What ideas would you like to present?
Contact Barry at: barryzed@gmail.com

Last Session:November 30, 2022

Topic: Our Neanderthal Ancestry

Presenter: Dan Dana

Details: We are hybrids. All non-African people alive today are descended from Neanderthals, whose native population declined to zero about 40,000 years ago. Their DNA became subsumed into Homo sapiens (us) genome via interbreeding during the 5,000 years of their coexistence in Europe and the Middle East. This zoom presentation will discuss what is known about their lives, life-styles, and deaths. Come meet your grandparents!

Previous Session: May 11, 2022

Topic: The History and Future of Alternative Fuel Transportation

Presenter: Barry Zack

Details: Barry Zack presented the story of transport vehicles that don’t depend on fossil fuels for the energy to drive them. PowerPoint was used to display the vehicle for the audience to visualize.

We trace the origins of this form of transportation, with dates that might astound the audience. Let’s just say, it didn’t begin with Nicola Tesla. The presentation is not limited to cars, trucks, and buses. Other forms of transportation are also included, such as flight vehicles, trains, and others that might come as a surprise.

The subject is important in an age when the effects of Climate Change are beginning to be felt, throughout the world. The burning of fossil fuels is accountable for much of what is warming our planet. Changing this energy source can help stave off what might easily become a catastrophe.

Previous Sessions:

March 23, 2022

Topic: Good Chemistry

Presenter: Karen O'Malia

Details: Early bonding experiences influence our developing brain chemistry, and ultimately our response to environmental stressors. These early experiences later impact our propensity toward emotional dysregulation and addictions. Opiates, in particular, mirror the “good chemistry” of caregiver-child bonding, which is more and more absent in today’s technological and consumerist society.

This presentation will discuss the brain chemistry of effective and dysregulated bonding, and how early patterns of interaction influence a person’s lifelong mental health.

March 9, 2022

Topic: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Presenter: Karen Koenig

Synopsis: 8 Reasons People Ignore and Defy COVID-19 Safeguards

In the words of our speaker:
"I’ve been a proud Husbay member since shortly after my husband and I moved here from Boston in 2005. For 30+ years, I’ve been a clinical social worker specializing in binge and emotional eating and I’m the author of 8 books and dozens of articles on eating, weight, and body image. This is my second time presenting at Husbay.

Details: An article she wrote for Medium.com in 2020 entitled “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death: 8 Reasons People Ignore and Defy COVID-19 Safeguards” is the basis for this talk. She broadens it to explain why people make irrational decisions which work against their own self interest. Her presentation will be on the brief side and she welcome discussion!

February 9, 2022

Topic: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Presenter: Dan Dana

Synopsis: The JWST, Hubble’s successor, arrived at its destination on January 23. Dan’s presentation will address: 1) the device itself, 2) its positioning into a stable solar orbit, and 3) what it is expected to show us, once fully operational (May 2022). The presentation will include PowerPoint slides containing photos and other images.

 

Nov. 3, 2021

Topic: How Unconscious Bias Can Lead to Microaggressions

Presenter: Betsy Helgager Hughes

Synopsis: Are Microaggressions really micro? Where do they come from, and How to recognize them and avoid making them?

 

July 21, 2021

Topic: Alternative Fuel Transportation

Presenter: Barry Zack

Synopsis: A history of non-fossil fuel transportation. Not limited to the automotive sector.

Details: Barry covered the history of this form of transportartion, which could become the dominant form in the not-too-distant future. The presentation includes many photos, some of which may surprise you.

March 31, 2021

Topic: Investing for Older Folks

Presenter: Dave Helgager

Synopsis: An Exchange of Ideas, Philosophies, Experiences, and Perceptions on What Works and Doesn't Work

Details: Dave gave an overall introductory view of his experiences with older clients as a financial planner and investment adviser for 40 years, and then call on panel members to get their perceptions on what does and doesn't work and also respond to comments during Q&A discussion.

Other contributions came from Dan Dana and Dawrin Soder.

