SRI Podcasts
By SRI International
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Podcast Description
This podcast series highlights compelling research and insights from SRI, a world-leading independent, nonprofit scientific research institute. Every day, SRI researchers are tackling some society’s biggest challenges. From education to robotics, homeland security to drug discovery and developments– SRI is advancing science and pioneering technologies to create high-value solutions. In this interview series, SRI researchers share their perspectives working at the forefront of science and technology innovations impacting our world. We welcome comments and feedback – press@sri.com
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1 |
Genetic Differences and Smoking Behaviors: Biomarkers that May Predict Smoking Quantity | Speaker: Sean P. David, M.D., D. Phil, research physician and director of the Translational Medicine program in SRI's Policy Division Although African Americans are less likely to smoke than European Americans, if they do start smoking, they tend to start smoking later in life, are less likely to quit smoking, and die more often from smoking-related lung cancer. Recently, a team of researchers co-led by SRI International identified a genetic marker associated with smoking quantity in people of African ancestry. Hear about the findings from the Study of Tobacco Use in Minority Populations (STOMP) Genetics Consortium study, which may help guide future public health decisions related to smoking. | 5/22/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Tropical Diseases | Infectious and parasitic tropical diseases, such as Leishmaniasis and Chagas, affect millions of people worldwide, primarily those living in poverty. Most current treatments are ineffective or toxic -- and patients have few options for early diagnosis and treatment. In this podcast, SRI's Dr. Kenneth Gollob discusses how SRI is developing novel therapies, diagnostics and biomarkers in the fight against these chronic infectious diseases. | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
Thin Tubes May Widen Access to Safe Drinking Water for Billions | One billion people worldwide are without access to safe drinking water. There are many available technologies, but what's the best way to lower costs and improve access on a large scale? Researchers at SRI are developing advanced membrane technology - very thin hollow tubes - to lower the amount of energy used to purify water. Important focus areas include seawater desalination, something that's done by distillation today. When membrane technology is used, the overall cost is less than 46 cents per cubic meter of water produced. Researchers believe that the cost savings will go up as novel fiber membranes begin to operate at a lower pressure without reducing the amount of water transported through a membrane. | 4/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Graphene Research - Applications and Energy Implications | Graphene, a very thin form of graphite, can be as little as one atom thick. In this podcast, SRI's Kathryn Todd describes how graphene's transparency and high electronic mobility make it a very attractive transparent conductor. She explains how graphene has the potential to become an important future component in the touch screen of your smart phone, certain kinds of photovoltaic cells, or any electronic device where light has to get in or out through a conducting layer. | 4/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Do Men and Women Sleep Differently? | Sleep researcher Fiona Baker discusses recent SRI sleep studies and differences in how men and women sleep. For example, sleep is impacted by menstrual-related disorders and hormonal fluctuations that women experience. Hear about the importance of studying sleep issues that are specific to women and how the research can benefit women's health. | 3/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Traumatic Experiences and Academic Performance: Examining the Needs of Children Exposed to Trauma | Although traumatic experiences such as violence can impact children's health, learning, and overall development, few scientific studies have examined the academic needs of students exposed to acute or chronic trauma. In this podcast, hear about SRI's study of Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), a school-based program that helps children cope with stress caused by exposure to trauma. The goal of the study is to inform policy makers, educators, and parents about how to best meet the needs of children who've been exposed to trauma. | 3/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
