Seema Jolly

Troubles with titles… and other musings

March 30, 2012

For anyone who has heard me talk about this course over the last few months, you’ve likely heard me talk about how much I loathed coming up with a title for my posts.   It’s just a few words, but how can they cause so much stress?  How do you sum up a post and find a catchy (but truthful) [...]

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Research bites

March 23, 2012

Like many of my fellow Michiganders, due to the unseasonably warm weather*, I got to dust off my sandals and let my feet peak into the life of sunshine and warmth . . . and mosquito bites!  Ever since I was little, I was prone to getting bit (my sibling used to tell me it [...]

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Latino farm workers’ health – all eyes on the community

March 16, 2012

In Michigan, I can enjoy the luxury of going to the grocery store and buying strawberries in the middle of January or buying tomatoes in the spring (or really, any fruit or vegetable at any time of the year).  These foods are at my disposal because our food system relies on millions of farm workers [...]

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Childhood obesity and one big, fat (stigma) problem

March 9, 2012

Take a moment and think about what words and thoughts you conjure up in your head when you read these words: “obesity,” “overweight,” or “fat.” Did any of these words pop in your head?

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How would you like your steak? Medium-rare with a side of antibiotics.

March 2, 2012

It is not my intention to scare anyone into becoming a vegan or vegetarian with this post. However, I do want us to think more about the food we eat, and I don’t mean counting calories or grams of fat.  I’m talking about whether you know where your food is being produced, how it is being [...]

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Diving into Dow and Dioxin

February 24, 2012

After almost two decades of negotiations with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Dow Chemical Company agreed to clean up contaminated residential properties in Midland, Michigan.  Dow is a chemical manufacturer, and for most of the 20th century, polluted the region with dioxin from one of its manufacturing plants.  For residents living in contaminated areas, Dow offered [...]

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Not all research is created equal…

February 17, 2012

As a soon-to-be public health professional, I hope that my work will positively impact the communities and populations that I’ll be serving.  Research is an important step in identifying public health problems and creating interventions and it’d be nice to think that research is serving the greater good.  But sometimes, that’s not always the case. It’s [...]

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Cadmium Babies

February 10, 2012

Batteries Welding Low birth weight baby girls Rice Tobacco What connects these words?  Cadmium Cadmium is a metal that can have short and long-term effects on the body and is a probable human carcinogen.  Once in the body, cadmium accumulates in the kidneys and can remain in the body for years.  Along with impacting the kidneys, [...]

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To have this happen to me in my job as a soldier: U.S. Veterans and Military-related Sexual Trauma

February 3, 2012

“Going through a sexual assault is bad enough. Then to have this happen to me in my job as a soldier; it was really difficult because what happened to the unit support? Your fellow soldiers are supposed to have your back.” – Make the Connection I struggled while writing this post because I was trying [...]

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What’s that smell? Worker exposures in nail salons

January 27, 2012

Here’s something I’ve never thought twice about (and maybe you haven’t either): the potential health concerns for workers at a nail salon.  Yes, a nail salon.  Have you heard a story about someone getting a bacterial or fungal infection after going to a nail salon, perhaps because of unsanitary conditions?  Consumer health and safety is [...]

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Paula Deen: Recipes (Victoza) for a Healthy Life

January 20, 2012

I told myself that I wasn’t going to do a post about nutrition or food because, well, that’s what I spend all day, everyday thinking about (I study nutrition) and I recognize that most people don’t think about food and nutrition to the extent that I do.  But two days ago, I saw Paula Deen’s face [...]

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