SQ Insider Fall 2014

Three majors, one broad topic: how it all fits together

page 4

Volume 2 | Fall 2014

A closer look at the global Ebola crisis

page 3

Saltman Quarterly

page 2

WHAT’S INSIDE From SQ Online: Going global

In this issue of the Insider, we explore the broad theme of International Health and how it connects to biology.

EBOLA

EMERGENCY T

his past summer, the World Health Organization announced a widespread outbreak of the Ebola virus across West African countries, declaring it a worldwide emergency that needed immediate global response. The disease quickly spread through multiple African countries within a few short months and affected thousands of African people, making it the largest Ebola outbreak in history.

Continued on the next page...

SQ INSIDER

SPREADING OUT A map of West Africa, the area heavily impacted by the most recent Ebola outbreak.

West African countries lack supplies and proper disease control protocols, which could explain why Ebola spread so rapidly.

Image from the Center of Disease Control.

EBOLA: Widespread epidemic devastates West Africa T he virus has spread throughout Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, infecting over 6,000 people and claiming nearly over 3,000 lives. Predictions estimate over 1.4 million people infected by this January.

Various treatment options are available to alleviate symptoms and increase the chance of patient survival, but this requires both immediate clinical intervention and intensive patient care. Those infected with the disease must be quarantined properly and tracked, but containment is difficult due to large populations and constant movement between countries.

West African countries lack adequate supplies and proper protocols for disease control, which could explain why it has spread so rapidly. This sudden outbreak is underscored by issues in global health response and a stark disparity in the quality of healthcare. The disease easily proliferated due to the lack of proper health care infrastructure, which usually contained limited amounts of staff and supplies, like protective gear and medicine for supportive care. According to a study from the New England Journal of Medicine, despite the increasingly high risk of contracting Ebola in West Africa, it is highly unlikely that the disease will spread in the same manner in many Western countries because of the differences in the quality of healthcare.

The severity of the outbreak called for action from the United Nations, the WHO and other health organizations for global assistance during this time of crisis.

President Barack Obama addressed world leaders and health organizations, pleading for a faster response to the outbreak and urging other countries to increase aid to the still-suffering West African countries. There

is an increasing need for more qualified healthcare personnel, treatment facilities and proper containment techniques and protocols. Many organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders, have made efforts to send volunteers and aid to the impacted countries, but demand far outweighs supply.

Many hospitals are over capacity, with only a few overworked staff to care for hundreds of patients. Therefore, current efforts have been too slow to curb the outbreak, leading to continued spread of panic and growing disillusionment with physicians and other healthcare professionals.

Many Africans fear physicians, turning to alternative treatments instead of approaching specialized facilities for disease containment. External aid is often barred from villages due to increased fear of the disease and the belief that these volunteers are the reason for the spread of Ebola, further delaying treatment and containment. Victims seeking alternative treatments and traditional healers often contribute to further transmission of the disease, making strategies for treatment and containment more difficult to enact.

At the same time, premature treatments are being introduced as an attempt to cure Ebola symptoms, the most prominent being the administration of ZMapp, a therapeutic drug that was administered to two U.S. citizens who contracted the virus in Africa. The two patients showed clinical improvement, but it remains unclear whether the drug is responsible for the improvement because there are only two known cases of its efficacy in humans. The use of these incomplete treatments could do more harm than good and would further foster the distrust between patients

and physicians if it proves ineffective.

West Africa continues to suffer from this terrible epidemic and requires an immediate response before the disease spreads to an even larger extent. The calls for more medical aid, facilities and volunteers must be answered, and engagement and cooperation with local communities must be formed to fight this outbreak. So far, hundreds of volunteers and supporters have emerged to aid Africa during this epidemic. Hopefully, their increased efforts, along with further scientific research on proper cures, will help fight the disease and end Ebola once and for all.

Anna Alvarado | SQ Staff Writer For similar stories, visit sqonline.ucsd.edu

Editor-in-Chief: Firooz Kabir Executive Editor: Florence Lambert-Fliszar Head Production Editor: Yaamini Venkataraman

UTS Production Editor: Sejal Patel Production Team: Justine Liang, Anna Nidhiry, Samantha Wong

SQ Features Editor: Maximo Prescott UTS Features Editor: Edgar Villaruel Staff Writers: Anna Alvarado, Arushi Atluri,

Aneesa Chowdhury, Mekala Neelakantan

Staff Advisers: Associate Dean for Education Gabriele Wienhausen, Ph.D.

Manager, do/bio Center Hermila Torres

SQ INSIDER

GET INVOLVED WITH INTERNATIONAL HEALTH Breaking one topic down into three distinct majors, building the connections back up again

PICK A MAJOR Public Health Major

Biology Major

Global Health Major

WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL? Each major has a different course emphasis, which better prepares students for certain internship and volunteering opportunities.

