By Bailey Keller and Angela Snyder Declining mental health among graduate students is a silent epidemic. According to a recent Nature survey of 6,300 PhD students worldwide, ~36% report seeking help for anxiety or depression due to their PhD studies1. Commonly cited reasons for the PhD environment contributing to poor mental health were bullying and … Continue reading The Challenge of Mental Health in Graduate School
WHO’S A GOOD BOY?!
By Zhexi (Jersey) Lu As many of us stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, our dogs are having the times of their lives, enjoying more time and attention from us. Animal shelters across the country are seeing a rise in adoptions and fosters as people search for a quarantine companion1. Whether it’s a new … Continue reading WHO’S A GOOD BOY?!
Lessons from Plagues Past
By Elizabeth Lesko There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic to pique the public’s interest in medical science. COVID-19 has been a prime example, with individuals around the globe demanding immediate answers to a complicated problem and wondering why scientists don’t seem to have this whole “communicable diseases” concept figured out. The modern media cycle … Continue reading Lessons from Plagues Past
What’s With All the Hype? The “Murder Hornet” Problem Explained
By Ryan Hylton Only one science topic has rivaled the Coronavirus pandemic in recent news cycles: the “Murder Hornet”. Although this nickname is a bit sensational, it does not fall far from the truth. Vespa mandarinia, or the Asian giant hornet, is the largest hornet species in the world and is known for its ability … Continue reading What’s With All the Hype? The “Murder Hornet” Problem Explained
The Spring 2020 Best Blog Post Votes are In!
Thank you to everyone who voted for Lions Talk Science’s best blog post of the Spring 2020 semester! The results are all in, and your favorite LTS article from the spring semester was "When the Science Stops: A Series of Interviews" written by Stephanie Baringer. For her winning article, Stephanie will receive a $25 gift card! … Continue reading The Spring 2020 Best Blog Post Votes are In!
What is Going On in Your Brain When You’re Stressed
By Mariam Melkumyan While certain levels of stress present in our lives is a good thing, sometimes it can be too much. Now is a very stressful time for graduate students; in addition to qualifying and comprehensive exams and dissertations, we are constantly reminded of threats to our health and normal lives due to the … Continue reading What is Going On in Your Brain When You’re Stressed
Organ on a Chip: The Future of Biomedical Testing
By Rebecca Fleeman Photo Credit: Flikr Technology has significantly changed the way we interact with our environment. One noticeable advance is technology continuously becoming smaller and smaller over time. For example, look at how we listen to music. We began with records, moved to cassette tapes, then ended on CDs before everything we listened to … Continue reading Organ on a Chip: The Future of Biomedical Testing
When the Science Stops: A Series of Interviews
By Stephanie Baringer Photo Credit: Picpedia Are you curious about how different areas of science are handling the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders? We are trained that science never stops, but what happens when it does? Below are mini-interviews with researchers in four different areas of the scientific field: industry, government, medical affairs, and academia … Continue reading When the Science Stops: A Series of Interviews
The Art of Mastering Your Breaks
Photo Credit: OpenClipart By Indira Purushothaman Taking breaks in grad school often makes you feel like you’re falling behind. We give more attention to the life span and battery percentage of our devices than to ourselves. Taking breaks helps you recharge. Recent studies show that the average American works approximately 9.2 hours a day, often … Continue reading The Art of Mastering Your Breaks
The First Use of CRISPR to Treat a Genetic Disease in a Live Patient
By Ryan Hylton Basic concept of the CRISPR-Cas9 system. Photo Credit: Vox/Javier Zarracina At least 6,000 human diseases are caused by heritable genetic mutations1. A long-time dream of physicians and patients alike has been to specifically treat these diseases by manipulating the genetic code in affected patients. This dream became one step closer to reality … Continue reading The First Use of CRISPR to Treat a Genetic Disease in a Live Patient
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