January 2019

Fittingly,  the new year and semester brought on a bout of new classes to schedules. In addition to the usual Medical Pharmacology and Principles of Pharmacology classes, we are now taking Environmental Signaling, Endocrine Pharmacology, Cell Control Mechanisms, and Neuropharmacology. For the most part, these electives have given us more freedom to control how much we learn and what content we focus on. While the other electives still focus more on the human mechanisms, Environmental Signaling provides a good balance between physiological phenomena and environmental awareness. We have learned about the signaling pathways of estrogen in the body, the different forms of estrogen, and how they affect the body, but what I also appreciate is Dr. Mielke's attention to protecting New Orleans' population from lead pollution. We have been assigned a project to collect five soil samples from across the greater New Orleans area specifically from places where children spend a significant amount of time. Dr. Mielke's analysis on the concentration of lead in the soil could help to better treatment of the soil and future prevention of lead poisoning. Below I have attached a copy of the current soil lead concentrations around the city. Since Katrina there has been a descent in the lead concentration levels, and it is important to continue Dr. Mielke's research to further this progress and protect the youth of this city.

I have not yet been able to visit KiPP this semester, but I plan to continue volunteering around the school as much as I can. 

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