Epidemiology is Not the Study of Skin

by Tara Smith     Department: Correlations

Hi all, and welcome to Correlations. In contrast to many of my colleagues, I'm blogging from about the least exotic place on the planet--Iowa, where I wear a lot of hats. I'm an infectious disease epidemiologist (add "molecular" to the front of that if you want to give me a *really* long title).

I investigate patterns of infectious disease, and specifically, I look at bacteria at the molecular level, trying to figure out why some bacterial strains are so nasty and others are fairly benign. I'm also a basic microbiologist, a teacher, an academic, a mom with 2 young kids and 2 frequently naughty dogs, and of course, a blogger, where I write for The Panda's Thumb and my main blog, Aetiology.

I'm also a working scientist. I'm a bacteriologist by training, and my research focuses on microbes that are zoonotic--that is, transferred between animal species (including, most notably for us, humans). Recent examples of zoonotic diseases that have made the news are influenza H5N1 ("bird flu"), SARS, Ebola, and E. coli O157:H7, to name a few. Because these are my area of research, you'll find that I write about these with some regularity (in fact, I have a running series on them).

Since I teach in a college of public health, I tend to branch out on occasion beyond just infectious disease and discuss health more broadly--such as the recent Facebook breastfeeding brouhaha and how public perception of breastfeeding continues to marginalize nursing moms.

As a woman in science (and the mother of a daughter), I also occasionally discuss gender issues in academia or science in general, even interviewing Danica McKellar (aka "Winnie Cooper" of Wonder Years fame) about a recent book she wrote to keep girls interested in mathematics.

As a basic biologist, I've long fought for good science education and against creationism and intelligent design. I'm the founder of Iowa Citizens for Science and have even submitted myself to Answers in Genesis' Creation Museum and survived. I've also branched out from countering evolution denial to countering denial of HIV causation of AIDS and other forms of bad science.

There isn't much I won't do in the name of science...

Tags: bacteria, biology, disease, epidemiology

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