Academic Internship Program Programs Abroad Family and Preventative Research Program (FPMU 199) Volunteering and other research work

Summer Research Programs Amgen Scholars Programs Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine Salk Institute for Biological Studies Volunteer opportunities at nearby hospitals

Blum Cross-Border Initiative Summer Internship Health Frontiers in Tijuana Undergraduate Internship Gun Violence Intervention Group Global Seminars in Amman and Greece Mexican Migration Field Research Program

HOW ABOUT AFTER UNDERGRAD? The opportunities listed can be applied to students of all three majors, but specialities of individual majors may provide a better background for these careers.

Medical school Law school Epidemiologists Health educators Environmental specialists

A

Researchers Professors Health Care Professionals Biotechnology industry Management and Administration positions Science Policy Advisers

s a hub for health and biological sciences, UCSD provides many different ways for students to become acquainted with the various aspects of international health. A diverse selection of opportunities are available to help expose students to different majors, internships and career pathways. In this issue of the Insider, the Saltman Quarterly decided to dig a little further into the different options that UCSD had to offer for these interested students. Displayed is an infographic exploring possibilities — both individual and intertwining — within the Global Health,

Graduate positions in research and teaching Medical Social Sciences Health Law Medical Humanities Environmental Studies and Health Policy

Public Health, and Biological Sciences majors. Many of the opportunities listed for the discussed majors of Global Health, Public Health and the Biological Sciences overlap immensely with each other, although some aspects of each major may better cater to specific opportunities. Each of these three majors provide incredible career pathways that interconnect and divide, depending on student specializations, and can lead to great futures.

Mekala Neelakantan | SQ Staff Writer For similar stories, visit sqonline.ucsd.edu

go To learn more about seminars that take you abroad, to organizations on campus, visit sqonline.ucsd.edu for the full stories.

Raymond Lam | Saltman Quarterly Photography

ONLINE: Local effort, global impact

T

here is a new trend sweeping across UC San Diego’s undergraduate campus.

And no, it’s not learning how to surf or ordering midnight snacks from the Secret Cookie Service, although service is involved. It has to do with the increasing number of students flying to South America, Africa and other parts of the world to volunteer their time helping people living in difficult conditions. These students are not only providing free care to those who need it the most, but also educating and inspiring hundreds of people that walk through their clinic doors.

So, how do they do it? These students are part of global health organizations on campus that all have the same goal: to positively impact impoverished nations. They travel directly to the source, firsthandedly providing solutions to health issues affecting the people living in underdeveloped communities. The work these organizations do benefits thousands of people each and every year.

Flying Samaritans Project RISHI Volunteers Around the World Project Nicaragua

Aneesa Chowdhury | UTS Staff Writer For the full story, visit sqonline.ucsd.edu

Global Medical Brigades

Photograph used with permission of Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy.

GLOBAL IMPACT Members of Project Nicaragua donate dental supplies to patients at Lenin Fonseca Hospital.

Learn more about organizations making a difference across the world at sqonline. ucsd.edu

ONLINE: Professor Spotlight: Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy

N

LEARNING ABROAD Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy (front, far right) with his Global Seminar: Public Health in Amman students of 2010 with the World Health Organization Jordan Office Staff. Dr. AlDelaimy is a prime example of how hard work, commitment and passion can lead to success in the global health field.

Visit SQ Online Read our weekly research roundups and feature articles, check out our photo gallery and meet our bloggers. sqonline.ucsd.edu

ew Zealand, Harvard, tobacco, chronic diseases, and Jordan — seemingly scattered phrases all connected by one name: Dr. Wael Al-Delaimy. As a professor in and the chief of UC San Diego’s Division of Global Health, Dr. Al-Delaimy is currently a multidisciplinary epidemiologist who paints a realistic portrait of the work involved in the newly-blossoming global health field. This novel field has now become one of the many paths that biology-oriented students can branch into, due to its symbiotic relationship with medicine and research.

Dr. Al-Delaimy’s primary goal is to tackle the major global health problems facing humanity. No matter how much time and effort this might involve, he is passionate about his field and committed to his cause of “advocating for the health of the people, wherever they are and whoever they are.”

Arushi Atluri | UTS Staff Writer For the full story, visit sqonline.ucsd.edu

get involved with saltman quarterly

Submit Your Research Manuscript or Scientific Review Paper

Do you want to publish your biological research?

Submission Deadline: February 13, 2015 For submission guidelines, visit sq.ucsd.edu/submit/research

Contact Us Got an announcement? Have a story idea? What about some reader feedback? Don’t hesitate to let us know. sq@biomail.ucsd.edu