How to publicize your research - Peter Janiszewski

Because there are literally thousands of scientific papers published on a weekly basis, it is often impossible for your study, as important as it may be, to garner the attention it may deserve. Thus, I have recently started taking matters into my own hands. In addition to writing a daily blog (link to http://www.obesitypanacea.blogspot.com/) and hosting a podcast with my lab partner Travis Saunders on which we publicize our work as it becomes published, I have also started writing articles for local papers and newsletters.

The purpose of publicizing your research via non-peer review means (blogs, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, etc.) is manifold. First, if your research involves any number of volunteers from the surrounding community, it is a nice way to officially say thanks for their participation. It may also be one of the few ways they will ever find out about the outcome of the study. Also, if your findings are relevant to the general population and not just the 3 other academics studying your esoteric topic, it is important that your findings are seen by the general population – majority of whom are not likely to read peer-reviewed scientific journals. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, writing for a lay audience forces you to funnel your message when describing your work so that it can be easily understood by people outside of your lab – this will be a tremendous help in social settings, and may finally allow your own parents to understand what the heck it is that you do.

Click here (link to http://obesitypanacea.blogspot.com/2009/02/kingston-seniors-get-fit-for-research.html) to see an article I wrote for Kingston This Week, entitled “Kingston Seniors Get Fit For Research”, which appeared in print on February 5, 2009.

Travis Saunders- Sleep and Childhood Obesity

Although people spend a lot of time discussing the importance of physical activity and a healthy diet, these are not necessarily the only factors affecting obesity prevention and reduction. One very interesting area that is receiving increasing attention is sleep duration, which appears to strongly influence obesity and metabolic disease risk, especially in children.Although the exact physiological function of sleep is still unclear, the idea that sleep deprivation can lead to negative consequences is not a surprise to anyone. What is interesting, is that new studies suggest that even partial sleep restriction can result in increased risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and CVD. For example, adults who sleep less have been reported to have increased levels of ghrelin (a hormone which stimulates eating) and decreased levels of leptin (a hormone which inhibits eating). For a great review on this area of research by Dr S Taheri at the University of Bristol, click here. The idea that sleep deprivation might somehow affect hormones or eating patterns in the short term is not all that surprising - think of how most of us crave greasy, energy dense foods after a late night on the town. However, a recent study in Pediatrics suggests that sleep duration in childhood is a significant predictor of obesity rates well into adulthood.In their recent study, Landhuis and colleagues from the University of Otago assessed sleep time in 1000 individuals at 5, 7, 9, 11 and 32 years of age. They report that sleep duration in childhood was a significant predictor of adult BMI, even after control for confounders like socioeconomic status and childhood BMI. Interestingly, adult sleep duration was not associated with adult BMI. Individuals who were classified as childhood "short sleepers" (less than 11 hours/night) had significantly higher BMI's than moderate (11.0-11.5 hours/night ) and long sleepers (>11.5 hours/night) at all ages. Although they did not investigate mechanisms (or suggest how to convince your kids to sleep more), the results of this paper are nonetheless very interesting, and suggest that sleep patterns in childhood (when the brain is still developing) may influence the control of energy homeostasis years down the road. These results also offer one more way that simple lifestyle modifications could help reduce the prevalence of obesity in future generations.

(Photo by peasap)

Kat Heintzman- Guest Lecturing and the Beauty of Interdisciplinarity.

When I was given the opportunity to do a guest lecture I was both excited and terrified. Some of this comes from being in a stream of this department that typically deals with sport, a subject about which I know next to nothing. However, with a background in queer theory I felt like I would be able to put something together on sport and sexuality.

Inspiration comes in the strangest of places. While working on a conference presentation on the representation of transmasculinities in queer feminist pornography I stumbled onto a link to a new porn release called Champion, which tells the story of butch Jess’s sexcapades. She is a mixed-martial-artist fighting for a Championship title in a homophobic industry. (Plot matters!) This opened a whole new door and I went from thinking about discussing LBGTQ athletes to presenting on how sport is eroticized (ie. homoeroticism in contact sport that permit physical contact under the guise of homosociality) as well as how sex is sportified (foxy boxing).

What I valued most as an undergrad in this department and am glad to be a part of as a TA is the diverse material we address in the sociology classes. Courses on sexuality taught me about war and pedagogy, courses on medicalization taught me about branding and consumer choice. I feel so privileged to be a part of that. In sport class that day we talked about Christina Aguilera, foxy boxing, and group showers.