Cape Town Photos

Here's a link to a google presentation with photos from Cape Town to share a little bit about what I've been doing so far:
Click here!

I will update this periodically as I do new things, so please check back often for new photos!

Cape Town

Hi All!
For those that don't already know, I'll be spending my Spring quarter this year studying in Cape Town, South Africa. I'll be heading out on March 31st and not coming back until a ways into August. I'll be taking classes through a Stanford program during the Spring and then doing a community-based research project during the summer. If you'd like to know more about the program go to: http://bosp.stanford.edu/capetown/index.html

Can't wait to live here:

Winter Quarter Classes

HUMBIO 129S: Global Public Health

The class is an introduction to the fields of international public health and global medicine. It focuses on resource poor areas of the world and explores major global health problems and their relation to policy, economic development and human rights. The course is intended for students interested in global health, development studies, or international relations, and provides opportunities for in-depth discussion and interaction with experts in the field.

HUMBIO 153: Parasites and Pestilence: Infectious Public Health Challenges

Parasitic and other pestilence of public health importance. Pathogenesis, clinical syndromes, complex life cycles, and the interplay among environment, vectors, hosts, and reservoirs in historical context. Public health policy initiatives aimed at halting disease transmission. World Health Organization tropical disease targets including river blindness, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, mycobacterial disease (tuberculosis and leprosy), malaria, toxoplasmosis, dracunculiais, and intestinal helminthes. Guest lecturers with expertise in disease control. 

BIO 44X: Core Molecular Biology Laboratory

Investigate yeast strains that are engineered to express the human protein, p53, and use modern molecular methods to identify the functional consequences of p53 mutations isolated from tumor cells. Learn about the protein¿s role as a tumor suppressor through lectures and by reading and discussing a journal article. Use molecular visualization programs to examine the structure of wild type and mutant p53 proteins. Formulate a testable hypothesis and assay the ability of mutant p53 to direct expression of several reporter genes. During guided reflection, formulate further analyses to determine whether mutant p53 is present in the cell, can bind to DNA, and/or can enter the nucleus. Lab experiments, team oral presentation, individual comprehensive written laboratory report.

HUMBIO 128: Community Health Psychology (PSYCH 101)

Social ecological perspective on health emphasizing how individual health behavior is shaped by social forces. Topics include: biobehavioral factors in health; health behavior change; community health promotion; and psychological aspects of illness, patient care, and chronic disease management.

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.

Thanksgiving Break

Although Thanksgiving break isn't quite over, I thought I'd share some photos from my break so far. My parents came down to Stanford and spent some time away from the cold, snowy weather in Bend. We went on a few road bike trips, including one along the famous 17 mile drive near Monterey. We also went to Cirque de Soleil's show Totem, which was quite incredible.

Pictures above:

1) A picture of Hoover Tower that my mom took from the top of The Dish

2) A picture of my mother and I during the Monetery bike ride

3) Picture of my mother and I after a nice dinner in Monterey

View from my window

Fall Quarter Classes

CHEM 35: Organic Monofunctional Compounds

Organic chemistry of oxygen and nitrogen aliphatic compounds.

POLISCI 3P: Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 171, PHIL 271)

Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include protecting religious liberty, financing schools and elections, regulating markets, assuring access to health care, and providing affirmative action and group rights. Issues of global justice including human rights and global inequality.

HUMBIO 2A: Genetics, Evolution, and Ecology

Introduction to the principles of classical and modern genetics, evolutionary theory, and population biology. Topics: micro- and macro-evolution, population and molecular genetics, biodiversity, and ecology, emphasizing the genetics and ecology of the evolutionary process and applications to human populations.

HUMBIO 2B: Culture, Evolution, and Society

Introduction to the evolutionary study of human diversity. Hominid evolution, the origins of social complexity, social theory, and the emergence of the modern world system, emphasizing the concept of culture and its influence on human differences.

Summer Happenings

Summer is dwindling! Only a little over 3 weeks until I am back on The Farm.

