Mia Anderson: The Triangle

Drexel University’s research community is not constrained to the borders of the United States.

Professors are conducting research geared towards developing effective wildlife conservation policies in Africa, learning about fruit fly wing development through digital cell modeling and determining intergenerational volunteerism’s effect on health.

These Drexel University research projects all reach beyond U.S. borders in some way, and were all represented at Drexel’s first International Research Showcase the evening of May 26 in Behrakis Hall.

“It’s an opportunity to celebrate the research that people are doing that’s international. It’s either the content, the challenges, or the partners … it’s a great opportunity for our students and our faculty to show off their work,” Julie Mostov, senior vice provost of Global Initiatives, said.

The event started with four-minute flash presentations from over a dozen researchers working on projects that have an international scope.

Some of the projects have ties or similar goals. These similarities gave researchers the opportunity to compare research and network in an attempt to make connections and discuss potential collaborations. Mostov acknowledged this fact and explained how it was possible for new connections to be made.

“A number of the faculty members were surprised to find out that people in different schools or colleges were doing work that in some way intersects with their work,” Mostov explained.

“So, we’re trying to encourage that cross-disciplinary activity at Drexel, and this is a good opportunity to do so,” she continued.

Graduate students were also given a forum to discuss their work in a poster presentation portion of the event. There were refreshments in the middle of a room filled with posters pinned to large boards. At each poster there was a graduate student ready to answer any questions about — or to provide a quick overview of — their work. The topics were diverse; there were posters about research in the fields of biology, chemistry, health and social science among other disciplines.

Mia Anderson: The Triangle

This event was not only a networking opportunity for the researchers involved, but also a chance for representatives from Drexel’s Study Abroad program to make connections with international researchers and network with Drexel students.

“We’re always interested in who’s doing international research … We’re here to connect with faculty members and to find ways to further collaborate,” Daniela Ascarelli, Assistant Vice Provost of International Programs and Director of Drexel’s Study Abroad program, said.

The four-minute flash presentations, in which each researcher had four minutes to describe their project, were a challenge for presenters. The fact that the majority of projects represented have large scope seemed to only compound this challenge. However, the time constraint was necessary in order to allow a large number of presenters to describe their projects.

The Office of International Programs was extremely happy with how smoothly the event went despite it being the first of its kind.

“This is our first time … we think that it’s actually been successful. This is going to be a yearly event, and we’ll talk about what smaller events we can have and how we can incorporate undergraduate students,” Mostov explained.

Mia Anderson: The Triangle

The Office of International Programs’ main goal is to build partnerships with international universities and institutes in order to increase the opportunities for collaboration and mobility. This event constituted an effort to achieve this goal, and it also fit well into Drexel’s larger goal of expanding its global impact.

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Jeremy Snyder: The Triangle

In life, there are always topics that seem taboo or off-limits. Bringing up these topics in conversation can often feel awkward or inconsiderate, but Drexel University senior Kashish Shamsi feels that from these conversations comes understanding. On May 19, in Bossone’s Mitchell Auditorium, Shamsi and Drexel’s Public Relations Student Society of America chapter put together an event which invited panelists from minority groups to discuss these topics and questions that can sometimes be hard to ask.

The auditorium was nearly half full, and the stage was set up simply. There was a podium and a table at which six panelists sat. Shamsi, the host for the evening, stood at the podium and began to read off questions to which the panelists would offer opinions and related personal experiences.

In sticking with the title of “The Right Questions” Shamsi first asked the panelists to recount any awkward questions they had been asked and then change the way the questions were posed in order to make them less awkward. Immanuel Anosike, a Drexel student born in Nigeria explained some of the questions that he had been asked.

“Being from Nigeria … there’s no shortage of wrong questions I have been asked … I kind of grouped it into two kinds of questions. The first [kind] is questions that question my intelligence … questions like ‘How do you speak English?’” Anosike explained.

He continued to say that if there are questions that seem like they may be offensive or awkward to ask you could always research or google them.

The conversation then switched to more divisive and relevant topics such as cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation, the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements and conjugating someone’s ethnic group with American (African-American, Asian-American, Arab-American).