(No recommendations were made for the purchases of particular stocks, mutual funds, annuities, bonds, etc.) 

 

October 21, 2020

Topic:  The Climate Crisis

Presenter: Barry Zack

Synopsis: Climate Change - Why is it being called a crisis? We discuseds the reasons, who is responsible, and what can be done about it.

For a PDF of Barry's presentation, click here.

 

Sept. 30, 2020

Topic: Reading Photographs: What do you see in the image?

Presenter: Professor Jack Wayne

Synopsis: Humans Remain: Photographic Evidence of Life on Earth

Details: A visual sociological essay. Jack's studio is on the beach and in the street. Images selected for this book possess visual interest and reflect paradoxical aspects of social life. His goal is to explore and examine both individual and collective life with a deliberate note of humor and/or irony. The viewer's job is to read the photograph and explain to Jack what it says.

Information About Our Speaker:  Jack Wayne, Fine Art Photographer Member: Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts

https://www.propellerartgallery.ca/jack-wayne.htm
Member: International Visual Sociology Association
Forthcoming Book: Humans Remain: Photographic Evidence of Life on Earth Launch: October 10th, 2020, 4:00 pm.
Exhibition: Humans Remain: Photographic Evidence of Life on Earth October 4th to 25th Propeller Gallery, 30 Abell St. Toronto

Aug 5, 2020

Topic: My Podcast Listening Experience

Presenter: Barry Zack

Synopsis: Barry discussed the broad spectrum of podcssts that he's been listening to since the time of their inception.

July 8,2020

Topic: Climate Tracking in Sarasota (continued from our July 1st session)

Presenter: Roy Wysnewski

Synopsis: Tracking Climate Change in Sarasota, Florida is an original community service project initiated early this year by Sarasota residents Jean Cannon and Roy Wysnewski.

By demonstrating the impact of climate change through the lens of the local weather and climate this project offers an increasing number of residents here in southwest Florida the opportunity to personally experience the reality of climate change. Climate data recorded daily and evaluated at the end of each month leads to a partial ‘picture’ (graph) that illustrates the historical significance of climate change in Sarasota for that month.

This picture is built via the monthly ‘tracking’ of high-temperature records for 120 years (1901-2020). Think of this project as a 366 piece jigsaw puzzle. Each month some 29 to 31 pieces of tracking data are put in place so that when finished on December 31, 2020, a 12-month composite graph will reveal the totality of climate change in Sarasota for the past 120 years. A unique feature of the tracking process is that anomalies (unexpected spikes in high-Temperature records) are highlighted.

The ‘cause’ and ‘effects’ of these weather anomalies make for good discussion. Please join Roy on July 1st to review the first six months of climate change tracking in Sarasota and to participate in a healthy discussion about tracking anomalies. Do these anomalies have historical significance, and what might they infer for the future, specifically this summer and fall?

June 3, 2020

Topic: Anti Natalism

Presenter: Dan Dana

Synopsis: On a global scale, what is the balance between pain and pleasure as experienced by sentient creatures, including humans? If you think the total amount of pleasure exceeds pain, you are a natalist -- "life is good." If you think pain exceeds pleasure, then you are an antinatalist –" Life is not good.”

Dan examined this issue as an abstract philosophical question, as well as a practical matter that guides our own individual life-choices. Come prepared to question one of humanity’s most enduring assumptions. To prime your pump for this discussion, read these haiku quintets (click on a link to read the haiku):

"On Antinatalism" Is life good? I mean, really, is life good?
"Chicxulub Asteroid Impact" Our lucky day?
"Thin Silver Lining" End of young life may not be all bad.

Click here for Dan's Presentation Notes

May. 13, 2020

Topic: Bad Science

Presenter: Professor, Jack Wayne

Synopsis: 1. We are currently (2020) in a pandemic that has caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and threatens millions.

22 people joined in for this Zoom meeting, the best turnout so far.