Here's what I've been doing this summer:

1) Continuing my regular shoe stacking summer job at The Footzone, sad that this will probably be my last summer. I will miss all of my fellow footzoner's humor and hard work. Probably the most awesome job/ work environment I will ever have.

2) Teaching summer science camps at the Bend Science Station. This has been a really fun part of my summer. I started doing in-lab camps with 4/5th graders, and ended up co-leading a week long traveling camp to Hood River where I got to windsurf, rock climb, white water raft, and bunjee jump. One of the in-lab camp I taught was Harry Potter themed, and I dressed up as professor Sprout and taught Herbology. The kids caught on fast that I didn't actually possess any magical powers.

3) Road biking. I purchased my first road bike this summer (fancy, huh?). I have been riding it all over the place and have fallen quite in love with long bike rides. I've been all over Bend, including up to Mt. Bachelor and the top of McKenzie Pass, and have been able to do some riding at the Oregon Coast as well. However, I do feel a little out of place on the road being passed my middle-aged men with calves the size of cantaloupes.... and I thought I had big calves. The picture is me and Pat at the top of McKenzie Pass.

4) Vacationing! Misleading, I really haven't vacationed much this summer. We did go on the annual Pacific City surf trip with the Maddens, Smiths, Lopezes and Rhymers. My mom and I are also considering heading up to Hood River for a weekend in September to take kite boarding lessons and possibly a shopping trip to Portland. I should probably also visit my darling sister Teenie in Eugene before heading back to school.

5)Visiting old friends. I've had a lot of fun catching up with my friends who have been on gap years and off at school. With Naomi having been in Africa and Eirann trekking the entire globe, it's nice to have them home. It's been fun helping them prepare for their first year at college after having been just gone through my freshman year. Rachel has of course been tearing it up at the Naval Academy, and the four of us enjoyed the time we had together while she was home for a short few weeks.

6) Montana. I'm currently writing from Pat's desk in his (ridiculously nice) house in Bozeman. I am unendingly jealous that I will be living in dorms for the next 3 years :( We've been in Bozeman since Wednesday, I leave Tuesday, and I've been enjoying the hot weather and fun biking and hiking in the area. (Don't be misguided by the picture, Pat is happy to be here too!) The picture is from our hike to the M. I have to say I'm also jealous of Bozeman's beautiful scenery, what I wouldn't do to get some majestic snow capped mountains down in Palo Alto.

Spring Quarter Classes

CHEM 33: Structure and Reactivity

Organic chemistry, functional groups, hydrocarbons, stereochemistry, thermochemistry, kinetics, chemical equilibria.

CHEMENG 25B: Biotechnology (ENGR 25B)

Biology and chemistry fundamentals, genetic engineering, cell culture, protein production, pharmaceuticals, genomics, viruses, gene therapy, evolution, immunology, antibodies, vaccines, transgenic animals, cloning, stem cells, intellectual property, governmental regulations, and ethics. Prerequisites: CHEM 31 and MATH 41 or equivalent courage.

IHUM 73B: Ultimate Meanings: Decoding Religious Stories from around the World

Is there more to life than survival, or does it have some higher purpose? Why is there suffering, death, and evil in the world, and is there some way to overcome them? Religious communities often answer such questions through the art of story-telling, through history, myth, biography and other forms of distilling human experience into narrative. These stories have shaped the world we live in, helping people to cope with difficult aspects of experience, influencing the way we love, suffer and die, inspiring the imagination, and helping to ignite conflict and violence.\n\nThis course introduces you to some of the great stories of the world's religions¿the sacred narratives of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We will read these stories to learn something about the religious cultures that produced them, and how they have shaped human experience.\n\nIn the winter quarter, students will be introduced to stories drawn primarily from the Buddhist tradition in the many forms which it developed as it spread across Asia from India to Japan and beyond. We will look at the biography of the founder, the Buddha, the tales of his previous lives, the stories of his disciples, and of later saints and heroes, religious practitioners and ordinary folk. Students will learn to read these stories to see how they elaborate a persuasively constructed world of meaning in terms of which people can make sense of their own personal histories.\n\nIn the spring quarter, the focus will shift to the foundational narratives of Judaism, Christianity and Islam¿the stories of the Israelites¿ exodus from Egypt, the suffering Job, the life and death of Jesus and the calling of the prophet Muhammad. Do these stories have only one meaning, and who determines what that meaning is? Can a story's meaning change over time, and if so, what do such stories mean today, in a partially secularized culture very different from the ones that produced them? We will address these questions by exploring how these ancient stories have been re-imagined by recent thinkers and writers who can help us understand how their meaning has changed¿or is changing¿in the light of modern experience

