Physical activity may not be key to obesity epidemic

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- A recent international study fails to support the common belief that the number of calories burned in physical activity is a key factor in rising rates of obesity.

Researchers from Loyola University Health System and other centers compared African American women in metropolitan Chicago with women in rural Nigeria. On average, the Chicago women weighed 184 pounds and the Nigerian women weighed 127 pounds.

Researchers had expected to find that the slimmer Nigerian women would be more physically active.

Amy Luke is a nutritional epidemiologist with training in energy metabolism and the use of stable isotopes for the measurement of energy expenditure. Her research focuses on the environmental and genetic determinants of obesity and hypertension in populations of African and Mexican origin. Dr. Luke is the department’s director of resident research and has a joint appointment in the Department of Family Medicine.

To their surprise, they found no significant difference between the two groups in the amount of calories burned during physical activity. "Decreased physical activity may not be the primary driver of the obesity epidemic," said Loyola nutritionist Amy Luke, Ph.D., corresponding author of the study in the September 2008 issue of the journal Obesity. Luke is an associate professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Physical activity is defined as anything that gets your body moving. U.S. government guidelines say that each week, adults need at least 2 ½ hours of moderate aerobic activity (such as brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous activity (such as jogging). Adults also should do muscle-strengthening activities, such as weight-lifting or sit-ups, at least twice a week. Physical activity has many proven benefits. It strengthens bones and muscles, improves mental health and mood, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast cancer and colon cancer.

But Loyola research suggests that weight control might not be among the main benefits. People burn more calories when they exercise. But they compensate by eating more, said Richard Cooper, Ph.D., co-author of the study and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology.

"We would love to say that physical activity has a positive effect on weight control, but that does not appear to be the case," Cooper said.

The recent study included 149 women from two rural Nigerian villages and 172 African American women from the west side of Chicago and suburban Maywood.

Adjusted for body size, the Chicago women burned an average of 760 calories per day in physical activity, while the Nigerian women burned 800 calories. This difference was not statistically significant.

Diet is a more likely explanation than physical activity expenditure for why Chicago women weigh more than Nigerian women, Luke said. She noted the Nigerian diet is high in fiber and carbohydrates and low in fat and animal protein. By contrast, the Chicago diet is 40 percent to 45 percent fat and high in processed foods.

Results of the new study are similar to those of a 2007 study of men and women in Jamaica. Researchers from Loyola and other centers found there was no association between weight gain and calories burned during physical activity.

"Evidence is beginning to accumulate that dietary intake may be more important than energy expenditure level," Luke said. "Weight loss is not likely to happen without dietary restraint." ###

Other centers involved in the study of Chicago and Nigerian women include University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Howard University, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Wisconsin.

Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill.

The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 570-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Health & Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 250-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Health & Fitness Center and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.

Contact: Jim Ritter jritter@lumc.edu 708-216-2445 Loyola University Health System

Eligibility criteria contribute to racial disparities in hospice use

ATLANTA, Ga. -- A new study finds that hospice services—care that is provided by physicians, visiting nurses, chaplains, home health aides, social workers and counselors—have restrictions that reduce usage by many patients who are most in-need, particularly African Americans. The research, published in the February 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, indicates that the eligibility criteria for hospice services should be reconsidered.

In order to enroll in hospice, patients must have a prognosis of six months or less if their illness runs its usual course.

David J. Casarett, M.D., M.A. Associate Professor of Medicine Staff Physician, Philadelphia VAMC Fellow of the Institute on Aging. University of Pennsylvania. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Ralston-Penn Center 3615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2676. Telephone: (215) 898-2583, Facsimile: (215) 573-8684 >E-mail: casarett@med.upenn.edu

They must also accept the palliative nature of hospice care. African American patients are less likely than white patients to use hospice, but the reasons for this difference have remained somewhat unknown. In the current work, investigators at the University of Pennsylvania designed a study to explore the reasons for racial disparities in hospice care among cancer patients. To define and compare preferences for cancer treatment and perceived needs for hospice services among African-American patients and white patients, Dr. David Casarett and colleagues interviewed 283 patients who were receiving cancer treatment at six oncology clinics within the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Network. Patients were asked about their perceived need for five hospice services and their preferences for continuing cancer treatment, and they were followed for six months or until death. The researchers theorized that if disparities in hospice use were the result of preference for aggressive treatment among African Americans, then their rates of hospice use could be increased by redesigning hospice eligibility criteria.

Conversely, if African Americans were less likely to want hospice services, then changes to the benefit may not be necessary, but modifications to the services that are offered may be warranted.

Dr. Casarett's team found that African-American patients had stronger preferences for continuing their cancer treatments as well as greater perceived needs for hospice services. The greater perceived need for hospice services among African Americans was attributed largely to differences in self-reported finances—poorer patients wanted more services.

