video: From your local bus route to international air travel, infectious diseases can spread across the globe in a matter of hours. In this video podcast episode filmed at the Koshland Science Museum in Washington, D.C., Stephen Eubank from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute of Virginia Tech and Daniel Lucey from Georgetown University discuss the role of transportation in the spread of disease and examine the effectiveness of various measures to curb transmission. Stephen Eubank, Ph.D., is a project director at the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute of Virginia Tech. His research focuses on modeling and simulating the spread of disease and regional transportation, and the analysis of complex systems. Daniel Lucey, M.D., M.P.H., is an adjunct professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University, where he is co-director of the master of science program in biohazardous threat agents and emerging infectious diseases. In recent years, his teaching focus has been on SARS, avian flu and the threat of pandemic human influenza. Resources: Learn more about infectious diseases at http://www.koshland-science-museum.org/exhib_infectious/index.jsp Transportation Research Board of the National Academies http://www.trb.org/default.asp Pandemic Flu and Travel http://www.pandemicflu.gov/travel/index.html view more
Credit: Chris Condayan - Producer Garth Hogan - camera work
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has been honored with non-profit public relations awards from PR News for two of its public outreach initiatives. The awards were announced in Washington, DC, on December 4, 2008.
The Society's MicrobeWorld Video series received the award for best podcast. Launched in April 2007, the online video series strives to increase public understanding and appreciation of the vital role microbes play on our planet. Since then the series has featured over 20 episodes, with topics ranging from the West Nile virus to how modern transportation has spread disease that have attracted over 1.3 million views.
Additionally, ASM and its partners the Soap and Detergent Association and Ogilvy Public Relations received the award for best press release for its 2007 release "The Dirty Truth About America's Handwashing Habits" announcing the results of the latest survey of handwashing habits in public restrooms. Started in 1996, the ASM conducts this survey periodically to raise awareness of regular handwashing as one of the easiest ways to prevent transmission of infectious diseases.
"We are very pleased to receive this recognition from our peers in the non-profit world that acknowledges the quality and success of our public outreach efforts," said Barbara Hyde, ASM Communications Director.
The PR News Nonprofit PR Awards recognize the top talent, the innovators and passionate professionals who day in, day out are making communications matter in the nonprofit public relations marketplace. The awards are presented by PR News, the leading trade publication among communicators worldwide. The winners in this year's awards program included PR professionals from nonprofits, corporations and PR firms large and small.
Episodes of MicrobeWorld Video can be found and viewed on the MicrobeWorld website at www.microbeworld.org. To read the handwashing release or to find out more information about the latest handwashing survey go to www.washup.org. You can also download MicrobeWorld Video episodes for free from iTunes or by subscribing to the RSS feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/asm.
For more information on MicrobeWorld Video and ASM, please visit www.microbeworld.org or contact Garth Hogan at 202-942-9389.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 42,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.