Unit 3: Disease

A decade before John Snow was investigating cholera in London, James Ormiston McWilliam was across the world studying yellow fever in Cape Verde. This approach of utilizing interviews would become an integral part of the field of epidemiology.

Dr. Holly Hurlburt discusses human reaction to pathogens during the bubonic plague of 1347-1349. She tells the story of the plague by referencing the 1348 last will and testament of Dogaressa Elisabetta Dandolo as well as Boccaccio’s Decameron.

Dr. Gordon discusses a pair of films centered on tuberculosis: one from 1912 (Falling Leaves) and the other from 1914 (The Temple of Moloch).

Dr. Gordon discusses Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion (2011), which is about the emergence of a pandemic and the responses aimed at stopping its spread. She concludes with a brief discussion of Plandemic, a short conspiracy theory video.

Dr. Sarah Ash looks back at how hard it was for nutrition scientists to discover vitamins over one hundred years ago, and then talks about why it is so much harder today for scientists to figure out the relationship between diet and disease.

Dr. Koci explains what a virus is, how common viruses are and the basics of the virus "life cycle" (although viruses don't meet the biological definition of "alive"). You'll hear about what we know about viruses and the enormous impact of these tiny microbes.

Drs. Piedrahita and Pierce discuss how the use of mini-organs -- organoids made from stem cells -- can play a role in developing new drugs.

To take more control over your own decisions (what to do, what to believe, how to think critically), it helps to understand the deep secrets of learning (Part 1/2).

To take more control over your own decisions (what to do, what to believe, how to think critically), it helps to understand the deep secrets of learning (Part 2/2).

Dr. Neupert shares some of her research that highlights for whom and under which circumstances well-being can be optimized in times of stress.

COVID-19 highlighted many of the inequities in our public health system; to solve these issues it's going to take everyone, not just those in healthcare and medical sciences.