"These findings suggest that the hospice eligibility criteria of Medicare and other insurers requiring patients to give up cancer treatment contribute to racial disparities in hospice use," the authors wrote. "Moreover, these criteria do not select those patients with the greatest needs for hospice services," they added.

The basis for these disparities is likely related to both cultural differences and economic characteristics. The results from this study indicate that hospice access could be made fairer by using eligibility criteria that are more directly need-based. For example, the investigators suggested that eligibility might be determined by assessing needs for specific hospice services such as pain or symptom management. ###

Article: "Race, treatment preferences, and hospice enrollment: Eligibility criteria may exclude patients with the greatest needs for care." Jessica Fishman, Peter O'Dwyer, Hien L. Lu, Hope Henderson, David A. Asch, and David J. Casarett. CANCER; Published Online: December 22, 2008 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.24046); Print Issue Date: February 1, 2009.

Contact: David Sampson david.sampson@cancer.org WEB: American Cancer Society

Gay and bisexual African-American men have the lowest use of prostate testing

Charles Drew University study examines screening exams for California males

Los Angeles, CA—Gay and bisexual black men are less likely to be tested for prostate cancer than men of any other racial and ethnic backgrounds regardless of their sexual orientation, according to a recent study by a researcher at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science.

In his study, published in the December issue of Medical Care, Kevin C. Heslin, an assistant professor at Charles Drew University, examined prostate and colorectal testing rates based on sexual orientation, race and ethnicity.

Using data from telephone interviews with 19,410 men who participated in the California Health Interview Survey, the research found no overall difference in the use of the prostate-specific antigen (or PSA) test among gay, bisexual and heterosexual men.

Caption: Dr. Kevin Heslin's research found gay and bisexual black men are less likely to be tested for prostate cancer than men of any other racial and ethnic backgrounds regardless of their sexual orientation. Credit: Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. Usage Restrictions: None.

But the percentage of gay and bisexual black men who received the PSA test was 12% to 14% lower than heterosexual blacks and 15% to 28% lower than gay and bisexual whites. "Gay and bisexual black men had the lowest use of the PSA test, compared with every other group of men in the study," Heslin said. "For blacks, being a member of both racial and sexual minority groups represents a kind of double jeopardy when it comes to getting PSA testing." The findings are significant because black men are more likely to be diagnosed late with prostate cancer and, as a result, are more likely to die from the disease than any other racial or ethnic group.

Prostate and colorectal cancers are the second and third most common causes of cancer deaths among men in the United States, exceeded only by lung cancer.

Overall, the study found that a greater percentage of gay and bisexual men received colorectal cancer tests compared with heterosexual men, which suggests that gay and bisexual men may have better access to preventive screening than heterosexuals. But the researchers point out that the difference may be partly due to the fact that colorectal cancer tests—such as colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and proctoscopy—are also used to diagnose sexual health problems among gay men.

All the men in the study were age 50 and over, which is the age at which screening for prostate and colorectal cancer is recommended by many professional organizations. The American Cancer Society guidelines recommend that African American males begin receiving the PSA screening test at age 45.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the study, "Sexual Orientation and Testing for Prostate and Colorectal Cancers among Men in California," suggests that health services planners seeking to address racial and ethnic disparities in prostate cancer may need to consider sexual orientation when developing culturally specific screening programs for high-risk subgroups of men, such as African Americans.

Kevin C. Heslin received his Ph.D. in Health Services Research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was a pre-doctoral fellow in the National Institute of Mental Health/UCLA AIDS Research Training Program. He is currently an assistant professor at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. His research focuses on access to health services and health outcomes in underserved populations, particularly persons with HIV/AIDS and homeless persons.

### ABOUT CHARLES DREW UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE (CDU)

CDU is a private nonprofit, nonsectarian, minority-serving medical and health sciences institution. Located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, CDU has graduated over 550 medical doctors, 2,500 post-graduate physicians, more than 2,000 physician assistants and hundreds of other health professionals. The only dually designated Historically Black Graduate Institution and Hispanic Serving Health Professions School in the U.S. CDU is recognized as a leader in health inequities and translational research, specifically with respect to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health, and HIV/AIDS.

The University is among the top 7% of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded institutions and rated one of the top 50 private universities in research in the U.S. Recently, the CDU/UCLA medical program was named the "best performer" in the University of California System with respect to producing outstanding underrepresented minority physicians. For more information, visit http://www.cdrewu.edu.

