The HBS Way

06/13/2017

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us at the Society and Genetics Capstone Festival! For those who missed it, you can find our podcast below. Listen to it, discuss it--let's keep the conversation going! Frida Nohemi Hana Grace Clara Lengacher Celeste Romano

Every year, 187,000 people die of overdose worldwide. Dozens of countries are facing this epidemic; in response, many have shifted their focus from policies criminalizing drug use to policies promotin

06/12/2017

The podcast is complete! Come listen to it and check out other capstone projects TODAY from 9am-11am in the YRL Conference Room. Donuts and coffee provided 🍩☕

06/08/2017

“There are more people who are on disability than ever before and many of those people are people who have gotten discouraged, who feel that there is no longer a place for them in the modern economy, and they feel disenfranchised…Pain has multifactorial origin. We thought that we could treat this kind of pain with opioids and help people feel better, help people function better, but turns out that’s not usually true.” Dr. Romano is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at UC Davis. His research interests include developing, testing, and validating health care quality measures, using outcomes data to improve the quality and effectiveness of health care, and studying the role of physicians and nurses in optimizing quality and safety.

06/08/2017

Starting to wonder what all this Drug Consumption Room business is all about? Read (or listen) here http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/12/16/246606797/denmarks-fix-rooms-give-drug-users-a-safe-haven

Government-sponsored drug consumption rooms may be helping save the lives of drug users in Denmark. Addicts can use drugs safely and without being judged in the "fix rooms," which have medical staff on duty to treat overdoses.

06/06/2017

"My interest in studying the opioid epidemic, particularly here in the United States is rooted in how POC may be disproportionately impacted by it. Considering how uniquely diverse the demographics in the United States are, in comparison to mainly European countries, addressing this question here seems so much more multifaceted. I think of matters such as the relation between this epidemic and: gentrification, the so-called “War on Drugs,” and the voracious pharmaceutical industry. Although these questions expand the scope of our current project, the knowledge that we have acquired so far is a catalyst for me to be able to explore these larger questions." Frida is a Human Biology and Society Major and a French Major. Upon graduating, they plan to go live under a shaded and cool rock in the Galapagos. They love to share energies through food, hugs, and music!

06/06/2017

“As a student of Public Health, I have always been drawn to solutions that consider and respond to the needs of their target population. When Celeste first talked to me about drug consumption rooms, I saw them as just that: services that met community members ‘where they were at.’ But every person has a different definition of what a community is and I wonder if the US could see drug users as a community in their own right, worthy of harm reduction services, or if we will continue to view abstinence as the only option for these people.” Clara is a 4th Year Human Biology and Society Major with a minor in Public Health. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career combining primary care clinical practice with public health research and planning

06/05/2017

“When writing a paper on the unequal burden of pain across race, I learned that opioids necessary for pain management are consistently under-prescribed to people of color. In contrast, overdose deaths linked to the current Opioid Epidemic predominantly impact White America. This perplexing discrepancy in access and mortality is what made me think -- What larger societal factors might be at play? And how can we act effectively and justly to curb the rising drug-related fatalities in America?” Hana Murphy is a fourth year Human Biology and Society Major with a Global Health minor. She will go on to work as a Biotech business consultant in San Francisco upon graduating but hopes to find her way back to medicine as a clinician in women’s health.

05/31/2017

"I first became interested in studying the public health impact of the global opioid epidemic while I was working in Denmark. In one conversation with my mentor, we discussed the differences in the acknowledgment of addiction by our respective countries, and she mentioned Drug Consumption Rooms. I was blown away that a government was not only willing to provide clean needles for users, but also a physical space for them to shoot up. I immediately wondered--could that ever happen here?" Celeste Romano is a fourth year Human Biology and Society Major with Public Health and Latin American Studies Minors. She plans to attend the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in Fall 2017, for a MS in Epidemiology.

05/30/2017

The HBS Way is back and ready to unpack the global opioid epidemic! We'd like to give a shoutout to our predecessors, Isis, Silvia, Ari, and Karen for passing on the torch. Their inaugural podcast was pretty phenomenal and we have some big uteri to fill ;) Stay tuned for feature stories highlighting the history of addiction, narratives of addicts here in the US and across the globe, and initiatives being undertaken to combat the epidemic. Our culminating podcast will be released in a few short weeks, and we invite all of you to listen and share with friends and family!

06/06/2016

And with that, "Wonder Womb" is submitted and waiting approval for public availability! Hang tight for the podcast coming your way...

06/06/2016

Although uterus transplants are incredibly exciting, it's important to remember that each clinical trial case profoundly affects an individual and their family both emotionally and psychologically.

A Texas couple hoped to make history by delivering the first baby in the U.S. using a donor uterus, but a fungal infection caused the transplant surgery to fail only a few hours after Lindsey McFarland was publicly introduced as the recipient. Still, her husband Blake says, “Even if they just learn…

06/06/2016

Can't believe this little guy is almost 2! A reminder that the Swedes are doing something right. Quite the example to follow.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29485996

A 36-year-old woman in Sweden has given birth to a baby boy using a transplanted womb in a medical first, doctors say.