There were many educational moments over the course of the night which spawned from questions raised to panelists knowledgeable about the topic. They would then speak on the question and clarify facts many audience members may not have known.

“LGBTQIA stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual … keeping in mind that [it] is a pretty inclusive term, it’s not all-inclusive. There’s so many different variations. Even just in transgender [community] there are people who don’t identify with a gender at all or [who] identify with multiple genders,” panelist Angelica Riviera stated.

Kashish Shamsi is a music industry major who authored a piece “Through the Eyes of a Hijabi” for The Triangle in February. It was a piece detailing her experience when wearing her hijab in the wake of the Beirut, Paris, Buhari and Baghdad attacks. She worked together with Public Relations Student Society of America chapter president Michelle Wilson to put together the event. She saw it as an opportunity to affect more people with her message.

“My article is about how the media has portrayed minority groups, and how [Muslims] specifically [have] been portrayed. We need to put an end to it,” she said. “There are always going to be bad seeds, but to just show those bad seeds continuously is a bit of a stretch. It’s a bit of sensationalism.”

“Muslims go to work, Muslims teach, Muslims do this, Muslims do that. It’s just a religion; it’s just a belief, so to constantly [harp] on that fact like, ‘This Muslim woman was attacked; this Muslim man did this,’ is so sensational. People just hear the word Muslim and automatically it’s equivalent to terrorism,” she continued, delving deeper into the intersections of sensationalism and Islamophobia.

She continued to explain that the goal of the event was to encourage people to ask difficult questions in a sincere, empathetic way, and that through respectful conversation people could learn more about one another.

“It’s to really realize that it’s not always just one perspective, and it’s not always so black and white … when you say or do things, whether on social media or talking to your friend, just realize that there is a person on the other end … It’s important to recognize that we need to be a little more caring and understanding,” Shamsi emphasized as the biggest take away from the event.

The most important themes of the night were empathy, respect, and understanding. There were light hearted moments and there were serious moments, but through the laughter and the tears came a discussion with the goal of bringing people together so that they could ask the right questions.

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Mia Anderson: The Triangle

When Jesse Rosenstein noticed a lack of art in his friends’ apartments, he decided to ask them why they didn’t invest in it.

“They kept on saying that art was just too expensive,” Rosenstein said.

This gave him an idea — he aimed to put together an event where students could buy art at affordable prices. Rosenstein, a Drexel senior who studies Public Relations and Marketing, brought this idea to fruition on May 20 when Bloke’s Barbershop & Gentleman’s Emporium served as the gallery for the event which was aptly named “Art for All.”

As the cost of a college education continues to rise and the latest U.S. Census data shows a poverty rate of 14.8 percent, the monetary cost of art makes it inaccessible to a large portion of the population. Art for All aimed to tackle both of these issues by selling affordable art to college students and then giving the proceeds to “Art-Reach.” Art-Reach is a nonprofit organization that connects traditionally underserved groups, such as people with disabilities or those coming from low-income communities, with the cultural experience of art.

“What I wanted to do was create an environment where, one, artists could get some exposure and have their artwork hanging on someone else’s wall, and two, make it affordable for students so they can have something on their walls that they’re proud of,” Rosenstein stated.

The art on display was contributed by Rosenstein, his relatives, various Drexel students and others.

“It’s a nice mix,” Rosenstein said in reference to the donated pieces.

The event was well attended, and the large barbershop was packed with people admiring the art and socializing. There were paintings and pieces of photography hanging up, sitting on tables and leaning against the wall. One section of the store showed off hanging sculptures made from wood, glass, beads, and string.

“I bought a small picture, actually by Jesse, and it has a quote on the back. We’re debating on what else to get while we’re here,” Emily Ballantyne, a good friend of Rosenstein, said.

The quote on the back was handwritten to add a personal touch. A large number of the people at the event knew either Rosenstein, the artists, the shop or someone involved with the setup.

The event was held in Bloke’s Barbershop at 151 N. 3rd St. in Old City. The atmosphere of the barbershop matched the warm feel of the event, and while walking around guests seemed to forget that the venue was a barbershop and not, in fact, an art gallery.