Contact: John Mitchell johnmitchell@cdrewu.edu 323-563-4981 Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science

Strong association found between prevalence of low white blood count and women of African descent

Dr. Grann is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Health Policy & Management, College of Physicians & Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. A medical oncologist for more than 30 years, in 1977 he received both his M.P.H. degree in Health Policy and Management (Health Outcomes) at Columbia University and a Clinical Research Training Grant from the American Cancer Society (CRTG-98-260-02). His work has focused on quality of life, studies of preferences of breast cancer patients, cost-effectiveness, and decision analysis of heath outcomes related to genetic mutations in breast/ovarian cancer. He also is interested in disparities of care especially in clinical trials. He works in the Women’s Cancer Chemotherapy Clinic at Columbia, where breast cancer patients are evaluated and treated, and is Principal Investigator of the NSABP Study of tamoxifen and raloxifene (STAR) trial for the Cancer Center. Presently he is Director of the Recruitment Core at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Association may affect disparities in disease treatment and outcomes for cancer therapy Researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, have found a strong association between women of African descent from the U.S. and Caribbean, who are otherwise healthy, and the prevalence of neutropenia, or low white blood count. Neutropenia, which is associated with race and ethnicity, has essentially been unexplained and, although thought to be benign, may affect therapy for cancer or other illnesses. Among women of African descent who develop a malignancy, this association may contribute to racial disparities in treatment and outcomes. The study findings are reported online in Blackwell Publishing Ltd. British Journal of Hematology. "The goal of our study was to learn as much as we could about the association between a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which creates a person's unique DNA sequence, and low white blood cell counts (WBC)," said Victor, R. Grann, MD, professor of Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, professor of Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, director of Research Recruitment and Minority Outreach of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) , and study lead author. The research compared the data of women from the Caribbean and the United States and is the first to confirm the relationship between these study markers and ethnicity in the absence of disease. In addition to prevalence in African and Afro-Caribbean populations, about 25 percent of all blacks in the United States, including those from other origins, are neutropenic.

Because race/ethnicity is also associated with survival, the authors compared WBC and absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) of 261 healthy American-born women of African descent and European descent, 20 to 70 years of age, and women from the Caribbean islands of Barbados/Trinidad-Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. Women from the Dominican Republic were found to have higher median WBC and ANC than all other groups.

In an earlier study the Columbia researchers found that low WBC may delay or prevent the completion of appropriate chemotherapy, especially among women receiving adjuvant treatment or treatment after surgery for breast and colon cancer, and could affect cancer survival.

"We found that women of African descent with early-stage breast cancer had lower baseline WBC and longer duration of adjuvant chemotherapy than non-Hispanic white women," said Dawn Hershman, M.D., Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University Medical Center, co-director of the Breast Cancer program of the HICCC, and senior author of the study. "Black women were more likely to miss cycles of chemotherapy and had poorer survival than white women which could be related to lower WBC among other factors. These observations raised questions about whether the prevalence of low WBC varied among ethnic subgroups and how WBC might be related to other biomarkers among women without cancer."

This led to other research conducted by the Mailman School scientists and published in Cancer (August 15, 2008) and the present article published online in the British Journal of Hematology, which found that a certain genotype, common among women of African descent, is closely associated with low absolute neutrophil counts or low polymorphonuclear cells, the one's that fight infection, which may affect the timing and intensity of cancer treatments.

The authors anticipate that additional research underway could shed light on the timing and duration of appropriate chemotherapy treatment and its affect on survival. A better understanding of these associations may help to improve cancer outcomes among individuals of African and Caribbean ancestry.

"Unfortunately, we still know very little about the association of neutropenia with genotype in the setting of cancer or any other disease, including sickle cell anemia," noted Dr. Grann. "Further research may help to account for and prevent poor outcomes among persons of African ancestry and lead to interventions that may benefit them as well as all patients." ###

The study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health. To access online: (British Journal of Hematology) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query

About the Mailman School of Public Health

The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 1000 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and more than 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. www.mailman.columbia.edu

Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions.

Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and state and one of the largest in the United States. For more information, please visit www.cumc.columbia.edu.

Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital encompasses pre-clinical and clinical research, treatment, prevention and education efforts in cancer. The Cancer Center was initially funded by the NCI in 1972 and became a National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated comprehensive cancer center in 1979. The designation recognizes the Center's collaborative environment and expertise in harnessing translational research to bridge scientific discovery to clinical delivery, with the ultimate goal of successfully introducing novel diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive approaches to cancer. For more information, visit www.hiccc.columbia.edu.

Contact: Stephanie Berger sb2247@columbia.edu 212-305-4372 Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

UM archaeologists find unique, early US relic of African worship

Caption: Prepping the bundle for x-ray. Credit: Matt Palus, University of Maryland. Usage Restrictions: None.

European magic mingled with African in early 18th century. COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland archaeologists have dug up what they believe to be one of the earliest U.S. examples of African spirit practices. The researchers say it's the only object of its kind ever found by archaeologists in North America - a clay "bundle" filled with small pieces of common metal,

placed in what had been an Annapolis street gutter three centuries ago.