2. In much of human history political life has been characterized by beliefs that legitimized witch hunts, slavery, inquisitions and holocausts as methods of solving threatening situations. These beliefs—irrational, romantic, uncompromising—often lead to mob action.

3. Many of us see the necessity for good science, involving Double Blind experiments and/or proven techniques of statistical analysis, as a path to rational understanding of causality and finding our way out of a crisis.

4. Some fall back on an irrational approach, gloss it over with science-like words, and thereby benefit themselves in many ways. This is bad science.

5. Bad science has a number of flaws and I’ll reveal some of them Wed. May 13 at 1:15 on Zoom.

You can download a PDF covering Jack's presentation by clicking on this link.

 

Feb. 5, 2020

Topic: Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors

Presenter: Karen O'Malia

Synopsis: The presentation is based upon research and book (same title as Subject, above) by Janina Fisher. Dr. Fisher proposes that survivors of trauma, abuse, neglect and violence store traumatic memories in a different way from normal, non-traumatic memories. Because they are stored as implicit memories in areas of the brain that are non-rational, non-verbal, and non-chronological, they can be triggered for years after the event, resulting in behaviors that get diagnosed as borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. We will talk about how these memories are stored, why they are stored in that manner, and suggest ways to help people suffering from PTSD because of these memories to understand and cope with their reactions.

Karen O’Malia's Bio:  Karen became interested in biology in high school; majored in French, and studied Spanish, art history, and biology as an undergrad; did graduate work in biology, with a concentration in ecology; went back to grad school later for a Master's in counseling. Continued to read on topics in biology, bio and organic chemistry, and medicine. Her three careers include teaching high school French, corporate financial sales and management, and legal pharmaceutical product liability case management.

Dec. 4, 2019

Topic: Update Regarding Some Of the Latest Exciting Medical Findings and Discoveries

Presenter: Bud Klein, MD.

Synopsis: Session consisted of numerous brief mentions regarding topics of medical interest, as collected during 2019, by the session presenter.

Following that, a few longer article presentations that needed more time in order to grasp the substance of the articles topic.

A Q&A followed Bud's beautiful presentation.

Nov. 6, 2019

Subject: Update Regarding Progress In Methods For Educating the Young

Speaker: Holly Dowling

Synopsis: A realistic analysis of the strengths and shortcomings of our nation's public education system will be provided, and a review of efforts, actions, and plans for achieving dramatic improvements. What works, and what doesn't work, will be discussed, as well as the impediments restricting our children’s educators from providing the fine education that the youngsters deserve and need.

Speaker's Bio: Holly's career as an educator in our public-school systems, both as a middle school teacher, and as a high school teacher, provided her the opportunity to experience and navigate many difficult and diverse problems that are faced by students and educators in the system. Holly taught many subjects, including English, business, economics, and government.

Oct. 2, 2019

Barry Zack presented "Modern Cities." If you think cities are already modern, you ain't seen nothing yet! He did some prognosticating (predicting the future from current signs), as well as information derived from scientific sources.

For a copy of his presentartion, click here.

 

August 5, 2019

At this meeting, two HUSBAY members with, Science backgrounds, discussed their experiences.

Dan Dana and Michael Gruenfeld had facinating talks about their unique lives.

Note: This replaced an orignally scheduled Science, Technology and Medicine meeting, due to a cancellation by the original speaker.

July 3, 2019

Subject: Religion and Sexuality

Presenter: Barbara Walker

Synopsis:  Illustrated talk on theological methods whereby ancient pagan worship of sexuality was converted into ascetic fear. Plus: books will be offered for sale.

Barbara's Bio: Barbara G. Walker is the author of The Secrets of the Tarot: Origins, History and Symbolism, and the artist of the Barbara Walker Tarot Deck, which was first published in 1986 and proved so popular that it has been reissued in a special tin box edition. Barbara is also the author of 24 other books, including The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, which has been in print for 35 years and won a Book of the Year Award. With this presentation, some of her books and card decks will be offered for sale, along with other interesting tarot decks from her large collection.