Mia Anderson: The Triangle

“My wife and I had a vision of opening up our own shop … we found the space, fell in love with the area and started to do the fitting out of the shop,” Duke Dunne, who co-owns the shop with his wife Jill, stated.

“It’s how we visualized it, and we always wanted to get into the art [scene] because we’re both into art,” he continued.

Rosenstein had originally approached Jill Dunne with the idea for the event. When Rosenstein told them that all of the proceeds would be going to Art-Reach, they agreed to host it. The couple loved the mission and the noble cause that the event would be supporting.

Duke enjoyed the night immensely.

“It’s great. We’ve got everyone coming in, and obviously there are new people that were never in the shop before and didn’t know we existed. It’s all good … We hope to have everything sold, to make as much money as possible for Art-Reach,” he stated.

Art-Reach, a non-profit organization, holds many events in conjunction with Philadelphia’s cultural institutions and community service organizations.

“We do curated events where we take kids from the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf to the Pennsylvania ballet studios on North Broad and do a dance class through [American Sign Language]. We also just recently took kids from the Overbrook School for the Blind to the Barnes Foundation. They went in and had a sensory tour of some of the gallery rooms and got to do an art-making activity geared towards kids who are either blind or low vision,” Charlie Miller, Director of Programming at Art-Reach, stated. The money raised at “Art For All” will help sponsor more trips such as these for Art-Reach in the future.

Mia Anderson: The Triangle

In total, more than $1000 were raised for Art-Reach through art sales at the event, and approximately 60 percent of the works available were sold. The leftover pieces of art will still be available for buyers at First Friday, an event on the first Friday of every month where all of the shops in the neighborhood of Old City around Bloke’s Barbershop open their doors. All paintings not sold at the original event will be available for sale at the next First Friday, June 3.

For more information about Bloke’s Barbershop & Gentleman’s Emporium you can visit their website at www.blokesbarbershop.com or visit them at their location in Old City. For more information about Art-Reach you can visit their website at www.art-reach.org.

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Imagine a world where shirts are made out of transgenic spider silk which is stronger than steel, ultra light and biodegradable, gloves have knitted tendons that make hands physically stronger and sweaters have supercapacitors woven into them that can store energy from nearby wi-fi. All of this technology is currently being developed at Drexel, and the project recently got a huge boost from a public and private sector partnership involving 89 companies and institutions.

Creating an innovation nexus for research, technology transfer and economic development is the fourth of six primary initiatives in Drexel’s 2012-2017 Strategic Plan. In the last few weeks, the university has taken a large step towards achieving that goal in the field of textile research.

The Department of Defense has awarded a $75 million grant for textile technology research to a collaboration of institutions of which Drexel will be the Mid-Atlantic anchor. The initial investment made by the Department of Defense was matched more than three times over by public and private sector partners, and the total for the project is now $317 million.

“Today, I’m announcing the Department of Defense is partnering with Advanced Functional Fabrics of America … to establish a new manufacturing innovation institute focused on revolutionary fibers and textiles,” Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced April 1 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“My dream is to have nothing hard on [the garments] and no batteries [in them],” Shima Seiki Haute Technology Lab Director Genevieve Dion stated during a presentation at Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in 2013. This hones in on a major benefit that the collaboration will afford. The combination of engineers, fabric designers, computer scientists and nanotechnology researchers will help create new technology such as supercapacitors and electrical circuits that can be woven into the fabric of the garment.

The project will aim not only to research and engineer functional fabrics, but also to develop novel methods in simulation testing and manufacturing. The scope of this project will ensure efficient and effective advancements in the qualities and abilities of our textiles as well as the economic cost of producing them.

Innovative technology is not the only positive outcome of this initiative; there are great economic benefits as well according to Carter.

“I know how important it is to [President Obama] that America keeps leading in manufacturing innovation, and continues to bring great manufacturing jobs back home,” he stated.

According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States is still five percent. The size and scope of this initiative will likely put a portion of these people back to work.

Researchers at Drexel University’s Shima Seiki Haute Technology Lab have been actively working on fabric tech for years now. Their work has been focused on trying to digitally design and print garments, and then incorporate technology into those garments.