SRI's Innovation Engine: Commercializing Technology Developed at SRI | Learn about SRI's process for creating new ventures and licenses that capitalize on breakthrough SRI technology. This approach, a leading model for the nonprofit research sector, has led to 40 ventures with a total market capitalization of more than $20 billion. | 2/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Faster Infectious Disease Treatment - A Potential New Drug Target | In this podcast, Peter Madrid, a program director in SRI's Biosciences Division, discusses the latest SRI research on a new drug target that may potentially reduce infectious disease treatment time. This development is particularly important to tuberculosis (TB) treatment, since patients take a combination of at least four different drugs for six months. Such a long treatment time is a challenge for many patients, often leading them to stop treatment and, in turn, become drug resistant to TB treatments. These patients then face the challenge of an even longer treatment time, usually 18 to 24 months. | 1/31/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Developing the Scientists of Tomorrow | What can educators and parents do to encourage today's students to become the scientists of tomorrow? As part of the 2011 Bay Area Science Festival, NPR host Moira Gunn moderated a discussion between Barbara Means, Ph.D., director of SRI's Center for Technology in Learning, and UCSF Prof. Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science and past president of the National Academy of Sciences. Some highlights of the discussion are featured in this podcast. | 1/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Oral Drug Formulation: Helping Patients and Reducing Costs | In this podcast, Gita Shankar, director of formulations R&D, in SRI's Biosciences Division, explains how drugs taken by mouth offer many advantages to patients. But not all drugs are available that way. SRI researchers are working on developing oral formulations of drugs that can be taken in any setting, even far from medical care. Not only do oral drugs free patients from having to be in a hospital or clinic, but these type of drugs are easier to store and transport, and less expensive than IV options. | 1/5/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
A Tradition of Innovation; a Vision for the Future | In this podcast, Curtis R. Carlson, Ph.D discusses SRI's tradition of innovation and excellence. Since its founding in 1946, SRI has been pioneering breakthrough solutions — from personal computing and the invention of the mouse to medical ultrasound and minimally invasive telerobotic surgery. Over the years, SRI innovations have created new industries, billions of dollars in market value, and lasting benefits to society. | 12/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
Bioinformatics Tools for Advanced Genome Analysis | In this podcast, Peter Karp, director of SRI's Bioinformatics Research Group, explains how genome sequencing, an experimental biology technique for determining the sequence of chemicals in a DNA molecule, has been advanced by bioinformatics. Using mathematical models and tools at the intersection of biology and informatics, researchers can make sense of all of the DNA data now available, and interpret data to let us know more about thousands of organisms. These studies are advancing drug development and the development of biofuels. | 10/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Hydrogen Safety Research Program | Although hydrogen has been safely used in a variety of industries for many years, it is increasingly used as a transportation fuel. In this podcast, research engineer Erik Merilo explains how SRI researchers work with government and industry partners to conduct experiments to address hydrogen safety concerns. SRI's hydrogen research program generates data to develop safety codes and standards for hydrogen development, with the overall goal of ensuring that hydrogen can be safely used by the general public. | 10/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
Metabolic Engineering to Fight Malnutrition: Vitamin A Drug Delivery Project | Speaker: Doug Watson, Research Scientist - Combinatorial Sciences group, Center for Advanced Drug Research, Biosciences Division Malnutrition in the developing world is responsible for a vicious and deadly cycle of infections that deprive the body of nutrition needed to develop a healthy immune system. Creative new approaches are needed to get life-saving nutrients to places where they are needed most. To address this global health problem, drug delivery scientists at SRI are working on an innovative approach to deliver Vitamin A to children so that their bodies are able to fight off diarrhea-causing infections. In this podcast, researcher Doug Watson explains a project to engineer probiotic bacteria so that it produces lifesaving Vitamin A. Since bacteria can be grown anywhere, the goal is to develop a vitamin A therapy that can be produced and used locally wherever it's needed. | 9/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
Finding Social Information in a Conversation: A New Frontier in Speech Research | Speaker: Kristin Precoda, Director When you hear people speaking in a foreign language, what tells you if they're arguing? What clues help us understand who is leading a meeting and when to pay attention? As humans, we can tell a lot about what's going on at a personal and social level between people who are talking. But what are we paying attention to? In this podcast, Kristin Precoda, director of SRI's Speech Technology and Research (STAR) Lab, shares insight on this new area of research and its potential use as a tool to. | 9/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
Micro Robots: Faster, Smaller, More Precise | This podcast interview is focused on micro robots and the various applications where they could be used, including biological, medical, electronic, and rapid prototyping of novel structures. SRI's Ron Pelrine explains why these robots are now becoming widely available because of recent technological advances and the creation of smaller motors, actuators, and batteries. He also explains new types of levitated micro robots and why they are capable of such speed and precision. | 8/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
Latest in Robotics: Current Advances and Opportunities | Robotics technology has been a focus of research and commercial application for decades. Today, the availability of cheaper hardware is leading a wave of emerging personal robotics applications. In this podcast, Rich Mahoney, director of SRI's Robotics Program, discusses the current state of robotics, and areas of advancement in hardware, artificial intelligence, and sensor technology, with some thoughts on which markets are benefiting now and into the future. | 8/3/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
Night-time sleep and day-time attention: ADHD Symptoms in Young Children | Speaker: Erika Gaylor, Early Childhood Researcher A recent SRI International study presented data collected from parents, teachers, and children on the children's behavior, sleep patterns, and overall development. The data were used to compare night-time sleep and attention and hyperactivity during the day. Children reported to sleep less when they were in preschool were later found to be less attentive and more hyperactive in kindergarten. Preliminary analyses suggest that not getting enough sleep can exacerbate attention problems and hyperactivity symptoms. | 7/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
Children with Special Needs: Impact on Family Experience | A new longitudinal study from SRI finds that experiences of families who have a child with disabilities vary greatly based on the type of disability. SRI's research offers insights for practitioners, educators, and parents on the most effective types of interventions - those that include the family. | 7/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
Video Fusion Systems: Helping Find Hidden Threats | Speaker: Arnie Kravitz, Product Director, Engineering & Systems Group From the warfighter to law enforcement agents and security professionals, video surveillance needs are evolving beyond the capabilities of standard color video. While infrared (IR) imagery can reveal concealed weapons or IEDs, it lacks the descriptive qualities of visible light such as the subject's face, hair, or clothing colors and patterns. In this podcast, product director Arnie Kravitz discusses what video fusion systems can do to help users find and characterize hidden threats. | 7/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
Digital Textbooks: New Visions for Interactive Learning | Bulky and expensive paper textbooks are going away - and now is the time for publishers take advantage of learning science research that can revolutionize teaching. More than sources of information, digital textbooks can become a place for students and teachers to interact. In this podcast, education researcher Jeremy Roschelle explains how SRI International is building dynamic textbooks that drive kids to learn more. Hear about initial tests of an innovative interactive digital textbook to enhance middle grades mathematics teachers' understanding of core concepts in proportionality and their understanding of ways that technology can be used to enhance instruction. | 5/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
Closing the Education Gap for Students with Disabilities | Advances in accessibility and student services have made education possible for all students. Over the past two decades, the gap between students with and without disabilities has greatly diminished. In this podcast, education researcher Lynn Newman discusses SRI's nationwide studies of students and educational programs. What are students' experiences during high school and what about the critical time after high school? Studies show that differences in high school experiences are reflected in post-high school opportunities. | 5/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
Community College Readiness and Retention | In this podcast, Louise Yarnall explains what SRI researchers are doing to improve community college student readiness. Expertise in the complementary areas of assessment and program development inform educators at the classroom and policy level. These assessments provide greater insights to improve overall education. | 4/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Why Teens are in "Sleep Debt" | In adolescence, the brain undergoes dramatic changes that are associated with changes in sleep patterns. Studies show that teens need about 9 hours of sleep a night, and that sleep is critical for cognitive and physical functioning. Teens that get less than 7 hours of sleep are building a high "sleep debt," which affects everything from cognition to driving performance. To understand more about the human brain, researchers in the Human Sleep Research Program in SRI's Center for Health Sciences study sleep and conducts tests of the nervous system during sleep. | 4/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
