Elisabeth Root- Anu Timple

This talk was interesting as I had never really heard about the relationship between disease and geography. This area is especially prevalent in studying vaccine trials in regards to geography. I had never realized that herd immunity could be a large factor that affects the results of studies on new vaccines. I also didn’t realize how much of a factor things like locations and environment can have on the health of people. Additionally, it was interesting on hearing her talk about the accomplishments of Jon Snow, especially with how he had used mapping to discover that people were become diseased from using the same drinking pump. The amount of work he had done surveying people for a hypothesis that he believed in is really inspiring in terms of remembering to work hard towards something you believe in, even if you might not end up successful.

Elisabeth Root Talk and Reflection

Dr. Root talked about Geographical information systems and how they can impact the field of genetics.  First she talked about Dr. John Snow and the mapping of the 1854 London cholera outbreak. The water supply system was made of wells that people used to pump their supply of water. Dr. Snow believed that cholera was caused by water and he calculated the rate of people who got cholera from specific water systems. This work, aided by Henry Whitehead helped support their case and informed and influenced people who became influential in germ theory.

This was interesting to me because it shows different paradigm shifts in science at the time. Originally, people thought that cholera was caused by miasma or bad air, but Dr. Snow’s work supported that it was caused by a microorganism  in water. If his work wasn’t done and supported, then medical life today might look a bit differently. Perhaps we would be set back fifty or one hundred years or so.

The pairing of different disciplines can lead to new and amazing  paradigm shifts in how we view the world. Dr. Root ‘s presentation  has encouraged me to continue to keep an open mind especially when it comes to opportunities to experience different aspects and fields of science.

Elisabeth Root on John Snow – Savannah Moore

Prior to Elisabeth Root’s discussion about John Snow and the geography of science related topics, I had never thought much about the topic. Throughout her talk, there were many things that stuck out as important parts of studying science and understand its history. The idea of scientific progression through learning more about where ideas (such as the cholera epidemic) were rooted is more closely tied to geographic mapping than I had previously known. When scientific revolutions occur, it can be viewed as a paradigm if it explains things that have never been thought of before or sheds new light that changes already accepted ideas. Throughout the talk, I enjoyed hearing how large shifts of ideas are paired with looking at geographic locations.

Particularly, I was interested in the idea of landscape genetics. Landscape genetics attempts to describe how genetic characteristics vary in space and follow the patterns that have been seen genetically, so it is possible to make predictions. There are many applications of genetic evolution that are seen in medical therapeutics. Overall, medical geography has come a long way since John Snow’ data collection of the water system.

I am interested in learning more about job opportunities available for individuals in the landscape genetics area of study. It is interesting to have the opportunity to look at how genetics can evolve and diversify, just as humans do. With that information, it is possible to determine problems that may occur, and even try to help figure out how to prevent them.

Elisabeth Root – Olivia Wolfe

In class, Elisabeth Root spoke with us about John Snow and not only how his ideas impacted science, but also how he changed the base for all scientific theories that came afterward. John Snow changed the view of the disease from being airborne to being transferred through the water. I think this interesting because at the time, he found research to prove his point allowing him to stop the spread of the disease. However, it not only stopped that disease, but the idea was used in many other ways, and impacted science’s future. This idea went against most scientists and current ideas, and makes me curious how many other things that we are missing just because nobody looks for it, thinks outside the box, or is too crazy of an idea to believe at this time period.

Dr. Root Reflection | Madison Lubman

Dr. Root spoke to the class, firstly, about John Snow which lead to an informal conversation on the affects of geography on diseases and vaccines. John Snow was considered the Father of Modern Epidemiology and was one of the first health geographers. He looked at the complex spread of Cholera in London. It was interesting that Dr. Root avoided discussing John Snow in terms of just his Cholera outbreak map, but instead discusses in more depth about the studies that he performed before and after the map. The class then went on to discuss the history of Cholera and how London people believed that miasmata caused the illness. It was extremely impressive that Snow was able to hypothesis that Cholera was transmitted via water and then went on to do studies, surveys, and questionnaires to prove his hypothesis. This further delves into the paradigm shift idea that science is not steady and is affected by new knowledge. After discussing the lasting affects of Snow’s discoveries, Dr. Root talked further about vaccines efficacy and effectiveness which I found very interesting because I have not taken a class involved with virology. I enjoyed discussing Dr. Roots research and learning about the lasting effects she has had on the evolving field and research that is done today. I had never thought about disease in relation to geology or patters such as water ways, herd immunity, social patterns, or culture. I thought the spread of diseases based on the location of the infected and the people the person came in contact with was nearly the sole reason for outbreaks. I would be interested in researching more about how these real world, recently discovered, factors could drive evolutionary processes especially with the recent era of not getting children vaccinated due to personal beliefs.

Dr. Root: John Snow and Epidemiology | Devon Leahy

Dr. Root opened her discussion on paradigm shifts in the epidemiological field by telling how John Snow was able to map the cholera outbreak in London, earning him the title of the “Father of Modern Epidemiology.”  During his time, the miasmatists held the prevailing theory that illness was caused by poisonous vapor. Snow helped to change this by believing “animacuoles” in water caused that cholera outbreak. This contributed to the shift towards germ theory. Dr. Root also emphasized an aspect of Snow’s work that gets overlooked: how he calculated numbers and rates of cholera which provided systematic and quantitative evidence. He also tied geography to demographic and social context of those who contracted cholera. This relates to Dr. Root, as her research focuses on novel applications of geography to fields such as epidemiology.

