Martin
COLUMBIA, 11/3/11  (Beat Byte) --  Columbia Heart Beat founder and editor Mike Martin -- a longtime science journalist -- has accepted a journalism fellowship at Duke University and the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCENT).  

A National Science Foundation-sponsored evolutionary research think tank, NESCENT is jointly operated by Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.

Martin's official title is "scholar-in-residence, NESCENT journalism fellowship."  


"I'll be exploring latter-day applications of the work of an evolutionary biologist I wrote about two years ago, Margie Profet," he explains. "I'll then do a feature article on the topic for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute." 

Profet -- who mysteriously vanished in 2005 -- theorized that allergies, though annoying, are biologically evolved protective mechanisms that keep us away from toxins.  Several recent studies have shown allergies confer protections against various types of cancer, most notably glioma, a malignant form of brain cancer

Mizzou biology postdoc Kate Hertweck is presently doing a different fellowship at NESCENT. 

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1 comment:

  1. Congratulations, Mike. What an honor. I will not ask what this means to the Heartbeat, although mine has quickened since reading your announcement. Best wishes.

    Reply
 
 
 

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