MaineHealth Institute for Research Community

In the beginning of the year, MMCRI put in a request to have a summer visit from NASA astronaut Jessica Meir...you all know the rest of the story, but here's your chance to hear from her - please pass along. Registration free and required to attend the zoom webinar: TO REGISTER Maine Voices Livestream with NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir Join us Tuesday, Jun. 2 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom to hear about Dr. Meir's path from Caribou to NASA and the seven months she recently spent on the International Space Station. Topic Maine Voices Livestream with Jessica Meir Description Born and raised in Caribou, Jessica Meir was selected by NASA in 2013 and served as a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 61 and 62 from 2019 to 2020. When Meir returned to Earth in April, it was a very different planet than the one she left seven months before. In addition to talking about life as an astronaut and her scientific research, she will talk about watchi...

Thanks to Joe Nadeau for this contribution! (apropos of recent conversations....) C.D.C. Recommends Sweeping Changes to American Offices Temperature checks, desk shields and no public transit: The guidelines would remake office life. Some may decide it’s easier to keep employees at home. “Replace high-touch communal items, such as coffee pots, water coolers, and bulk snacks, with alternatives such as prepackaged, single-serving items,” the guidelines say. Offices at the University of California, Irvine’s infection prevention division last month, which has installed sneeze guards separating cubicles and encourages mask-wearing and hand-sanitizing. Credit... Alex Welsh for The New York Times Read more

Thanks to Liz Bergst for this contribution! Hi all- one of our selected summer students Dennis Kalloor, reached out to let me know about a non-profit that he and some of his friends have put together to raise awareness and funds for those struggling to access insulin. Please see the info below from Dennis to learn more! We look forward to seeing Dennis next summer at MMCRI (working with Becca Hutchinson at CORE) when the Summer Student Research program resumes after this summer’s suspension.   Message from Dennis: I hope you are doing w ell. I wanted to reach out to you regarding a non profit organization 2 of my friends from Northeastern and I started this past month. The cause is Insulin Awareness ( link here ) and we started an initiative to raise money for patients struggling to pay for Insulin as unemployment rates are over 20% now. Over 7 million people in the United States need insulin to survive and yet a single vial can cost hundreds of dollars....

A special webinar series on the COVID-19 pandemic that pulls together perspectives from public health, policy, law, and business. Please visit the  series webpage  to view the full schedule and details about each webinar (listed below).  Solving complex challenges like a pandemic requires deep understanding and broad perspectives. USM's Muskie School of Public Service and the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center invite you to come learn alongside students in a new "short course" and webinar series about the COVID-19 pandemic.   Overview This free webinar series will help you gain a stronger understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, its local and global impact, and recovery from it. The series is comprised of a series of lectures delivered by University of Maine System experts in the fields of public health, policy, law, and business. Each faculty member will present an aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic through their disciplinary lens, h...

Thanks to Julianna Myers for this contribution! The CSA will be wrapping up registration for the Summer share on June 1st, and anticipate delivery starting the first week of July.  You can register for the Autumn share until August 1st. New American farmers in their program are looking towards this summer with uncertainty, and each CSA share purchased now provides secured income for them this growing season, as well as access to clean, local food for you.  To register: Fresh Start Farms CSA And you can now use up to $200 in WOW reimbursements to help pay for your CSA share. Learn more about Healthy Paybacks: MaineHealth Healthy Paybacks Questions? Contact: Julianna Myers at  jmyers2@mmc.org  or Anna Tracht at Fresh Start Farms:  fsf@cultivatingcommunity.org

The members of Maine’s high school Class of 2020 are getting an early graduation gift  – access to free summer courses at Maine’s community colleges. Maine students who graduate in 2019/2020 are invited to apply for the free online courses. A student taking two free college courses this summer at a Maine Community College can save between $2,000 and $7,000 in tuition at a four-year college or university. “The Class of 2020 has lost a lot this spring, from missing out on proms and traditional graduation ceremonies to a disruption of their college and work plans,” said David Daigler, president of the Maine Community College System, in announcing the MCCS Gift to the Class of 2020. “Summer jobs are likely to be in short supply which makes it hard to earn money to help with college expenses and gain valuable work experience. We hope this can save the Class of 2020 significant time and money in reaching their college and career goals. We can’t replace what they have lost, but we ...