“In order to bring this old fabrication method [into] the 21st century we have to look at how it can really match 3D printing,” Dion explained in a presentation about the research in 2013.

Drexel will provide several contributions to the new project. These will include services from researchers in the Shima Seiki Haute Technology Lab, and will also be given in the form of simulation capabilities from the College of Computing and Informatics and the College of Engineering. Expertise from these Drexel researchers could help develop new ways to test these fabrics and greatly reduce the cost of their design and production by identifying problems before they occur using computer simulations and models.

“In order to get there we need to … solve some basic problems here in the wearable technology arena, and for us, we discovered that trying to get a grant as you know … that’s going to be difficult,” Dion said in 2013 when financial support for the research was not as strong. She then continued speaking about approaching highly applicable problems instead of purely creative ones.

This brings up a very important point of the initiative. These researchers now have the financial backing from the government to tackle questions and problems that are applicable to the military and medical communities. They also have the private sector support from companies like Nike to make advances in the expressive abilities of clothing and fabrics in the context of the fashion world.

The applications of this technology are varied and significant, and they fall into a few categories. In terms of consumer products, clothing could be revolutionized. Products could begin to come out that can mask odors, take photos, effectively cool the wearer and change color. Clothing articles could also have lightweight sensors that can track fitness data just like wristband fitness trackers do today.

However, commercial application is not the main intention of the project. The main reason that the department of defense is supporting this venture financially is for its potential military applications. The technology that could come out of this initiative holds the potential to lighten soldiers’ gear and monitor their health. It could also create fabrics that could be used in tents to collect and store energy as well as regulate heat. Ultimately, the advances could reduce the amount of fuel that the armed forces use.

There are also various medical applications that are yet to be seen. Researchers expect the ability to monitor health, and even envision sensors that could be integrated into clothing and have the ability to detect medical abnormalities.

Further reading about the institute and those involved can be found on the AFFOA website: http://www.rle.mit.edu/fabric/

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The first known case of Zika hit Philadelphia Feb. 29. Since then, the number of cases reported in Philadelphia has risen to 16. The increasing case load in the United States and areas close to Drexel University has brought up many questions. First, what is Zika? Why is it so prevalent? Is Drexel at risk? How should students and other community members feel about this and other possible diseases outbreaks?

According to the CDC, the total number of documented Zika cases remained at 14 from its discovery in 1947 until 2007. In the time since 2007, Brazil alone has reported an estimated 500,000 to 1,500,000 cases and the number of countries reporting sightings of the disease has increased from five to 44. The United States and its territories have also felt the effects of its explosive growth. The US has seen around 1000 cases of Zika with 16 in Pennsylvania. As of Feb. 1 the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Zika and its related disorders as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and the April 13 publication of the New England Journal of Medicine presents strong statistical evidence supporting a link between the Zika virus and the potentially life-threatening diseases such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome and microcephaly.

Zika virus on its own is not deadly in most cases. In fact, the vast majority of victims only have to deal with mild symptoms including headache, body aches, fever and rash. These symptoms are short lived, lasting under a week in most cases of infection.

Zika’s real danger stems from related life-threatening complications. Two distinct disorders are likely connected to Zika infection, both potentially deadly.

The first of those complications is a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). The most dangerous symptom of GBS is paralysis; nearly a quarter of all afflicted individuals report some muscle paralysis over extended periods of time and in severe cases full-body paralysis has been reported. Patients with this severe form of the disease often have trouble breathing, making the condition life-threatening.

Columbia had 242 cases of GBS per year on average before 2007 but in just the first five weeks of 2016 the country reported 86 new cases, a 400 percent increase from the average monthly caseload in the past. Columbia is also the second most affected country in terms of the recent Zika outbreak. Though the evidence has not been fully confirmed, studies done on patients affected by an outbreak of the virus in French Polynesia in 2013 suggested a correlation between Zika and GBS.

The second and more common complication related to Zika, a birth defect called microcephaly, can affect the children of women infected with the virus during pregnancy. Microcephaly describes a condition wherein the affected infant’s head and brain cannot fully develop or could be damaged during development. A baby with microcephaly may seem otherwise healthy at birth, but later manifest problems including epilepsy, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and even blindness or deafness. In severe cases, the birth defect can threaten the life of the child. There is no cure or standard treatment for microcephaly.