SRI's Center of Excellence in Energy: The Gateway to Energy Research | SRI's Barbara Heydorn describes research within the Center including several projects in the area of carbon capture. She discusses unique skills SRI brings to projects and describes how the organization collaborates with customers - from applying SRI's expertise in solving problems to working with clients to scale up their technology, and bridging the gap between concept and commercialization. Heydorn also discusses research projects in the areas of bioinformatics, fuel from coal, and wave power. | 3/24/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Every Crack Tells a Story | Speaker: Don Shockey, Associate Director, Center for Fracture Physics In this podcast SRI's Don Shockey explains the importance of fracture physics - understanding how and why things break. Learn how SRI researchers use FRASTA technology to reconstruct crack propagation and determine the conditions that led to the failure of a gas pipeline or an aging aircraft. Find out how SRI's uses this unique technology to predict a structure's lifetime and assist in developing safer designs for the future. | 3/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
High School Reform: Challenges Ahead | Speaker: Viki Young, Education Policy Analyst, Center for Education Policy As many high schools are undergoing reform, education researchers are conducting evaluations and contributing data to conversations about major issues such as high quality instruction and improvement of school leadership. Viki Young and colleagues in SRI's Center for Education Policy use qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how to best provide students with the critical thinking and interdisciplinary skills needed for future success. | 2/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Studying Motivation in Learning: Formative Assessment | Speaker: Angela Haydel DeBarger, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Technology in Learning Formative assessment is a method to identify students' learning needs and help teachers improve their effectiveness. Over time, students have a powerful role in how they learn. SRI researchers have helped identify some problematic ways that students reason in science and developed strategies to move them towards their learning goals. | 2/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
The Importance of Cyber Security | Speaker: Phil Porras, Program Director, Computer Science Laboratory How safe is the Internet for the average web user? What is malware, and what if your network has been infected? How will malware evolve in the future? Learn about the work SRI is doing in cyber security to help fight this threat, and how SRI has developed free software tools that can help such as BLADE and BotHunter. | 1/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
A Cubic Mile of Oil (CMO) | Speaker: Ripu Malhotra, Associate Director, Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory In this podcast SRI’s Ripu Malhotra explains what a cubic mile of oil (CMO) is, why there is a need for a common unit of measurement for all of the world's energy use, and how many CMO's the world currently uses per year. Malhotra will address what individuals can do now and in the future to reduce energy use, and the large energy issues to be tackled by industry and governments. He will also discuss his book, A Cubic Mile of Oil. | 1/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
How Classroom Assessments Can Improve Teaching | Speaker: Bill Penuel, Director of Evaluation Research for the Center for Technology at SRI International Effective classroom assessments can reveal important information about schools and individual students. Unfortunately, most current tests don't assess vital innovation skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Researchers at SRI's Center for Technology in Learning are working to develop classroom assessments that can be as effective as tutoring and serve as a diagnostic tool for teachers. Bill Penuel explains why it's important to provide teachers with technology that informs- but doesn't automate- the evaluation process. | 1/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructures | Speaker: Ulf Lindqvist, Program Director, Computer Science Laboratory In today’s computer-dependent society, cyberattacks on critical infrastructures can negatively impact the environment, finances, and most importantly, people’s lives. SRI researchers are protecting critical infrastructures — systems that provide power, energy, water, and fuel — by developing new methods to discover and analyze design flaws and prevent damaging attacks. | 12/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
Wall-climbing Robot and More: Applications for SRI's Electroadhesion Technology | Speaker: Harsha Prahlad, Senior Mechanical Engineer Electroadhesion, an electrically controllable technology that was invented and developed at SRI, is what enables SRI's wall-climbing robot to repeatedly clamp to wall surfaces that are covered in debris, or in damp or dusty conditions. Researchers are actively exploring other applications where traction enhancement using electroadhesion could provide unique safety benefits, including ladders or for inspection purposes. In this podcast, Harsha Prahlad explains how SRI is working with government agencies, commercial partners, and potential investors to transition electroadhesion into the marketplace. | 12/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
Proteomics: Search for the Weakest Links to A Disease’s Transmission Cycle | Speaker: Rajeev Vaidyanathan, Associate Director, Vector Biology and Zoonotic Disease Researchers in SRI’s Center for Advanced Drug Research (CADRE) use proteomics, an analytical approach to identify proteins in an organism at a certain time, to understand how viruses, bacteria, and parasites interact with the human immune system. In this podcast, hear about how SRI’s proteomics research is focused on developing preventive treatments for rare and neglected diseases and zoonotic diseases spread by insects. No disease exists by itself, and SRI researchers are looking for the weakest links that will help break a disease’s transmission cycle. | 11/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