New food preservation webinar series from UMaine Extension May 14, 2020   Orono, Maine — University of Maine Cooperative Extension is launching a food preservation webinar series Tuesday, May 26, at 2 p.m. The weekly series continues through Oct. 27.  “ Preserving the Maine Harvest ” begins with freezing fiddleheads and making refrigerator spring pickles. The 45-minute sessions will include discussion and demonstration of research-based preserving methods by UMaine Extension food preservation staff. Topics for June include freezing rhubarb and greens, preserving strawberries and herbs, and drinks from the garden. Participants will have the opportunity to be paired with a trained Extension Master Food Preserver volunteer for advice throughout the growing season. A $5 donation is suggested for each webinar; payment is not required to participate. Registration is available on the  program webpage .  Food Preservation Webinar Series Join UMaine Exten...

Just a reminder that you can submit a Maine Absentee Ballot Request here: https://www1.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl?c=1

Fun  piece in NY  Times with great old photographs! NY Times Article By   Veronica Chambers  and  Jennifer Harlan It is graduation season, and luminaries like Tina Fey, Oprah, Tom Hanks and Barack Obama are giving advice to graduates about starting their next chapter. Of course, this year, in the midst of the pandemic, the gatherings of family and friends must happen online. Instead of hugging classmates and celebrating years of hard work with teachers and mentors, the class of 2020 is marking this milestone with socially distant Zoom parties and virtual speeches. But even in this uncertain moment, the messages — of hope, possibility, using the gifts you’ve been given — remain timeless. About two years ago, the archival storytelling team at The Times  began sifting  through some of the millions of photographs — old-school prints, in paper folders — in our archives, a place we call “the morgue.” We’ve uncovered a l...

Thanks to Ben Tero for this contribution! Next week on Wednesday the 27th, SpaceX will launch the first of its  crewed mission to the International Space Station in collaboration  with NASA. This will be the first manned launch from US soil since the  shuttle was retired in 2011. There will be live coverage of this event  on NASA Television, with coverage starting at noon, and the launch  scheduled for 4:33pm. NASA Television Link

Read Portland Press Herald article, featuring Dave Seder Dr. David Seder, chief of critical care at Maine Medical Center, says scientists are still “learning how to use the drug in the most effective way possible.”  Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Thanks to Joe Nadeau for this contribution! New COVID-19 data from the Georgia Department of Health suggesting a promising trend that supports opening the State.  But something's wrong, separate from the ugliness of bar graphs for data like these - maybe a line plot for each county would be better, assuming there are no games with the graphics.......  What do you find that is unusual.....? It might be just an interesting curiosity if the public health policy implications were not so serious.

Thanks to Doug Sawyer for sharing this at staff meeting today! Here's a chance to contribute to data on COVID symptoms in our area - do a short quiz daily, and see how many people in your area are showing COVID19 symptoms. The website also has a research blog and statistics from around the country: COVID symptom study website

Thanks to Volkhard Lindner for this contribution! Northern Parula in the backyard apple tree...

 Thanks to Joe Nadeau for this contribution! 'Kuchisabishii' Is The Japanese Word That Explains Why We're Eating Mindlessly Brittany Wong HuffPost Life May 18, 2020 Kuchisabaishii article here! Excerpt: Do you find yourself wandering over to the fridge while in  quarantine  ― even when you’re not all that hungry? Have you been leaning into your favorite comfort foods a little more than usual lately? Sounds like you have “lonely mouth.”   For those unfamiliar,  “kuchisabishii”  is a uniquely Japanese word that literally means “lonely mouth” or “longing to have or put something in one’s mouth​.” Read more...

Thanks to Jess Davis-Knowlton for this contribution! Have you tried to work and enjoy the sunshine outside...at the same time? Here are some tips: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Laptop-Screens-Readable-Outdoors

Hello MMCRI community. I cannot tell you how excited I am to join you as Vice President for Research in September. I know this is a challenging time and I hope you have been able to find ways to care for yourselves, your families and your team members over the last couple of months. I hope that spring is bringing you hope and optimism for returning to our new normal in the near future. I noticed many of you posting photos of spring blooms, so I thought I would share a few from Texas. Cacti in bloom are gorgeous! If you need to schedule something, please reach out to Lyndsey Loughran below:   Elizabeth A. Jacobs, MD MPP (she/her/hers) Chief of Primary Care and Value Based Health and Professor, Departments of Medicine and Population Health Associate Chair for Research and Division Chief of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine   Dell Medical School | The University of Texas at Austin o: 512-495-5055 |liz.jacobs@austin.utexas.edu | c:312-485-6714    A...