Jun 13, 2020
Epidemiologist Syed Ahsan Raza
has been looking at several different epidemics and associated
cancer viruses in multiple countries.
He explains
- What an epidemiologist does and how that helps physicians treat more effectively,
- How he and his colleagues and have worked to eliminate neonatal tetanus and what still needs to be done, and
- What trends he's found in different populations for the human papillomavirus and the cancer viruses hepatitis B and C and how that will help designate resources.
Syed Ahsan Raza is a
postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine at Baylor College
of Medicine and a
Cancer Prevention Research Institute (CPRIT) fellow.
At the outset he explains some misconceptions about epidemiology
and then describes what he and fellow epidemiologists do and how
their work helps medical workers fight pandemics. He says it is all
about studying epidemics—not treating the diseases, but studying
the spread and looking for insights and predications that people
who are treating can use for more effective methods.
He then describes some of his
research. He started looking at neonatal tetanus in graduate
school, which significantly affects infant and maternal mortality.
He explains that the umbilical stump acts as a vehicle of delivery
of the bacteria because of the unhygienic delivery practices in
some areas. The spores that cause it are widespread so it can't be
eradicated, but rather eliminated.
He describes some of the measures to achieve this elimination like
vaccines and even inexpensive clean birth kits. He tells listeners
how much more needs to be done. He also talks about his work with
cancer viruses like the human papillomavirus and hepatitis B
and C, describing the population studies he's done across the
globe, patterns he's identified, and how this will help medical
personal target certain areas.
For more about him, see his
profile at bcm.edu/people-search/syed-raza-29119.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK