Thanks"giving back"

Hi All,
This Thanksgiving I decided to participate in a service learning through Stanford. The trip I ended up going on is focused on what we call "The Silent Killer": Hepatitis B. How familiar are you with Hepatitis B? I must say, before this trip I knew almost nothing about it. I've learned a lot over the last few days and have gotten to participate in some very novel experiences.

Here's some background about Hepatitis B: The disease has a low overall prevalence in the US, it is actually the biggest viral epidemic in the entire world. The main hot-spots of endemic prevalence are in Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Africa. In fact, 1 in 12 Asian/Pacific Islanders is infected with HBV. And sadly, over 2/3 of them don't know it because the disease is asymptomatic until it's too late. The virus finds its home in your liver, over time damaging it and causing mutagenesis. Hepatitis B is considered an onco-virus; it is the leading cause of liver cancer. This why we call it "the silent killer," because most often a person does not know they are chronically infected until they have symptoms of late-stage liver cancer or liver failure. Transmission of Hep B happens through blood, to blood contact, sexual contact, or--most commonly--from mother to child during birth. Luckily, all children born in the United States after 1992 (and many before 1992) have been vaccinated against the virus. However, in the U.S. we still have a high prevalence in the Asian/Pacific Islander community. This problem is especially pertinent where I live. Asians make up 37% of the residents of San Fransisco, and because of Hep B, San Fran has the highest rate of liver cancer in the entire United States. Hepatitis B is a staggering example of a health disparity apparent between ethnicities in the US. What's most frustrating about this epidemic is that we have a vaccine to prevent the disease, and drugs to control it and prevent liver cancer and liver failure. These tools to fight the epidemic were developed 30 years ago...so why haven't we tackled Hep B?

So, to learn more about this health disparity, our trip tried to look at the issue from a few different angles. On day one, we visited/volunteered at a Hepatitis B free screening event in East Palo Alto put on by the organization Hep-B-Free San Mateo. Since Hep B is present in asian pacific islanders, the screening targeted  population of Samoans & Tongans. It was very interesting to see how the screening worked, and learn about the benefits of screening at-risk populations. Especially since most people don't know they are infected, allowing mothers to easily pass the virus on to the next generation. On day two, we shadowed heptologists (liver doctors) and transplantation specialists at Sutter Pacific Medical Center and San Francisco's Chinese Hospital. It was crazy to learn about how expensive a liver transplant is, especially in comparison with how inexpensive a screening and vaccination would have been. I should add here at liver cancer is an extremely deadly form of cancer, and that if you have it, or liver failure, to survive you have to get a liver transplant. In the end, our lack of prevention of the spread of this disease is costing our health care system a lot of money. Day 3 was focused around the legislative process, and being an advocate for HepB. Our group broke up into pairs and made visits to legislative offices of state senators and one national senator. We sat down with the senator's staff in charge of health and made our case for the support of Hepatitis B awareness and the need for funding. The staff we talked to were very receptive and interested to learn about Hepatitis B. It was perspective changing to feel like I was actually being involved in the legislative process, that I could make a difference by bringing this health disparity to the attention of major state players. Later that day, we were also able to visit in person with State Assembly-woman and Hepatitis B champion--Fiona Ma. I was excited to be able to talk to her about Hep B, and issues beyond, and about how difficult the legislative process can be. Today is the last day of our trip, and we will be cooking dinner for a group of Hepatitis patients who will be telling us their stories of Hep B, to give us a more personal look into the disease.

This trip has really challenged my definition of "service," and made me reconsider how I view approaching health disparities and other public health issues. I think most of all everyone in our group has had to grapple with the reality that getting funding for a project is so, so difficult, especially if it is not on the forefront of the public attention. I'm glad that I was able to educate myself about Hepatitis B in this unique setting, and I encourage everyone to educate themselves and support the effort to eradicate this blatant health disparity from the United States.

Fall 2012 Courses

CHEM 130: Organic Chemistry Laboratory II

Diels-Alder, reduction, and Wittig reactions; qualitative analysis. Lab. Limited enrollment Autumn Quarter. Prerequisite: 36. Corequisite: 35.

