Shining the Light on Research Video series highlights the wealth of exploration at OSU Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa BY K I M A R C H E R O S U C E N T E R FO R H E A LT H S C I E N C E S
Research shapes our understanding of the world. . . Sharing our work could lead to important breakthroughs that will potentially impact the lives of millions. —Bruce Benjamin
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Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences has focused on becoming the premier biomedical research institution in northeastern Oklahoma because research is the lifeblood of a university environment, lending vitality and richness that is absent without academic exploration. “Research is at the core of learning. This search for knowledge is learning in its purest sense,” says Bruce Benjamin, OSU-CHS vice provost for graduate programs, associate dean for biomedical sciences and associate professor of physiology. “Such exploration stimulates the mind and is necessary for finding answers to important questions.” To showcase that research as part of the university’s land-grant mission, Research Spotlight, an ongoing video series, highlights the diverse spectrum of faculty research at OSU-CHS. Each video focuses on an individual researcher’s work. Videos are posted to the OSU Center for Health Sciences’ website along with accompanying stories and are featured on OState.TV. “A strong research program enables faculty to be engaged in and aware of the latest knowledge in their respective fields and generates enthusiasm that benefits students and faculty,” Benjamin says. “This series offers a glimpse into all of the important work going on at OSU-CHS and the potential this research has to improve lives and help us live healthier, safer lives.”
Each researcher is faced with a challenge: Take a complex project and break it down for viewers into a short, easily understood presentation. Most begin with a quest to find an answer to a specific question: How can we better predict cardiovascular disease? How can snake antivenom be improved? What do the lives of dinosaurs millions of years ago tell us about animals today? Each of those questions, representing a line of research at OSU-CHS, has been highlighted in Research Spotlight. Charles Sanny, chair of the OSU-CHS Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology and biochemistry professor, found out first-hand how expansive the outreach series has been. His research into the effectiveness of snake antivenom that could lead to improved treatment options for those bitten by a poisonous snake was featured in the series. In a state with seven types of venomous snakes, including the diamondback rattlesnake, cottonmouths and copperheads, Sanny’s work hit a nerve. Stories about his research were widely disseminated throughout Oklahoma through various media outlets. “Anyone visiting the OSU-CHS website is able to get understandable and informative introductions to our research by the actual scientists themselves,” Sanny says. “The Research Spotlight series is a great way to showcase the many exciting research efforts that are going on here at OSU-CHS.”
BOOKS PUBLISHED BY OSU FACULTY
A Concise Companion to the Study of Manuscripts, Printed Books, and the Production of Early Modern Texts – Edward Jones, editor, English; Wiley-Blackwell
The Order of Places: Translocal Practices of the Huizhou Merchants in Late Imperial China – Yongtao Du, History; Brill
Highlights on-going attention to the history of the book, and reading and writing in the 1500s and 1600s
The dynamics of geography in the world’s most enduring empire on the eve of its entry into modern history