Ever think about zooplankton? Yea, me neither. Heck, until recently I had only a vague understanding of what these creatures were. I thought they were sea plants of some sort. Perhaps the ‘zoo’ in the name should have clued me in. It didn’t. Go ahead, you can laugh. My knowledge of fifth grade ocean biology […]
“The Earth is badly Floxed.”I’m not sure if the person who wrote that meant it literally or figuratively, but, I agree – both literally and figuratively – the earth is badly floxed. (“Floxed” is short-hand for suffering from fluoroquinolone toxicity – an adverse reaction to cipro/ciprofloxacin, levaquin/levofloxacin, avelox/moxifloxacin or any of the other fluoroquinolone antibiotics. […]
It’s funny sometimes how a solitary clue can lead one on a remarkable journey of discovery. That happened last week when the good folks from the Endometriosis Research Center posted an abstract on social media about a potential new biomarker to diagnose endometriosis. Published in the Journal of Cell Physiology, researchers found that women with […]
The combined APS (American Physiological Society) and EB (Experimental Biology) conference was full of excitement for me. This was my first migraine-associated presentation to scientists, MDs, and premed students. I have never presented a poster at any conference—I have usually given lectures. I was concerned. Will my posters catch any interest? Then I arrived at […]
The morning after I picked up my discharge papers from the Marine Corps, I boarded a plane bound for Peru. After 4 years of being told where, when and what to do, I decided that the best plan was to have no plan. Against the advice of my direct supervisor, parents and a lot of […]
I am excited to announce the publication of my new book, Silent Inheritance: Are You Predisposed to Depression. As a long time contributor to Hormones Matter and other publications on the benefits of Vitamin D, this book is quite a departure for me. It is personal, representing my journey through depression. As a researcher, I […]
A mated pair of bald eagles twenty yards above me both tip their wings and set a synchronized dive wing-tip to wing-tip toward me. The Willamette River and the Oregon City’s Willamette Falls are the sources of interest for these youngsters. The raptors are giving me pause and hope – a certain sanity floods my […]
I vividly recall the most unexpected reaction I got when I told a friend that we were pregnant with our daughter. He asked me not to mention it in front of his wife. He explained that she was in the midst of an emotional crisis. Their attempts to conceive had been unsuccessful, and the doctors […]