I was very interested in Dr. Root’s research on vaccine efficacy. Utilizing GIS technology to examine the effects of locational and ecological differences on vaccine efficacy estimates led her team to a small-scale paradigm shift towards geographically randomized vaccine trials. This impacts the design and interpretation of all vaccine studies, and brings environmental, social, and structural factors into consideration. I also enjoyed learning about the emerging field of landscape genetics and how spatial variation in genetics could imply ways landscape affect evolution. As someone with career goals in the public health, I greatly valued Dr. Root sharing her presentation with us, demonstrating the intersection of geography and health.

Dr. Root Reflection

Dr. Root gave an interesting perspective to medicine and global health from a viewpoint I had ever considered, that from a geologist. Dr. Root started her discussion with the story of John Snow and his map that helped explain the outbreaks of Cholera in London. John Snow is considered the father of modern epidemiology and was the first health geographer. His map traced the different water systems that explained the transmission of Cholera and led to interesting discoveries, such as how drinking beer prevented some of the workers from contracting the disease. Dr. Root used John Snow as an example of a paradigm shift, as termed by Thomas Kuhn in the reading for this class.

Before John Snow, it was believed that disease was spread by miasma or “bad air.” However, this was before the creation of germ theory and little was understood about the transmission of diseases. John Snow’s map and discoveries started to shift the thinking when he concluded that contaminated water supply was causing people to get sick with Cholera. Dr. Root also explained how her research with vaccines and other research coming about is leading to mini paradigm shifts in the world of medicine.

Dr. Root finished her discussion with topics that are helping shift medicine from the biomedical model to the “OneHealth” model, which integrates not only the human behaviors but environment which we are situated in. Root gave insight about how her research team used geographically random trials to improve the efficacy of their developing Cholera vaccine. Dr. Root then connected this to how one’s environment can effect someone’s overall health and how it connected to the OneHealth concept. Overall, I was very fond of Dr. Root’s discussion and how much it made me think about health from the perspective I never would have considered before. In the long run, it makes sense as to why having a geologist on a research team for something health related is important but it is something that often gets missed when thinking in a biomedical model as opposed to a more inclusive approach to health.

Claire Lavoie | Elisabeth Root

Book to read – The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

John Snow did research on Cholera and his discovery changed the way we think about it.  There was a paradigm shift in the way people thought about the cause and transmission of disease.

Cholera was believed to be spontaneously created in the air, and transmitted through the air.  John Snow believed in animacuoles(?) in the water. Now we have the Germ Theory. Before this, doctors sought to understand how disease is related to a person’s lifestyle.  People didn’t like the idea that disease could be spread by something they couldn’t see, smell, or touch.

What did Snow do?  He collected data from the water systems – how many people drank the water and how many got Cholera?  He tied the Cholera data to social and demographic data. His work would have been ignored if Henry Whitehead hadn’t also been doing research.  Together they could refute arguments against anomalies in their data.

Important point – they had an open mind.  Science is not steady, it’s a cumulative accumulation of knowledge.  A paradigm shift is where one widely accepted scientific belief is replaced with a new one.

Humans are very complex organisms with very complex social systems.

Talking about vaccinations and tracking human health over geography was really interesting.  I think it’s important to remember where people are located when considering what kind of health care they need.

Dr. Root – Kaleb Clemons

Dr. Root began her talk speaking about the work of John Snow and the beginning of Epidemiology as well as Health Geography. John Snow was able to use science to back up an argument which in the end is how he proved he was correct about Cholera. A key point that she stressed was that unlike Darwin, who unfortunately came before more modern achievements to help back his theory, Snow had an answer for every question that could be asked. By ensuring there were no holes in his theory of how Cholera was spread, he was eventually able to prove that his theory was correct. Now years later we know that Cholera is in fact caused by a small bacteria.

What intrigued me the most was the connections she made between the start of Health Geography and her current work. The highlight of just how much history is tied in with the current day is very exciting. Her focus on the idea laid out by Kuhn of a paradigm shift and its relevance throughout history and even today allowed me to realize how big and how small a paradigm shift can be. Dr. Root was very interesting and her current and previous work is groundbreaking, to say the least. Connecting Geography with vaccine efficacy is quite an achievement and if implemented correctly in future studies, it may help to create more accurate results in those trials.

Jenna Zhu – Dr. Root 1/17/19

Dr. Root’s lecture was really interesting in the sense that she introduced a new perspective to the study of geography to me. I had actually heard of GIS before, as my roommate recently took a course on it (she had to pinpoint every stop sign on OSU campus!). While mapping for the purpose of updating and improving apps like Google Maps is useful, it is also just as vital in epidemiology when determining the causative factor of a disease to eventually slow down the spread of infection. I also found it really interesting when Dr. Root brought the topic of landscape genetics to the table. In previous biology classes, we talk about how environmental factors can drive selection in a population. However, I had not realized that there is an entire field of scientists that devote their research solely into the ways that these environmental factors alter genetic variation. Finally, I was happy to hear Dr. Root’s emphasis on the safeness of vaccinations, as these vaccinations do not cause the disease they are trying to protect for those who end up still contracting the disease. Many people choose not to get vaccinated because they don’t trust the vaccine, or simply rely on the herd effect. I would be curious to hear Dr. Root’s explanation on vaccines to a person that is anti-vaccines.