June 5, 2019

Subject: Update Regarding Progress In Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Brain-Computer Interfacing

Presenter: Michael Gruenfeld

Subject: Report and update regarding progress in brain-computer interfacing Description: Brain-Computer interfacing sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it is already used to treat many severe human maladies, including epilepsy, paralysis, deafness, Parkinson’s disease, and others, and treatments entail inserting wires and sensors into brains of living patients. Research now underway, and planned, aims not only to relieve suffering but also to develop computer-brain interfaces to link the human brain to artificial intelligence (AI) equipped computers for the purpose of providing access, through thought alone, to all of human knowledge that is stored in the internet/cloud. On-going and planned research, that is well funded and being carried out by large numbers of scientists and engineers at three major research institutions, will be discussed.

Click here to download a PDF of the presentation.

Mike Gruenfeld’s Bio: Mike spent most of his childhood in the British protectorate of Palestine, and then in Israel after it declared its independence. He arrived in the US at age 13, and resided in New York City. After completing High School and College, and marrying Holly, the family (now four) moved to a lovely town in New Jersey. Mike worked as an analytical chemist, managed an environmental research laboratory, supervised chemists and engineers, chaired committees of the American Society For Testing and Materials (ASTM), published scientific papers, and provided technical seminars at scientific conferences.

May 1, 2019

Subject: Medical Outcomes Research

Presenter: Mona Kahlid

Outcomes research seeks to understand the end results of particular health care practices and interventions. End results include effects that people experience and care about, such as change in the ability to function. In particular, for individuals with chronic conditions—where cure is not always possible—end results include quality of life as well as mortality. By linking the care people get to the outcomes they experience, outcomes research has become the key to developing better ways to monitor and improve the quality of care.

Health outcomes research is a methodology used to identify and measure the link between treatments or interventions delivered and the actual outcomes achieved. Put simply, health outcomes studies help determine what works and what doesn’t in health care. Unlike clinical trials or other highly regulated scientific studies that consider only concrete, measurable data (such as mortality rates), health outcomes research takes a broader view to also incorporate clinical outcomes, financial impact, and a range of functional measures, including patients’ reported quality of life and satisfaction. The data gathered can come from a number of avenues and methodologies including from medical records, insurance databases, patient questionnaires, and more. By looking at a greater range of measures, health outcomes studies can provide guidance on a broader set of interventions and decisions than can clinical trials.

There is growing pressure in health care to provide high quality, cost-effective, patient-centered care. Healthcare professionals are increasingly turning to health outcomes research for the evidence-based guidance they need to improve care. Clinicians and executives use this information to assess and improve their business performance or for insight into the most effective treatment options to consider for diverse populations with a range of diagnoses.

What Is Outcomes Research?

Outcomes research is a facet of research that measures results of various medical treatments and/or interventions in patient populations. The purpose of outcomes research per the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is to assist patients, clinicians, purchasers and policy makers in making informed health decisions by advancing quality and relevance of evidence.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) defines the purpose of outcomes research as a tool to provide evidence about benefits, risks, and results of treatments so clinicians and patients can make more informed decisions. The process involves identifying, measuring and evaluating effects of care provided to patients. Results of outcomes research, which consider clinical, economic, and humanistic outcomes, can guide health care decision makers in selecting the most effective treatment and/or procedural strategy or to improve upon current treatments and medical interventions.

Those involved in making decisions about care may include the patient, the health care professional, or the payer of health care. Examples of some outcomes that can be measured are cure rates for certain diseases, patient functional status and activities of daily living, respiratory function, or the rate of hospital admission or outpatient visits.

Mona Kahlid's Bio:  Mona Khalid, MPH, MBA – Mona is an independent healthcare consultant with more than 15 years of experience in health services research, specializing in health management program evaluation, healthcare analytics and reporting as well as opportunity assessment and evaluation of personalized medicine initiatives. She provides evaluation strategies and methodology for assessing the impact of various clinical programs. She also analyzes large data-bases to describe drug spending patterns, and forecast drug cost trends. Her clients include Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, Community Health Organizations and Academic institutions. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Mona worked for a large pharmacy benefits manager where she led analytic teams and Enterprise initiatives related to the access, management and insightful analysis of claims data for 65+ million members across the United States.

