Health and Human Services News

Dr. Kip Thompson featured in Mind’s Eye magazine

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Dr. Kip Thompson studies public health and how diseases spread throughout communities. His most recent research on how diseases are spread through military operations is featured in the 2022 issue of Mind’s Eye.

The full story is available on the site now.

Here is an excerpt:

Service members who live in close quarters on base are at risk for rapid outbreaks of diseases like GI. To control them, quick detection of the cause is critical.

When Thompson was in Kuwait, his Preventive Medicine unit had polymerase chain reaction (PCR) capabilities. PCR enabled RNA or DNA sequencing to detect the pathogen of an outbreak within hours.

Using the system, he and his team were able to quickly identify a GI outbreak caused by norovirus.

“Because of that, we were also able to reduce the disease burden,” Thompson said. “The incidence of disease was down 10 fold compared to locations with the same outbreak but without the system we had.”

Read the full story

Congratulations, Dr. Thompson!

Breaking down unattainable body image standards

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Congratulations, Dr. Whisenhunt!

Dr. Brooke Whisenhunt, professor of psychology, researches body image ideals among women in the media.

Along with Dr. Danae Hudson, professor of psychology, and students, Whisenhunt studied the changing ideal figure. For women today, it’s a contradictory tall, thin and muscular.

“We expect women to restrict eating to get really thin, but now we also expect them to build muscle, which is very contradictory,” Whisenhunt said. Beyond it being unrealistic, she said, “the real kick is that it’s touted as healthier, making it harder for women to reject the notion.”

Read full story in Mind’s Eye

 

Building bridges of humanity

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Congratulations, Dr. Echols!

Dr. Leslie Echols, assistant professor of psychology, along with her colleague Dr. Sandra Graham from University of California – Los Angeles, received a grant of approximately a half million dollars from the National Science Foundation to establish an antibullying program. They will create a positive peer mentoring program and implement friend building exercises, while also developing curriculum to improve the coping techniques for victims.

Echols discusses the antibullying program, adolescent friendships and cross-race relationships in a recent feature in Mind’s Eye.

“My two cents has always been: If you can see someone as a human, you’re much less likely to mistreat them,” Echols said.

Read on in Mind’s Eye.