Updates (c-c-c-change)

-
The '17/18 academic year has recently drawn to a close, and I'm currently enjoying some introspective time while visiting Maui. This past semester was eventful, and time for reflection is proving to be nourishing.

As many of you know, I've been enthusiastically studying joint laxity and its correlation with various health states. As my research expanded, I found loose joints (joint hypermobility) accompanying various conditions with shocking frequency. Conditions as seemingly unrelated as anxiety, osteoarthritis, autoimmune disease, and chronic fatigue all occur more frequently in those who have hyper-mobile joints! While I had a lot of good support from mentors and colleagues, the path forward in translating ideas to outcomes remained frustratingly elusive. As another academic year came and went without a clear sense of how I'd translate ideas into funded research (and a PhD degree), I made the difficult decision to change labs.

My bones feel nourished by Maui.
I'm not change averse, though in the Ayurvedic worldview, I tend to be more Earth-y than Water-y. It's been said that I change direction with the grace and elegance of a barge navigating a small harbor (or a bull in a china shop.) While I'm still sorting out the ripples resulting from this recent change, I'm very excited to return to researching Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the use of Yoga interventions to help improve lives.

As of mid-March, I am now a member of the Motor & Brain Development Lab at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Under the tutelage of Dr. Brittany Travers, I will finish up the data analysis from the YogAutism study. I have been part of the YogAutism study since its beginning, and am honored to rejoin this collaboration with the Center for Healthy Minds. The next-steps in getting these data ready for public consumption are primarily in the realm of statistics and analysis. In forthcoming blog postings, I will share more of my enthusiasm/apprehension about these next-steps in my continued development as a scientist.

Comments

Linda Mundt said…
Statistics and analysis? So glad it's you and not me. So glad you're doing this.
May 26, 2018 at 5:03 PM
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
May 26, 2018 at 9:19 PM
Unknown said…
Good luck and I hope your data collection and analysis will go well!
May 27, 2018 at 11:25 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You have lots of... things

-
Image
The hearse pulled into my family’s driveway at the appointed hour. My parents mentioned that an artist was stopping by, though I had no idea the artist’s entrance would imprint so indelibly in my mind. From his ginormous, black hearse, to the wild hair and beard, this man-in-black was the antithesis of the early-1970s, suburban world that I inhabited. My adoptive parents were thoroughly suburban. We had lots of stuff, and hungered for the stuff that we didn’t have. I thought nothing of this – it’s how all my friends and I lived. With one sentence, however, the artist showed me another view of all this stuff, initiating a conflicted relationship with stuff that I’ve been working with for 50+ years. Repurposed hearses are really big station wagons that can haul lots of things. As he entered our house, he hesitantly said “You have lots of… things .” The pause on “things” was pregnant with meaning, and even though I was scarcely of school-age, I grokked the layered meanings implied by the
Read more

Sweets and Your Mitochondria

-
Image
The vitality of your cellular mitochondria are a significant predictor of your health. To support your overall health, it's best to avoid low-fiber foods that are sweet. Fruit is sweet, though is generally high in fiber. A donut, on the other hand, is low in fiber and sweet. The metabolic pathways of each are significantly different, and interact with enzymes in your liver in very different ways. This plant-based donut did not check the whole-foods box Metabolic health is your mitochondria working at peak efficiency, and your liver is a mitochondria factory. When you eat low-fiber foods that are sweet, the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in your liver isn't able to bond with the receptors that initiate the production of healthy mitochondria. While your tissues may be crying out for refreshed mitochondria, the factory doors are locked when you consume low-fiber, sweet food. Not all sweet food is created equal - there are many types of sugars, such as sucrose, fructose, lac
Read more

Worklife Bardo

-
Image
  I’m currently parked in a Bardo. What, you may ask, is a Bardo? According to meditation teacher Andrew Holecek, the Tibetan word “Bardo” is translated as “gap, interval, intermediate state, transition process or in between…” The next chapter of life has yet to be written, and the final page of the previous chapter has been turned. Last month I graduated – a milestone I eagerly anticipated since my first day of grad school, nearly seven years ago. While I (mostly) appreciated the process of earning the Ph.D., I never lost sight of the goal. I was not in grad school for the sake of being in grad school – I consistently had a sense of purpose… almost a mission. Interestingly, that mission took multiple twists and turns throughout the duration of the process. Now that the final page on the grad-school chapter has been turned, the first pages of the next chapter aren’t what I expected. The various twists and turns appeared to lead into a long hallway. Like MIT’s Infinite Corridor , this h
Read more