MATH 20: Calculus

Continuation of 19. Applications of differential calculus; introduction to integral calculus of functions of one variable, including: the definite integral, methods of symbolic and numerical integration, applications of the definite integral.

New Classes

It's the first day of winter quarter! Today I had Chemistry, Math, and my Intro to Humanities class: Ultimate Meanings. Math and Chemistry were as expected, but IHUM was surprisingly hilarious. Our teacher is a really old guy from NOT Australia (I'm guessing New Zealand from his accent, but he never did tell us...). He started class by telling us Brother's Grimm story, click HERE to read it. He also told us another story, this one about the class and how he was duped into teaching it because he's fairly new on staff (IHUM is dreaded by both teachers and students because it's a required class that mostly is terrible). Overall it was pretty hilarious, and he optimistically suggested that the class might actually be fun. Hopefully my first Anthro lecture tomorrow is half as entertaining.

List of classes and descriptions follow below:

MATH 19: Calculus

Introduction to differential calculus of functions of one variable. Topics: review of elementary functions including exponentials and logarithms, limits, rates of change, the derivative, and applications. Math 19, 20, and 21 cover the same material as Math 41 and 42, but in three quarters rather than two. Prerequisites: precalculus, including trigonometry, advanced algebra, and analysis of elementary functions.

IHUM 73A: Ultimate Meanings: Decoding Religious Stories from around the World

Is there more to life than survival, or does it have some higher purpose? Why is there suffering, death, and evil in the world, and is there some way to overcome them? Religious communities often answer such questions through the art of story-telling, through history, myth, biography and other forms of distilling human experience into narrative. These stories have shaped the world we live in, helping people to cope with difficult aspects of experience, influencing the way we love, suffer and die, inspiring the imagination, and helping to ignite conflict and violence.\nThis course introduces you to some of the great stories of the world's religions, the sacred narratives of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We will read these stories to learn something about the religious cultures that produced them, and how they have shaped human experience.\nIn the winter quarter, students will be introduced to stories drawn primarily from the Buddhist tradition in the many forms which it developed as it spread across Asia from India to Japan and beyond. We will look at the biography of the founder, the Buddha, the tales of his previous lives, the stories of his disciples, and of later saints and heroes, religious practitioners and ordinary folk. Students will learn to read these stories to see how they elaborate a persuasively constructed world of meaning in terms of which people can make sense of their own personal histories.\nIn the spring quarter, the focus will shift to the foundational narratives of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the stories of the Israelites exodus from Egypt, the suffering Job, the life and death of Jesus and the calling of the prophet Muhammad. Do these stories have only one meaning, and who determines what that meaning is? Can a story's meaning change over time, and if so, what do such stories mean today, in a partially secularized culture very different from the ones that produced them? We will address these questions by exploring how these ancient stories have been re-imagined by recent thinkers and writers who can help us understand how their meaning has changed, or is changing, in the light of modern experience.

ANTHRO 1: Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (ANTHRO 201)

Crosscultural anthropological perspectives on human behavior, including cultural transmission, social organization, sex and gender, culture change, technology, war, ritual, and related topics. Case studies illustrating the principles of the cultural process. Films.

CHEM 31B: Chemical Principles II

Chemical equilibrium; acids and bases; oxidation and reduction reactions; chemical thermodynamics; kinetics. Lab.