RWL Newsletter #90
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! I'm a day late in sending out this week's newsletter because yesterday I was busy coordinating our third annual Shaping the Future: Leadership and Public Policy in Healthcare. This is an event put on jointly by the College of Health and Human Services where I work, and the Northern New England Association of Healthcare Executives (NNEAHE), the local chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). We do two panels, one on leadership and one on policy (hence the name of the event). In the picture above you can see Steve Ahnen, the President of the New Hampshire Hospital Association introducing the policy panel. The policy panel included (from right to left) Dr. Joe Pepe, President of Catholic Medical Center, Michelle Mitchell, the President of Speare Memorial Hospital, Dr. Greg Baxter, President of the Elliot Health System, and Annette Escalante, the Director of the New Hampshire Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Services. We had a great morning of discussion, with about 80 students and faculty from UNH mingling with 50 healthcare leaders from around northern New England.
So... I have to admit, I was really exhausted by the end of the event and didn't have the energy to get this week's newsletter out. Nevertheless, here it is - some fun stuff around the theme of food. I've been on a diet since the beginning of the semester (lost 10 pounds so far!), so I've been thinking a lot about food. So here's some science and policy on food topics.
Read
What: Knowable Magazine, Finding the fat: The US Farm Bill and health
https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/society/2018/finding-fat-us-farm-bill-and-health
Why: This is an interesting discussion of the Farm Bill. I am not completely convinced that the farm bill does not subsidize the junk food industry, even after reading this article, but I think it's worth a read. The proposal to subsidize fruits and vegetables is likely a bad idea, because all subsidies cause distortions, but treating all crops more equally is a good idea. I'd prefer the elimination of subsidies for all crops. Read this article and see what you think.
Watch
What: Ruairi Robertson, TEDxFulbrightSantaMonica, Food for thought: How your belly controls your brain |
https://youtu.be/awtmTJW9ic8
Why: Gut microbes as a second brain? We're 80% bacteria? An entertaining discussion of the relationship between brain and gut health. Most of the neurotransmitters, such as serotonin which is connected to depression, are largely produced in the gut. Our bodies are complex systems, meaning the interactions between many sub systems are unpredictable and difficult to predict, which is why medicine is so difficult. This video is a good reminder of that.
Listen
What: JAMA, Cardiologist Trades Stem Cells for Cell-Based Meat
https://jamanetwork.com/learning/audio-player/16800624
Why: One of the things about research is you never quite know where it's going to lead you. Uma Valeti, MD, was working on growing heart tissue from stem cells to repair damaged hearts when he experimented with growing food from animal stem cells - lab grown steaks and chicken breasts. Don't expect to see it in grocery stores soon - it still costs about $1,000/pound, but it's come down from $1M/pound, so that's progress. I think this is definitely the future - and I think our grand kids will look back on us as barbarians because we used to kill animals to make steaks when everyone will know that steaks should be grown in a vat.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau