In the News
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February 27, 2020
Comments by Elliot Tapper and Jessica Mellinger, both assistant professors of gastroenterology and internal medicine, were featured in a story about the growing rates of alcohol- and cirrhosis-related deaths among people ages 25 to 34: “What is particularly tragic about deaths due to liver disease in young people is that these are people who do not have other major comorbidities. These are people who were going to go on and raise families and be productive members of society. … That’s what makes dying in your 20s much more of an urgent public health problem,” Tapper said.
U.S. News & World Report -
February 26, 2020
“It’s about the principle of someone with great wealth distorting certain debates or certain social movements or influencing the direction of actual political elections … no one person should have that much influence in the public sphere,” said Megan Tompkins-Stange, assistant professor of public policy, on the clout of Democratic presidential candidate and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has created a network of powerful people and groups through his vast philanthropic efforts.
The Associated Press -
February 26, 2020
“It certainly would be an interesting contrast between seeing a commercial where (Michael) Bloomberg is making it seem almost like President Obama is endorsing him, and then in the debate you’re seeing Joe Biden complaining that Bloomberg did not support the signature legislative accomplishment of the administration. … More people are going to see the advertisements than saw the debate,” said Aaron Kall, director of the U-M debate program.
MLive -
February 26, 2020
“I think people will basically be unable to get second-trimester abortions in this state if this passes. This makes it a crime to provide the safest, most evidence-based care. It pits doctors against patients, and doctors against medicine. Will I be considered a criminal for providing that care?” said Jennifer Villavicencio, clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynecology, on a potential ban in Michigan of an abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation.
Michigan Radio -
February 25, 2020
“Corporations are the most powerful organizing institutions on earth because of their ability to transcend national boundaries and their largely unrestricted access to enormous resources for production. But business has outsize power that arguably threatens America’s democracy. Every step that business takes into the public sphere displaces the role and responsibility of government and public institutions, and reinforces Americans’ distrust of government,” wrote Andy Hoffman, professor of management and organizations, and environment and sustainability.
Stanford Social Innovation Review -
February 25, 2020
Planning for rejection is a crucial part of the academic research granting process, where worldwide competition of a limited pot of research funds is fierce, says Dawn Tilbury, professor of mechanical engineering and head of the NSF Engineering Directorate, which funds basic research in science and engineering: “We receive many more proposals — many more very good proposals — than we can possibly fund.”
Nature -
February 25, 2020
“We’re seeing [about] 75,000 total cases at this point, but the literature is only reporting about 100 or so pediatric cases,” says Terri Lynn Stillwell, assistant professor of pediatrics, commenting on the low number of reported coronavirus infections among children, many of whom may be infected but don’t get sick enough to seek medical treatment or may develop no symptoms at all.
National Public Radio -
February 24, 2020
With every $50 increase in out-of-pocket costs patients face for a 30-day supply of drugs, there appears to be a drop of 5 to 10 percent in them taking medications as advised, according to research by Brian Callaghan, associate professor of neurology: “The best way to address the problem of out-of-pocket costs is with large scale health care policy change. Limiting the costs of medications would be a great start and also limiting the cost sharing with patients is another.”
Newsweek -
February 24, 2020
“It’s a cycle. The Great Lakes have gone up and down forever and there’s every reason to believe they will continue to do so. The lakes go down just long enough for people to forget that they go up again,” said Richard Norton, professor of urban and regional planning, and in the Program in the Environment, who does not question the evidence of global warming but confesses it is hard to predict its future effect on lake levels.
The Financial Times -
February 24, 2020
Research by Giorgia Auteri, doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology, presents the first genetic evidence of resistance in some bats to white-nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that has decimated some North American bat populations. Auteri says the bats that survive appear to have a genetic difference that allows them to hibernate more deeply and save their stored-up fat.
Michigan Radio