There have been few scientific studies on any possible link between Zika and microcephaly, but researchers found a statistically significant correlation between the increasing caseloads of both Zika and microcephaly. Prior to 2015 in Brazil, the average number of microcephaly cases per year was 166. However, between 2015 and Jan. 2016 there were a reported 4,783 cases of microcephaly including 76 deaths.. The figures are staggering. But how can an unborn baby be affected by the virus? The results of case studies have suggested transmission of Zika from an infected pregnant parent to their unborn children.  Scientists have also found a correlation between Zika infection in pregnant people and microcephaly in their children.

The links between infection and debilitating complications are now clear and it is in these complications that the danger lies. The Zika epidemic doesn’t consist of just one disorder, but actually presents a toxic trio of issues: Guillain-Barre Syndrome, microcephaly, and the Zika infection itself.

What makes the incidents of Zika since 2007 so much greater than before? The numbers seem impossible. Only a dozen cases occurred in the span of 60 years, and then there was an explosion of cases in eight years. Why so many more cases of microcephaly and Guillain-Barre Syndrome? The numbers raise more questions than they do answers, and there hasn’t been enough research done to answer these questions. The epidemic is so widespread and so new that the research being done focuses on prevention rather than cure.

Many factors make Zika different from other infectious diseases with outbreaks of similar proportion. It has a much larger-than-average capacity to spread uncontrollably because it transmits primarily though Aedes mosquitoes. They are geographically distributed near the equator, but the northern limit of their habitat stretches into the southeastern United States, meaning that the disease could be spread by mosquitoes in the U.S.

Zika can also be transmitted sexually. There have been eight reported cases of sexually transmitted Zika virus in the United States.

The good news for everyone is that no case of Zika in the United States has been transmitted by a mosquito within the country’s borders. All of these individuals were infected while travelling in an affected area.

Zika is something called an ‘arbovirus,’ which stands for ‘arthropod-borne virus.’ For most arboviruses humans are dead-end hosts, meaning that the virus cannot copy itself in the human body quickly enough to re-infect arthropods (mosquitoes in this case). However, some historic diseases closely related to Zika including yellow fever and dengue fever are exceptions to this rule. There has not been enough research to definitively answer the question of mosquito reinfection for Zika, but if a mosquito could be infected from biting an infected human then serious considerations must be made in preventing the spread of the disease. This is an important topic and area of future research for the Zika virus.

The final and the most important question is, “Is Drexel safe?” Drexel students are safe; there are likely very few people on campus who should be worried about Zika. Not a single person in the U.S. has contracted the disease from a mosquito inside the United States, making the probability of mosquito-borne infection in Philadelphia incredibly low.

“When I was travelling over Winter break every airport was freaking out about [Zika]… I was in London, Dublin, Brussels, New Delhi, and Bangalore,” frequent traveler Ridhima Phukan said.

The Office of International Co-op confirmed that Drexel currently has no co-op programs in South America, where Zika has become prevalent.

When asked if she was personally worried about Zika, Phukan said she was not. “Honestly, no. Not at all,” Phukan stated.

Viruses like Ebola, with a fatality rate near 50 percent, and Zika, which causes birth defects in fairly large numbers are not causes of concern for U.S. citizens.

“It wasn’t something that felt close enough to me to freak me out,” Ridhima stated when talking about the reasons behind her lack of fear.

In the United States there is virtually no chance of contracting the disease. So far, the disease was only present in those US citizens who had travelled to an affected area or whose sexual partner had travelled to an affected area.

The WHO currently has no treatment for the disease other than mosquito prevention, but the race is on to find a way to control and stop the outbreak. Drexel is safe, and the rest of America is relatively safe as well, but comprehension of the virus and its consequences is vital to everyone’s ability to understand the state of world health. Keeping up-to-date with the facts can help anyone assess their risk of contracting the disease.

Further reading on Zika information and on surveillance and prevention can be found at WHO’s website or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

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