The bundle appears to be a direct transplant of African religion, distinct from hoodoo and other later practices blending African and European traditions.

"This is a remarkably early piece, far different from anything I've seen before in North America," says University of Maryland anthropologist Mark Leone, who directs the Archaeology in Annapolis project. "The bundle is African in design, not African-American. The people who made this used local materials. But their knowledge of charms and the spirit world probably came with them directly from Africa."

Caption: X-ray shows the metal pieces inside the bundle. The stone axe head points upward. Credit: Matt Palus, University of Maryland. Usage Restrictions: None.

About the size of a football, the compacted clay and sand bundle originally sat in clear public view stationed in front of a house. X-rays show the object served as a container holding hundreds of pieces of lead shot, pins and nails intended to ward off or redirect spirits. A prehistoric stone axe extends upward from the top of the bundle.

Leone dates the object to about 1700, plus or minus 20 years, from a period when English beliefs in witchcraft could mingle more openly with the African.

"We're particularly intrigued by the placement of this bundle in so visible a spot, because it suggests an unexpected level of public toleration," says Maryland's Leone. "All the previous caches of African spirit practices we've found in Annapolis were at least fifty years younger. These had been hidden away and used in secret. But in this earlier generation, the Annapolis newspaper was filled with references to English magic and witchcraft, so both European and African spirit practices may have been more acceptable then. That changed with the growing influence of the Enlightenment."

Caption: How the African bundle might have looked 300 years ago. Credit: Brian Payne, University of Maryland. Usage Restrictions: None.

After consulting with experts on West and Central-West African culture, Leone says the bundle might have origins in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea among Yoruba or Mande speakers. It may have been fashioned in the image of a god and energized through its construction to invoke and disseminate spiritual power.

CLAY BUNDLE

The Maryland team discovered the bundle four feet below Fleet Street in the Annapolis historic district - about 1,000 feet from the Maryland statehouse. It sat in the gutter of a much earlier unpaved street on a hill overlooking an inlet. Water would have run down the gutter, making it a vital conduit for spirits and a strategic spot to place a powerful charm, Leone says.

The bundle measures about 10 inches high, six inches wide and four inches thick. It remains intact, held together by the sand and clay. X-rays taken at the state of Maryland's conservation facility reveal the bundle's contents - about 300 pieces of lead shot, 25 common pins and a dozen nails. The blade of the stone axe points upward.

Originally, some kind of cloth or animal hide probably wound around the bundle forming a pouch that held the metal objects. But it has long since decomposed.

INTERPRETATION

Leone immediately suspected that the object had African origins based on the materials and the construction, which differed from the hoodoo caches his teams have unearthed in Annapolis over the past two decades. To help identify the object, Leone consulted with Frederick Lamp, curator of African Art at the Yale University Art Gallery. <artgallery.yale.edu/pdf/cv/Lamp.pdf>

"The use of compacted clay and iron materials points to the African origin of this bundle," Lamp says. "Combining these materials was believed to increase the spiritual power of the objects."

Lamp adds that Mande groups, principally in Sierra Leone and Liberia, used packed clay as binders when building spiritual objects. If Yoruba in origin, the bundle would likely represent the image of Eshu Elegba, the god of chance, confusion and unpredictability, the god of the crossroads. The axe blade could replace the comb in other representations of the Eshu, and it is also indicative of the power of Shango, the god of thunder and the lightning bolt.

"We hope to open a scholarly debate," says Leone. "Further research may help pinpoint the bundle's cultural origins. Whoever made this understood that public invocations of magic were a source of social control," Leone says. "It radiates power. The construction was intended to amplify its influence over the spirit world."

ENGLISH MAGIC

Before 1750, Annapolis' newspaper, The Maryland Gazette, frequently cited many-headed monsters, witchcraft trials in Europe, misshapen babies linked to magic, unaccounted appearances and disappearances and the world of pagan, non-Christian belief, explains Leone.

"English witchcraft in this period existed openly in public and was tolerated," he adds. "It's intriguing to speculate how English and African spirit beliefs may have interacted and borrowed from each other."

After 1750 though, the Gazette changed markedly. Leone says references to magic disappeared and the paper reflected the changing philosophy of the period.

OBJECT ON DISPLAY

Beginning today, the object is on display in the window of the Banneker-Douglass Museum, the state of Maryland's Center for African-American History and Culture. <www.bdmuseum.com/>

The Annapolis Department of Public Works contracted for the archaeological excavation along Fleet and Cornhill streets in the city's historic district in advance of a project to lay underground utility cables. The area was part of early Annapolis' waterfront.

