The Academic Minute for 2018.01.29-02.02

Academic Minute from 1.29 – 2.02

Monday, January 29th
Chelsea Good Abbas – Widener University
What Happens in Latin American when the U.S. Tightens its Borders
Chelsea Good Abbas, an anthropology instructor at Widener University, received a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and Bachelor of Science in international area studies from Drexel University in December 2008. She received a Master of Arts in anthropology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University in May 2012 and a Master of Philosophy, applied anthropology from Columbia University in May 2014. She is currently completing her dissertation as a doctoral candidate in applied anthropology at Columbia University. Abbas was recently selected to travel to Nicaragua under the Core Fulbright Scholar Program. Over the next two summers, Abbas will continue her research on migration between Nicaragua and Costa Rica and teach at the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua, Nicaragua.

Tuesday, January 30th
Rachel Perry – Yale University
Treating Type Two Diabetes
Dr. Rachel Perry is an Associate Research Scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Gerald Shulman at Yale University, and Co-Director of the in vivo core of the Yale Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center. Dr. Perry completed her undergraduate studies in Biomedical Engineering at Yale University, and earned her Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Physiology with distinction, also from Yale. Her work in the Shulman lab has generated key insights into the role of increased lipolysis in driving insulin resistance and poorly controlled diabetes, and her CV includes first-author original research papers in Nature, Science, Cell, JCI, Nature Medicine, Cell Metabolism and others. Dr. Perry has recently been honored as a Blavatnik Foundation Regional Award recipient, among other recognitions, and holds several funded grants including a K99 award to study the role of hyperinsulinemia in altering colon tumor metabolism and driving cancer progression. She will become an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Medicine at Yale in July 2018.

Wednesday, January 31st
Jenna Gallegos – Colorado State University
Cyberbiosecurity
Jenna Gallegos is a postdoctoral researcher studying synthetic biology and cyberbiosecurity in Professor Jean Peccoud’s lab at Colorado State University. Jenna got her PhD in plant biotechnology from the University of California in Davis where she studied gene expression in transgenic plants. An avid science communicator, Jenna regularly tweets, blogs, and writes about science for a general audience.

Thursday, February 1st
Michael LaMonte – University at Buffalo
Every Movement Counts
An expert on healthy aging, Michael LaMonte led the first study in older women showing that even light physical activity can reduce the risk of death in women over the age of 65. Mike’s research focuses on the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and other diseases that lead to early mortality in postmenopausal women. He also led a major study reporting that gum disease and tooth loss may be associated with a higher risk of death in postmenopausal women. He is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association’s Council on Epidemiology and Prevention.

Friday, February 2nd
Roberto Pedace – Scripps College
International Box Office Revenue is a Leading Reason For Less Diversity in Films
Roberto Pedace is Professor of Economics in the department of economics at Scripps College. Prior to this, he was an associate professor in the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and chair of the economics department at the University of Redlands. There, he was nominated for both the “Innovative Teaching” and “Outstanding Teaching” awards. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Riverside in 1999 and has held positions at the U.S. Census Bureau and Claremont McKenna College. Professor Pedace’s research interests are broadly in the area of labor and personnel economics. His work addresses a variety of important public policy issues, including the effects of immigration on domestic labor markets and the impact of minimum wages on job training and unemployment. His published work has appeared in the Southern Economic Journal, the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Contemporary Economic Policy, the Journal of Sports Economics, and other outlets.