April 3, 2019

Topic: Latest Exciting Developments In Molecular Biology

(New Immunotherapies for Cancer Treatment)

Presenter: Karen O’Malia Zauderer

In the late 19th century Dr. William Coley noticed a regression in the cancers of some of his patients who developed feverish infections. He concocted a mixture of bacteria, which he called “Coley’s toxins” in an effort to trigger patients’ immune systems to fight their tumors, along with the raging infection.

At the turn of the century at Coley’s hospital, now Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, chemotherapy and radiation, which were more easily controlled and administered, were evolving and eventually supplanted his techniques.

Although chemo and radiation continue to dominate the cancer treatment field, immunotherapy research has resurfaced. Jimmy Carter’s metastatic melanoma is in remission, and John McCain’s glioblastoma was mitigated by current immunotherapy treatments.

The presentation will outline the most common emerging immunotherapy techniques, the theories behind them, and their success rates.

2018-19

Past Sessions:

March 6th:

Topic: The CIA's Importance, Recruitment, and Activities

Presenter: Jack Davis

Description: Jack’s presentation focused on the breadth and importance of the CIA’s mission, the challenges of getting and keeping the best possible employees, what the CIA does and doesn’t do, who cares, and why it takes so much money to keep doing what it does. He will take questions after the presentation and likely will not have to wimp out on the answers too often.

Jack Davis' Bio: Jack escaped Baton Rouge by joining the Army in ‘61, was assigned to Army Intelligence and served two years on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido as part of a large US activity to electronically snoop on Soviet military activities in the far east. In ‘64 he reentered LSU and bounced around in engineering, architecture and economics receiving a BA in Economics in ‘67 and pursued a MS in Systems Management from USC in the 1970s.

Jack worked his way through school with the GI Bill and working for AT&T, the Bell System, Louisiana Electronics and as an audio engineer for a radio station. Upon graduation he was offered positions by the CIA, NSA and DIA. Having had enough of the military Jack chose CIA to interpret satellite photography of the USSR and later as a physical scientist analyzing Soviet and Chinese missile and space tracking capabilities. Other positions included: a stint writing and coordinating articles on Soviet and Chinese missile and space developments for President Carter, Recruitment Coordinator for the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence, Executive Secretary of a Pentagon committee that coordinates intelligence positions among our allies, several management positions and a few more squirrely projects he still can’t talk about. Upon retirement Jack was awarded the Career Intelligence Medal by the Director, CIA. He is a co-author of a waiting-to-be-published book on CIA intelligence breakthroughs in the heyday of interpretation of early satellite photography.

Jack’s other interests include: sailing, genealogy, shooting, wilderness backpacking, voluntary simplicity, sustainable living, sustainable economics, environmental issues, sustainable radio communications and SETI. Jack holds a general class amateur radio license (KM4QJY).

February 6th:

Topic: New Theory of Consciousness

Presenter: Karen O’Malia Zauderer

Description: When Stuart Hameroff, now age 71, was a young man entering medical school, he expressed an interest in the study of consciousness. So, his advisors encouraged him to become an anesthesiologist, who could watch patients go in and out of consciousness several times every day. He specialized in anesthesiology, and by 1994, as a practicing anesthesiologist in Arizona, he introduced what seemed at that time some outlandish ideas about the human brain.

At the time few people believed him, until someone suggested he read "The Emperor's New Mind" published a few years earlier, and written by Nobel-prize winning mathematical physicist, Roger Penrose. Hameroff had proposed a theory of consciousness based upon his observations of patients coming in and out of anesthesia, but he lacked a mechanism. Penrose had suggested a possible mechanism to explain the theory.