Cancer Drug Discovery: Advancing the Oncology Pipeline | Speaker: Lidia Sambucetti, Senior Director of SRI International's Center for Cancer Research SRI's approach to cancer research focuses on a tumor's interaction with a host organism, epigenetic changes in a tumor, and tumor biology: what contributes to its growth? A key focus is on the development of drugs that target hypoxia, lack of oxygen to a tumor. Cancer drug development involves several phases, including basic research, discovery, and testing. SRI researchers work on all preclinical stages and collaborate with a wide variety of government agencies and companies of all sizes to advance drugs from one stage to the next. | 11/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
Internet Voting - the Role That SRI is Playing | Speaker: Jeremy Epstein, Senior Computer Scientist, SRI International What is Internet voting - and where has it been successfully used? And if we can bank and shop online, why isn't it as easy to vote online? In this podcast, hear about important issues relating to online voting, the security risks, and how it can be improved. Jeremy Epstein explains whether online voting contributes to improved voter turnout and what SRI is doing in this field. | 10/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Drug Development for Neglected and Orphan Diseases | Speaker: Jon Mirsalis, Managing Director, SRI Biosciences Division A large part of SRI’s drug discovery and development process focuses on neglected and orphan diseases. These include rare cancers, neurologic, and infectious diseases that either affect a small part of the general population or primarily found in developing countries. As a nonprofit research institute, SRI has an important role working on cures and treatments for these diseases. | 10/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
Gaming and Online Virtual Worlds | Speaker: John Murray, Cybernetics and Human Systems Director The global usage of online gaming systems has expanded rapidly in recent years. John Murray explains how researchers are studying virtual world (VW) environments not just to help enhance the entertainment value of games, but to increase their effectiveness as tools for teaching and learning, professional training, and collaborative work. SRI researchers are involved in a variety of projects involving online virtual worlds. For example, researchers from SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning have developed a game where players must cooperate and share information in order to solve a puzzle or technical problem. This research program is helping to identify productive roles for virtual world technology in teaching and learning, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. On another project, SRI is collaborating with several universities worldwide to recruit volunteers and study their gaming activity. This type of coordinated investigation can help improve the understanding of the relationship between real-world users and their virtual world activities, especially across cultures. Another important program is the development of specialized simulation systems using VW technologies to support field training exercises for first responders and emergency personnel. | 9/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Ocean Research and the BP Oil Spill (Part 1) | -- | 9/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
Critical Need for New Medical Devices for Pediatric Use. | Speaker: Pablo Garcia, Medical Robotics Engineer Pablo Garcia discusses the MISTRAL (Multidisciplinary Initiative for Surgical Technology Research Advanced Laboratory) Collaborative, a program to accelerate the innovation of medical devices and bring them to market faster. The program was recently awarded a $1M grant by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support its work to commercialize innovative medical devices for pediatric care. Why is there an important need for medical devices to be developed specifically for pediatric use? How will the new products be developed and brought to market? What are the challenges faced by engineers and clinicians as they develop new medical devices? | 9/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Ocean Research and the BP Oil Spill (Part 2) | -- | 9/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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How Twin Studies Help Advance Health Research | Speaker: Gary E. Swan, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Health Sciences Twins and multiples are uniquely valuable to research and offer the opportunity to explore the balance between genetics and environment, and its impact on health. Twin studies have contributed to important scientific insights into diabetes, heart disease, obesity, as well as alcohol and tobacco use. Gary Swan explains the findings that have resulted from these studies and the value of twin registries – which rely on identical and fraternal twins. By joining the Twin Research Registry™ at SRI International, twins have the opportunity to participate in studies and receive periodic newsletters. For details, call 1-800-SRI-TWIN, e-mail twin@sri.com or register at www.sri.com/twin. | 9/29/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 42 Episodes |