"We've been committed for a long time to uncovering our state capital's history, and yet the old never gets old, never ceases to astound me," says Annapolis Mayor, Ellen Moyer. "This latest discovery underscores just how deeply the city's European and African roots are intertwined." ###

The display commemorates the 300th anniversary of the charter of the City of Annapolis and is sponsored by the Banneker-Douglass Museum, the City of Annapolis and the Preserve America Program of the National Park Service.

ARCHAEOLOGY IN ANNAPOLIS

Archaeology in Annapolis, a joint project of the University of Maryland and the Banneker-Douglass Museum, with support from Historical Annapolis Foundation, has conducted 40 excavations in the city's historic district since 1982. It has provided extensive documentation of the city's European and African roots. <www.bsos.umd.edu/anth/aia/

Contact: Neil Tickner ntickner@umd.edu 301-405-4622 University of Maryland

Dear Michelle Obama ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The voices of women whose stories are rarely told have been gathered by two scholars at the University at Buffalo to offer Michelle Obama messages of love, hope, admiration and support as she becomes the United States' first African American First Lady.

The women's words are being compiled into a book, "Go, Tell Michelle: African American Women's Letters to the New First Lady," by Barbara Seals Nevergold, Ph.D., and Peggy Brooks-Bertram, Dr.P.H., Ph.D., UB senior educational specialists and co-founders of the Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women at UB.

The book will be published in January 2009 by SUNY Press/Excelsior Editions (Albany, N.Y.). The goal is to have the book in Michelle Obama's hands by Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2009.

Peggy Brooks-Bertram (left) and Barbara Seals Nevergold

The project had its genesis, Nevergold explains, in the 2008 presidential campaign as she watched President-elect Barack Obama's journey to the White House gather momentum and his wife, Michelle, come into her own as a presidential candidate's wife.

"Throughout the election, it became apparent that African Americans were becoming emotionally invested," she says. "I felt such a sisterhood with Michelle Obama and a kinship.

"At the end of the election, I started to think, how can we as African-American women share with her our feelings about the new role she's going to take?"

A week after the election, Nevergold and Brooks-Bertram used the Internet to send out a call for people to express their hopes and advice for Michelle Obama through letters, poetry and recipes. Starting with an Uncrowned Queens listserv they maintain, their request spread across the country and around the world.

"We were interested in ordinary women who've fallen into historical obscurity and who have never imagined themselves writing a letter like this to the next First Lady," says Brooks-Bertram.

The response was enormous. Hundreds and hundreds of letters poured in, from professors and poets, playwrights and religious leaders, musicians, retirees and ordinary women. Eighth-grade students from Buffalo Prep sent letters. Residents of Kenya, Cameroon, Liberia and countries in the Caribbean sent letters. African Americans from around the country as well as Native Americans sent letters.

The messages were as diverse as the senders, but overwhelmingly the sentiments were of love and the desire to let Michelle Obama know she is not alone in her trip to the White House.

"There were so many messages that said 'we never thought we'd live to see the day that a black man was elected president,'" says Nevergold. "Many letters said their ancestors were smiling down on this event."

While only 100 letters will be published as part of "Go, Tell Michelle," Nevergold says all the letters they receive will be included in an online digital repository available at the Uncrowned Queens Web site at wings.buffalo.edu/uncrownedqueens/. "Go, Tell Michelle" will be available through the SUNY Press at www.sunypress.edu.

Nevergold and Brooke-Bertram call the book an "excellent example of digital literacy."

"Technology is the way to reach people," says Brooks-Bertram. "Every letter we received came via email, with the exception of one or two."

And the letters continue to pour in. ###

As an acclaimed international publisher of distinguished research and notable works of general interest since 1966, SUNY Press and its Center for Scholarly Communication are proud to support the State University of New York's commitments to teaching, research, and public service. Through its Excelsior Editions imprint, SUNY Press makes available exceptional works for all readers and also showcases the diversity and abiding energy of the peoples, histories, and natural beauty of New York and the surrounding regions.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.

Contact: Christine Vidal vidal@buffalo.edu 716-645-5000 x1416 University at Buffalo

New report says racial gap growing in colorectal cancer

Elizabeth T. H. (Terry) Fontham, Dean of the LSU School of Public Health, became the first non-physician elected national President of the American Cancer Society when she was inducted at a special ceremony during the Society's National Assembly Meeting on November 20, 2008 in New York City. She is also the first epidemiologist and the third female to serve as president in the organization's 96-year history.

ATLANTA – A new report from the American Cancer Society says despite unprecedented progress in reducing incidence and death rates from colorectal cancer, the gap between blacks and whites continues to grow. The latest data show death rates are about 45 percent higher in African American men and women than in whites. The data come from Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2008-2010, the second edition of a report first issued in 2005. Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, about 148,810 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and about 49,960 people will die of the disease. The great majority of these cancers and deaths could be prevented by applying existing knowledge about cancer prevention and by increasing access to and use of established screening tests. Although incidence and mortality rates continue to decrease in both blacks and whites, rates remain higher and declines have been slower among blacks.