So the two teamed up to introduce a theory of consciousness which questions the current simplistic paradigm of firing neurons and synapses, and suggests that consciousness just may result from quantum physics activities at the subatomic level. These ideas could be as earthshaking as Galileo’s questioning of the earth-centered solar system, and open the possibilities for experiences based upon quantum physics: non-local out-of-body experiences; an afterlife within the space-time geometry; past-life regression and other phenomena currently defined as parapsychological.

Karen O’Malia’s Bio: karen became interested in biology in high school; majored in French, and studied Spanish, art history, and biology as an undergrad; did graduate work in biology, with a concentration in ecology; went back to grad school later for a Master's in counseling. Continued to read on topics in biology, bio and organic chemistry, and medicine. Her three careers include teaching high school French, corporate financial sales and management, and legal pharmaceutical product liability case management.

Note: If you missed this session, click here for a graph that will further explain Karen's presentation.

January 2nd:

Description: "How Medical Research Is Translated Into Improved Patient Care".

Synopsis: For 32 years Helen was a surgical pathologist at New York University Medical Center. Her laboratory provided diagnostic services to patients during surgery in the hospital, in affiliated clinics, and in doctors’ offices. Acting in this capacity, the pathologist is often referred to as “the physician’s physician”; we don’t see patients, rather our service yields important information to the doctors who provide patient care.

Being in an academic setting, she also had a mandate to do medical research (publish or perish!). Nowadays medical research requires a collaborative team approach. For 15 years she did research on kidney disease. Her team consisted of two pathologists, and internist, a pediatrician, three nephrologists, a urologist and a dialysis physician. For a subsequent 15 years my research was on breast cancer and her team included three surgeons, radiation and medical oncologists, a pathologist, a geneticist, and an endocrinologist. This switch in her research focus followed a year’s sabbatical at the Rockefeller University.

She’ll use these experiences to illustrate how medical research translates into improved patient care.

Dec 5th:

Barbara Chertok shared with us how she was suddenly deafened at age 21 and through the wonders of modern medicine and technology her hearing was restored. Barbara received her first cochlear implant in 1997 and her second in 2008.
To read a recent article authored by Barabra, please click here.

Nov 7th:

Emanuel (Bud) Klein presented a report and update regarding some of the latest exciting medical findings, and discoveries.

Bud Klein's CV.

Oct 3rd:

Roger Streit presented a report on the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Including its Work, Organization, and Accomplishments.

Description: The federal government's best first step in addressing climate change should be to facilitate the transition from using greenhouse gas emitting fuels to using other processes that provide energy. Of the techniques that a government can use to facilitate this transition (subsidies, regulations, cap and trade plans, or taxes) a revenue neutral carbon tax plan is preferred. Such a plan grows the economy equitably and is a market-based solution that conservatives can support.

For more than ten years Citizens' Climate Lobby volunteers have been relentlessly building the political will to advance such a plan, called Carbon Fee and Dividend. Evidence of their progress is building.

In 2017, the Climate Leadership Council , a conservative group of Republican leaders, put forth its own concrete, market-based climate solution.

Bipartisan cooperation is growing but we need more help.

References:
Carbon Fee and Dividend https://citizensclimatelobby.org/basics-carbon-fee-dividend
The Political Will for Action: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/methodology
CCL’s work results: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/10-ccls-major-accomplishments/
Climate Leadership Council Has Another (Similar) Plan: https://www.clcouncil.org
Exceeding Paris (click for a link to this bi-partisan plan)

Roger Streit’s Bio: Roger grew up in Passaic, New Jersey. He majored in Economics at Lafayette College in Easton Pennsylvania and has an MBA in finance from the University of Rochester. He is a retired financial planner.

He and his wife moved to Sarasota in September, 2016.

Roger has been a member of Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) since May 2013 when he helped start the Montclair, New Jersey chapter. He helped start the Venice Florida chapter in March 2017.

Montclair was the 90th chapter of CCL. Venice was the 385th chapter.

