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Government Targets Interfere With The Battle Against Superbugs, Says British Medical Association
The war on healthcare associated infections (HCAIs), or so-called "superbugs", will never be won unless long-term strategies are introduced to radically reduce their prevalence, says a BMA report launched recently.
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'Outstanding' Primary-Care Researcher Receives Prestigious Award
The "outstanding" work of Julia Hippisley-Cox, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and General Practice at The University of Nottingham, has been recognised by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
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'Pro-choice Community' Should Find New 'Way Of Talking About Reproductive Freedom,' Opinion Piece Says
"Most of the push-back" from antiabortion-rights advocates to a recent e-mail message from author Judy Blume on behalf of Planned Parenthood -- which asked mailing list subscribers for donations -- was generated by an article in the antiabortion-rights publication LifeNews, columnist Meghan Daum writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. The article put a "heavy, misrepresentative spin" on Blume"s message, which urged donors to "do all [they] can to support" the increasing number of women turning to Planned Parenthood centers for health care during the economic downturn.The LifeNews article said, "Blume notes how more women are seeking abortions from Planned Parenthood because of the difficult economy, and she urges readers of the e-mail to use that as a reason to support the abortion business." According to Daum, "this is just the kind of thing that makes abortion-rights advocates apoplectic," noting that abortion-rights advocates "fired-back" in the "blogosphere ... imparting the statistic about abortion making up only 3% of Planned Parenthood"s services and pointing out that many of the women being yelled at by picketers in clinic parking lots aren"t even pregnant but, rather, trying to avoid getting pregnant." Daum continues that the organization, much like Blume, "occupies a clear position on the post-Roe cultural map," adding, "Generally speaking, if you"re on board with abortion rights, you"re on board with Planned Parenthood." In addition, if you are against abortion rights, the "organization is the headquarters of Godlessness," she adds. Daum writes that it is not difficult to see why Planned Parenthood enlisted Blume -- an "icon of 1970s-era feminism and its efforts on behalf of sex education and women"s health" -- because she conjures "nostalgia for the early days of the fight that makes pro-choicers want to keep fighting today."Daum writes that as she watched this "saga unfold in [her] inbox," she was "struck by a troubling question. Even though Blume may not be associated with abortion in and of itself … is there something about her persona that signals a lack of dispassion about its ramifications? Is she reminding people of a time when, in the relief of Roe being decided, there was a cultural perception that abortion was a simple procedure that needn"t come with attendant emotional baggage?"Daum adds that there is "no denying that the language and overall tone around abortion has changed. Despite what many pro-life groups seem to think, most abortion-rights advocates prefer "safe, legal and rare" to "no big deal."" According to Daum, President Obama, "pro-choice though he is, is hardly strident -- and even a little evasive -- on the issue." She adds that Obama favors language about reducing the need for abortions and "finding common ground with the other side." Daum notes that the pop cultural arena "has become downright allergic to the issue" of abortion, with a recent movie coining the term "shmashmortion" because the characters "can"t even get the word out." Daum adds that although Blume "was undoubtedly effective" at bringing in funding for Planned Parenthood, perhaps what might have been "even more radical is if the pro-choice community could find a way of talking about reproductive freedom that neither reverts to the perceived casualness of the 1970s nor panders to the "shmashmortion" dialect of today. "Safe, legal and rare" comes close. But "safe, legal, rare and a big deal" might be even better" (Daum, Los Angeles Times, 5/14).
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WPI Professor Receives Fulbright Scholarship To Conduct Research On Tissue Engineering In Ireland

Kristen L. Billiar, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work at the National University of Ireland Galway on research and education related to tissue engineering. Billiar, who will be in Ireland for the 2009-10 academic year, is the 14th member of the current WPI faculty to be awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government"s flagship program in international educational exchange, is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Each year, the traditional Fulbright Scholar Program sends 800 U.S. faculty members and other professionals abroad to lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. "This significant honor is further evidence of the high quality of the WPI faculty and the important work they are doing through their research and scholarship," said John A. Orr, WPI"s provost and senior vice president. "This particular Fulbright Scholarship, the first for a current WPI researcher in the life sciences, is especially exciting as it demonstrates the value of the investment the university has made in research in this field in recent years, including the construction of the $50 million Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park." During his stay in Ireland, Billiar will study the mechanics of nanoscale scaffolds for tissue engineering with Dr. Abhay Pandit, Director of the Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials. Developing a detailed understanding of the relationship between the structure and mechanical functioning of connective tissue is critical to building engineered replacements for diseased tissue. In the research component of his Fulbright work, Billiar will seek to develop novel techniques for probing these relationships at the scale or nanometers, particularly as they relate to the scaffolds, or support structures, used in tissue engineering. He will also design inquiry-based biomechanics and biomaterials teaching laboratories based on these techniques and then compile them into a textbook. Billiar joined the WPI faculty in 2002, after receiving a PhD in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and working as a staff engineer at Organogenesis Inc. In his research he studies how the mechanical forces due to tissue stretching and cell contraction affect the growth and healing of soft tissue. His goal is to help make engineered skin, heart valves, and other tissues behave more naturally and reduce scarring during healing. His work has been supported by the Whittaker Foundation and the American Heart Association. In 2005, he received WPI"s Romeo Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education for developing a formal mentoring system to meet the challenge of providing experiential learning opportunities for students in his laboratory courses. He received the Trustee"s Award for Academic Advising in 2008. Michael Dorsey Worcester Polytechnic Institute


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