 hits. Maybe they are searching for news of their own. However, Dr. Jason Bielas, my second-most popular “Profile”, hails from Toronto, Canada. What accounts for his popularity? That he is not Rob Ford helps, but can’t be the whole answer. I suspect I will never know.
ReplyDeleteVery cool.
ReplyDelete