Roger has participated in more than a dozen lobby meetings with members of Congress or their aides.

He will be talking about market-based solutions to climate change. They are gaining bipartisan support, but we need help.

Sept 5th:

Barbara Kelly presented a Report describing her experiences, findings, and recommendations based on her many years as principal of a large public high school that also included students from a school For the blind, and those from a school for the deaf.

Aug 1st:

Dale Anderson, who has previuosly spoken at HUSBAY, presented:
“Abortion in the USA – Do You Know the Facts?” (Current Statistics, Practices, and Trends).

Brief Synopsis: Abortion in the United States has, and continues to be one of the most divisive political issues our nation faces. With the recent changes in membership of the Supreme Court, the issue is likely to again be front and center in our political debates. So, what do you know about abortion? In this presentation, Dr. Dale Anderson will provide an overview of the women who seek medical and surgical abortions and the methods of abortion used in the USA.

Dale's Bio:· Born and raised in Crete, Nebraska · Undergraduate – Northwestern University (Evanston) · Medical School – Northwestern University Med School (Downtown Campus) · Internship – Cook County Hospital (Internal Medicine) · Residency – Norfolk General Hospital (Norfolk Va.) · Internal Medicine Practice – McFarland Clinic, Ames Ia. (15 years) · MBA – Iowa State University · CEO – McFarland Clinic (5 years) · Senior VP/ Exec Medical Director – Presbyterian Health System, Albuquerque, NM (7 years) · President Ohio Health Medical Foundation – Columbus, Ohio (2 years) · Managing Director, BDC Advisors – Miami, Fla. (5 years)

July 4th:

Mike Gruendfeld, the leader of the Science, Technology & Medicine discussion group, presented "Brain-Computer Interfacing, and Methods for Improving Brain Function."

Description: Brain-Computer interfacing sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it is already used to treat many severe human maladies, including epilepsy, paralysis, deafness, Parkinson’s disease, and others. Treatments entail inserting wires and sensors into, onto, and near living patients’ brains, and interfacing these with artificial intelligence (AI) equipped computers. Research now underway, and planned, aims not only to relieve suffering, but also to read minds, dramatically enhance learning and memory, and ultimately establish superhuman-like connections between human brains and computers. Procedures already used, and planned, for correcting brain-body malfunctions, and establishing brain-computer communication, will be described and discussed.

Mike Gruenfeld’s Bio: Mike spent most of his childhood in the British protectorate, Palestine, and in Israel, after it declared its independence. He arrived in the US at age 13, and resided in New York City. After completing High School and College, and marrying Holly, the family (now four) moved to a lovely town in New Jersey. Mike worked as an analytical chemist, managed an environmental research laboratory, supervised chemists and engineers, chaired committees of the American Society For Testing and Materials (ASTM), published scientific papers, and provided technical seminars at scientific conferences.

To read Mike's full presentation paper, please click here.

 

 

June 6:

Presenter: Barry Zack

Title: We Invent Tools and They Reinvent Us

Summary: There have been thousands of inventions, throughout the centuries, but how many have actually reinvented us?

Barry will focused on the tool that has had more impact than practically any other, and how what used to be called Science Fiction became Science Future and how has now evolved into Science Fact. For a transcript of this presentation, please click here.

May 2:

Title: Mathematically Speaking

Summary: Mary McClendon described her long experience as both a teacher of mathematics in public schools, as well as her experience as the supervisor of the teaching of mathematics in the Sarasota County public school system. She focused on two areas where appropriate teaching methods and practices can help students achieve success. One area addresses the development of appropriate vocabulary, and the other addresses the development of important concepts. These are paradigms in mathematics education that she will share with the group.

Mary McClendon’s Bio: Mary supervised all K to 12th grade mathematics education by all teachers of mathematics in the Sarasota County public school system. She started her career in a one room school, and at the age of 20, she was teaching 29 kids in grades 1-8. Prior to receiving her PhD, she taught in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Florida. Mary also taught mathematics methods at the University of South Florida, and after retiring in 1996, she did teacher training for two companies, and also wrote textbooks for Harcourt Brace Publishers.