Differences in incidence and mortality between blacks and whites have actually grown in the three years since the previous edition of the report was published. For example, in the previous report, the incidence rate in white men was 63.1 (per 100,000) compared to 72.9 in black men, an absolute difference of 9.8; in the current report, the difference between the incidence rate in white men (58.9 per 100,000) and black men (71.2 per 100,000) increased to 12.3.

The report also found signs of progress in many areas since the last issue:

* In the three years since the report was last published, 10 more states have enacted legislation ensuring coverage for the full range of colorectal cancer screening tests, bringing the total to 26 states plus Washington D.C.

* The proportion of colorectal cancers diagnosed at a localized stage has increased among most racial/ethnic groups.

* A new targeted monoclonal antibody therapy, Panitumumab (Vectibix), that blocks the effects of hormone-like factors that promote cancer cell growth has been approved by the FDA to treat metastatic colorectal cancer.

"We've made remarkable progress in reducing death and suffering from colorectal cancer," said Elizabeth "Terry" T.H. Fontham, M.P.H., Dr.P.H., of Louisiana State University, national volunteer president of the American Cancer Society. "Tests we have right now allow doctors to detect this killer at its earliest, most treatable stage, or even prevent it altogether. But as this report shows, there's more work to be done to ensure all Americans have access to these lifesaving tests, and that those who do have access to the tests use them."

The 2008-2010 report also includes new data, including incidence and mortality rates by sex, race, and state in table format and map format (mortality only) for easy visualization of state cancer burdens; survival rates by race/ethnicity and by insurance status; screening prevalence by health insurance status; and a list of the most common chemotherapeutic agents used to treat CRC and their side effects. ###

The report will be available in PDF form at www.cancer.org/statistics after embargo.

The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 14 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

Contact: David Sampson david.sampson@cancer.org WEB: American Cancer Society

"merry Christmas" With The Negroes

Christmas: Its Origin and Associations: Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries: Depicting, by Pen and Pencil, Memorable Celebrations, Stately Meetings of Early Kings, Remarkable Event, Romantic Episodes, Brave Deeds, Picturesque Customs, Time ...

By William Francis Dawson, Published by E. Stock, 1902. Original from the University of California, Digitized Oct 5, 2007

A journalist who has been amongst the negroes in the Southern States of America thus describes their Christmas festivities :—

" Christmas in the South of the United States is a time- honoured holiday season, as ancient as the settlement of the Cavalier colonies themselves. We may imagine it to have been imported from ' merrie England ' by the large-hearted Papist, Lord Baltimore, into Maryland, and by that chivalric group of Virginian colonists, of whom the central historical figure is the famous Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas memory.

Perhaps Christmas was even the more heartilv celebrated among these true Papist and Church of England settlers from the disgust which they felt at the stern contempt in which the Natal Day was held by ' stiff-necked Puritans' of New England. At least,

while in New England the pilgrims were wont to work with exceptional might on Christmas Day, to show their detestation of it, traditions are still extant of the jovial Southern merrymaking of the festival.

Christmas, with many of the Old England customs imported to the new soil, derived new spirit and enjoyment from customs which had their origin in the Colonies themselves. Above all was it the gala season— the period to be looked forward to and revelled in—of the negroes. Slavery, with all its horrors and wickedness, had at least some genial features ; and the latitude which the masters gave to the slaves at Christmas time, the freedom with which the blacks were wont to concentrate a year's enjoyment into the Christmas week, was one of these. In Washington, where until the war slavery existed in a mild and more civilised form, the negro celebrations of Christmas were the peculiar and amusing feature of the season.

And many of these customs, which grew up amid slavery, have survived that institution. The Washington negroes, free, have pretty m1tch the same zest for their time-honoured amusements which they had when under the dominion of the oligarchy. Christmas is still their great gala and occasion for merry-making, and the sable creatures thoroughly understand the art of having a good time, being superior, at least in this respect, to many a blase Prince and Court noble distracted with ennui. Those who have seen the 1Minstrels' may derive some idea, though but a slight one, of the negro pastimes and peculiarities. They are, above all, a social, enthusiastic, whole-souled race ; they have their own ideas of rank and social caste, and they have a humour which is homely, but thoroughly genial, and quite the monopoly of their race.

They insist on the whole of Christmas week for a holiday. ' Missus' must manage how she can. To insist on chaining them down in the kitchen during that halcyon time would stir up blank rebellion. Dancing and music are their favourite Christmas recreations ; they manage both with a will. In the city suburbs there are many modest little frame-houses inhabited by the blacks ; now and then a homely inn kept by a duskv landlord. Here in Christmas time you will witness many jolly and infectiously pleasant scenes. There is a ' sound of revelry by night.' You are free to enter, and observe near by the countless gyrations of the negro cotillon, the intricate and deftly executed jig, the ryde melody of banjos and ' cornstalk fiddles.'