BIO 230: Molecular and Cellular Immunology
Components of the immune system and their functions in immune responses in health and disease: development of the immune system; innate and adaptive immunity; structure and function of antibodies; molecular biology and biochemistry of antigen receptors and signaling pathways; cellular basis of immune responses and their regulation; genetic control of immune responses and disease susceptibility.
 
HUMBIO 120: Health Care in America: An Introduction to U.S. Health Policy
Health policy and health care delivery from a historical and a current policy perspective. Introduces cost, quality, and access as measures of health system performance. Considers institutional aspects of health care reform.  

CTL 120: Peer Tutor Training

Goal is to help students become effective peer tutors for course material already mastered by articulating aims; developing practical tutoring skills including strategies for drop-in sessions; observing experienced tutors; discussing reading assignments; role playing; and reflecting on experiences as a peer tutor intern.

Spring quarter classes

HUMBIO 4A: The Human Organism

Organ system physiology: the principles of neurobiology and endocrinology, and the functions of body organs. The mechanisms of control, regulation, and integration of organ systems function.

HUMBIO 4B: Environmental and Health Policy Analysis

Connections among the life sciences, social sciences, public health, and public policy. The economic, social, and institutional factors that underlie environmental degradation, the incidence of disease, and inequalities in health status and access to health care. Public policies to address these problems. Topics include pollution regulation, climate change policy, biodiversity protection, health care reform, health disparities, and women's health policy

BIO 22N: Infection, Immunity, and Global Health

Preference to sophomores. The causes and prevention of infectious diseases, focusing on the interplay between pathogens and the immune system that determines the outcome of the disease. Introduction to microbiology, immunology, and epidemiology. Diseases of the past and present, including TB, malaria, AIDS, and Ebola. The roles of biological, environmental, and societal factors in disease emergence, spread, and prevention. Primary scientific literature, student-led discussions, and research projects.

CHEM 36: Organic Chemistry Laboratory I

Techniques for separations of compounds: distillation, crystallization, extraction, and chromatographic procedures. Lecture treats theory; lab provides practice.

Winter Quarter Class

HUMBIO 3A: Cell and Developmental Biology

The principles of the biology of cells: principles of human developmental biology, biochemistry of energetics and metabolism, the nature of membranes and organelles, hormone action and signal transduction in normal and diseased states (diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases), drug discovery, immunology, and drug addiction.

HUMBIO 3B: Behavior, Health, and Development

Research and theory on human behavior, health, and life span development. How biological factors and cultural practices influence cognition, emotion, motivation, personality, and health in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. 

CHEM 131: Organic Polyfunctional Compounds

Aromatic compounds, polysaccharides, amino acids, proteins, natural products, dyes, purines, pyrimidines, nucleic acids, and polymers.

PWR2DH: 

P-Sets, Essays and Midterms: Making Time for Social Change in a Busy World

Are you a member of one or more of Stanford's 650-plus student groups and see yourself using your career to address social inequities? Or are you too busy doing p-sets, writing papers, playing a sport and/or studying for midterms so you can graduate with a well-paying job in these financially unstable times? Or are you trying to find ways to do all of the above?

In this course, we'll be focusing on two aspects of these scenarios. First, we'll be exploring whether it is possible, likely, or even desirable for students and professors to focus their work on "fixing" the social ills of the world. That is, what might be the costs and benefits of university researchers also being advocates and taking their work off their computers and into the "streets"? Second, we'll be investigating ways your education can contribute to your ability to advocate for social change, whether you have service as a career goal or find it challenging to combine your day-to-day studies with your interests in social change.

To do this, we'll be developing our website, Re+Action, to connect your research with on- and off-campus organizations who may be interested in putting your research to work. We will also examine debates about research, activism, and scholar activists, as well as the relationship between research and service. We'll study and maybe even talk with professors like Ruthie Gilmore, Rob Reich and Joan Petersilia to see how they couple their research with advocacy, as well as with students who choose to become Stanford Public Service Scholars. Finally, our time will be spent watching oral presentations by people like law professor Larry Lessig, award-winning former PWR 2 students as well as by performing several of your own.