April 4:

Description: Susan Silva-Wayne and Jack Wayne will lead a discussion on the current strengths and weaknesses of the provision of health care in Canada. They will outline the workings of the Canadian Health Care system, its benefits to the residents and the gaps in service needing to be addressed. Some anecdotal material will be included.

Susan Silva-Wayne’s Bio: Susan earned her BA degree (SUNY Binghamton), MSW (University of Michigan) and Ph.D. (Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario). As a social worker, therapist, social work educator and book editor, she has developed special interests in the areas of Child and Family Life, Child Welfare, Women's Studies, Domestic Violence and Human Sexuality. She has experienced her own health challenges and learned about those of many others in New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and England as well as in Canada.

Jack Wayne’s Bio: Jack was born in Canada. His first full-time job involved giving motivational talks to inmates of Ontario’s Mental Health Hospitals. Unfortunately, the provincial government in the mid-1960s declared all Ontario residents to be sane and Jack found himself unemployed. He went back to school and was awarded a Ph.D. in Sociology.

Dr. Wayne was a professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto for over 30 years. After the third decade Jack realized that his academic career wasn’t working out. He declared his students to be fully educated and turned his attention to textbook publishing.

His firm, Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., is now the leading Canadian-owned textbook publisher in Canada. It enjoyed remarkable growth after Jack sold the company in 2008. Dr. Wayne is a Past-President of the Association of Canadian Publishers. Jack is now a fine art photographer. He is a member of the Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts in Toronto. In 2018 his major new exhibit, Masculine and Feminine, will open at the Propeller Gallery in Toronto June 20th, 2018.

 

March 7:
Karen O'Malia discussed, "When Evidence Says 'No,' but Doctors Say Yes.”

Description: Years after research contradicts common practices, patients continue to demand them and doctors continue to deliver. The result is an epidemic of unnecessary and unhelpful treatment.” (Based upon an article by David Epstein, co-published by ProPublica and The Atlantic on February 22, 2017.)

From stents and open-heart surgery to medications, many common treatments have been shown to be ineffective, and sometimes harmful. Yet physicians and surgeons continue to prescribe drugs and perform procedures and surgeries long after they have been shown to be ineffective. Why? Because common “knowledge” dies hard, and because profit remains a strong motivation.

Effectiveness is clouded by poor research and experiments designed to overstate positive outcomes. “Relative risk is just another way of lying,” implying that the treatment is far more effective that it really is.

A more reliable way of reporting outcomes of medication and surgery is NNT, number needed to treat, and NNH, number needed to harm. Both are measures of how many people need treatment to get one positive outcome, and, conversely, how many of those treated will experience a negative outcome. For the article used in the preparation of this talk, please click here.

Karen O’Malia’s Bio: karen became interested in biology in high school; majored in French, and studied Spanish, art history, and biology as an undergrad; did graduate work in biology, with a concentration in ecology; went back to grad school later for a Master's in counseling. Continued to read on topics in biology, bio and organic chemistry, and medicine. Her three careers include teaching high school French, corporate financial sales and management, and legal pharmaceutical product liability case management.

Febrary 7:

Karen O’Malia discussed CRISPR DNA & Gene Editing Technique (Genetic Engineering). The house was packed to hear Karen's talk. This is a subject that is geting wide attention throoughout the world. Maybe they can now do something about that gene that can damage you, and end your life prematurely?

Below is a chart that might help you understand the CRISPR methodology.

January 3:

This session featured two speakers who discussed subjects close to the heart. Ernie Kinnie (left), and Jack Robinson (right), who passed away recently. We will miss him.

1. Signs, Prevention, & Recommended Lifestyle, presentd by Ernie Kinnie

2. Changes Associated With A Heart Attack, discussed by Jack Robinson

An enthusiastic crowd offered wise input to the discussion.