They are always proud to have 'de white folks ' for spectators and applauders, and will give you the best seat, and will outdo themselves in their anxiety to show off at their best before you. You will be astonished to observe the scrupulous neatness of the men, the gaudy and ostentatious habiliments of ' de ladies.' The negroes have an intense ambition to imitate the upper classes of white society. They will study the apparel of a well-dressed gentleman, and squander their money on ' swallow-tail' coats, high dickeys, white neckties, and the most elaborate arts of their dusky barbers. The women are even more imitative of their mistresses. Ribbons, laces, and silks adorn them, on festive occasions, of the most painfully vivid colours, and fashioned in all the extravagance of negro taste. Not less anxious are they to imitate the manners of aristocracy. The excessive chivalry and overwhelming politeness of the men towards the women is amazing.

They make gallant speeches in which they insert as many of the longest and most learned words as they can master, picked up at random, and not always peculiarly adapted to the use made of them. Their excitement in the dance, and at the sound of music, grows as intense as does their furor in a Methodist revival meeting. They have, too, dances and music peculiar to themselves—jigs and country dances which seem to have no method, yet which are perfectly adapted to and rhythmic with the inspiring abrupt thud of the banjo and the bones. As they dance, they shout and sing, slap their hands and knees, and lose themselves in the enthusiasm of the moment. The negroes look forward to Christmas not less as the season for present-giving than that of frolicking and jollity.

Early in the morning they hasten upstairs, and catch ' massa ' and ' missus' and 1 de chillun' with a respectful hut eager ' Merry Christmas,' and are sure to get in return a new coat or pair of boots, a gingham dress, or ear-rings more showy than expensive. They have saved up, too, a pittance from their wages, to expend in a souvenir for ' Dinah ' or ' Pompey,' the never-to-be-forgotten belle or sweetheart."

Ancient African exodus mostly involved men, geneticists find

Alon Keinan, HMS, Department of Genetics, New Research Building, office #336 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur. Boston, MA 02115 Tel: (617) 432-5992, Fax: (617) 432-6306 Email: akeinan@genetics.med.harvard.edu

BOSTON, Mass. (Dec. 21, 2008) — Modern humans left Africa over 60,000 years ago in a migration that many believe was responsible for nearly all of the human population that exist outside Africa today. Now, researchers have revealed that men and women weren't equal partners in that exodus. By tracing variations in the X chromosome and in the non-sex chromosomes, the researchers found evidence that men probably outnumbered women in that migration.

The scientists expect that their method of comparing X chromosomes with the other non-gender specific chromosomes will be a powerful tool for future historical and anthropological studies, since it can illuminate differences in female and male populations that were inaccessible to previous methods.

While the researchers cannot say for sure why more men than women participated in the dispersion from Africa—or how natural selection might also contribute to these genetic patterns—the study's lead author, Alon Keinan, notes that these findings are "in line with what anthropologists have taught us about hunter-gatherer populations, in which short distance migration is primarily by women and long distance migration primarily by men." ###

These findings were published Dec 21, 2008 online in Nature Genetics.

Contact: David Cameron david_cameron@hms.harvard.edu 617-960-7221 Harvard Medical School

Study: Prejudice could cost a black worker thousands

Kerwin Kofi Charles, is the Steans Family Professor in the Harris School and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

A recent study in the Journal of Political Economy sheds light on the role racial prejudice plays in the wage gap between whites and blacks in the U.S. Prejudice accounts for approximately one-quarter of the racial wage gap, costing a black worker up to $115,000 over a lifetime depending upon where he or she lives, according to study authors Kerwin Kofi Charles from the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago and Jonathan Guryan from Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Educational inequality, differences in workers' skill levels and other forms of discrimination likely account for the rest of the gap, the authors say.

Charles and Guryan used statistical models to test the extent to which wage gaps in each U.S. state vary according to levels of prejudice. Levels of prejudice were determined by a series of surveys conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. In the surveys, white people were asked their views on issues like interracial marriage, whites-only private clubs, neighborhood segregation and whether or not they would vote for a black president.

The result was a fairly robust correlation between wage gaps and prejudice.

"Though prejudice explains only a minority—albeit a significant one—of the black-white wage gap, the costs borne by blacks ... are large," the researchers write. "Consider an 18-year-old black male choosing between two states…. Our estimates imply that if he lives in Florida rather than Massachusetts … the net present value of his [lifetime] earnings will be about $34,000 smaller. If he lives in Mississippi rather than Wisconsin … his discounted earnings are about $115,000 smaller."

Jonathan Guryan, is a faculty research fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research and a faculty affiliate for the Population Research Center.

The researchers found that wage gaps vary significantly according to the level of prejudice reported by the least prejudiced people in each state. Where the least prejudiced people hold more prejudice, wage gaps are higher.

Why are the least prejudiced people the ones that determine wage gaps?

In his seminal 1957 work The Economics of Discrimination, Nobel Prize-winning economist Gary Becker offered an answer. He theorized that the least prejudiced should be the ones who determine black wages because they are most likely to employ black people. The most prejudiced would either refuse to hire blacks, or pay them so little that blacks would naturally gravitate to less prejudiced employers.

Charles and Guryan's study is the first to offer empirical support for Becker's model. Not only did they find that the least prejudiced have a strong influence on wage gaps, levels of prejudice among the average and most prejudiced have no influence whatsoever.

"This is precisely as the Becker model predicts," the researchers write. ###

Contact: Kevin Stacey kstacey@uchicago.edu 773-834-0386 University of Chicago Press Journals

Church effort sharply increases first-time African-American blood donors

Michael R. DeBaun, M.D. Professor of Pediatrics, Biostatistics and Neurology Attending Physician, Division of Hematology-Oncology Unit Leader Patient Oriented Research.

St. Louis, Dec. 15, 2008 — A program at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and St. Louis Children's Hospital designed to increase awareness about sickle cell disease and the importance of blood donations within the African-American faith community led to a 60 percent increase in first-time blood donations, a new study has found. The program, called Sickle Cell Sabbath, was formally launched in 2003 by Michael R. DeBaun, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and a sickle-cell disease specialist at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

It is observed on Sundays from February (Black History Month) through June, in honor of Charles Drew, M.D., an African-American blood specialist whose pioneering work in blood collection, plasma processing and transfusion laid the foundation for modern blood banking. Its aim is to educate congregations of predominantly African-American churches about sickle cell disease and the benefit of blood and cord-blood donations and to make giving blood more convenient by encouraging church sponsorship of blood drives.

Results of the study are published in the advance online publication of the journal Transfusion.

Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disease in African-Americans, affecting about one in 400 newborns. Patients with sickle cell disease have red blood cells that contain an abnormal type of hemoglobin that causes the normally round, flexible red blood cells to become stiff and sickle- or crescent-shaped. The sickle cells can't pass through tiny blood vessels, which can prevent blood from reaching some tissues and can result in tissue and organ damage, pain and stroke.

"Blood transfusions and bone marrow transplants have been shown to be effective treatments for sickle cell disease by replacing sickle cells with healthy red blood cells," DeBaun said. "African-American blood donors are more likely to have more compatible red blood cell phenotypes for children with sickle cell disease."

Although African-Americans make up 13.5 percent of the population, they make up only 6.5 percent of the total blood-donor pool.

"Historically in African-American communities, churches are one of the lead community centers in the neighborhood and are the easiest way to reach people, especially first-time donors," said Michael Johnson, chaplain for the Sickle Cell Sabbath Program who also has sickle cell disease. "Most people at the churches didn't know the impact blood donorship has. Our education process increased the number of donors significantly. Once people understand the importance of giving blood, they become repeat donors."

The Sickle Cell Sabbath Program worked with 13 predominantly African-American churches in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Each church sponsored at least two blood drives between 2003-2006. A few weeks prior to each blood drive, medical and professional staff from the Sickle Cell Medical Treatment and Education Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital and from the Sickle Cell Sabbath Program, or a representative of the American Red Cross, or a parent of a child with sickle cell disease made a brief presentation to the congregation about the disease and the benefits of blood donation.

Of the nearly 700 donors who participated in the blood drives, 422, or 60 percent, were first-time donors. According to the American Red Cross, about 12.2 percent of blood donors are first-time blood donors in the St. Louis metropolitan area general community. ###

The Sickle Cell Sabbath Program is a joint project of St. Louis Children's Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, the St. Louis City Health Department, the Charles Drew Blood Campaign of the American Red Cross, Saint Louis University and Cardinal Glennon Hospital.

DeBaun has established a nationally renowned program for treatment, education and research into the complications of sickle cell disease. Under his leadership, he and a team of investigators have received funding for the first National Institutes of Health-(NIH) sponsored international clinical trial in sickle cell disease called the Silent Cerebral Infarct Transfusion (SIT) Trial, in which researchers seek to determine the effectiveness of blood-transfusion therapy to prevent silent strokes in children with the disease.

Price C, Johnson M, Lindsay T, Dalton D, DeBaun, M. "The Sickle Cell Sabbath: A community program increases first-time blood donors in the African American faith community." Transfusion, advance online publication, Nov. 25, 2008.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.

Contact: Beth Miller millerbe@wustl.edu 314-286-0119 Washington University School of Medicine

People living in highly black concentrated neighborhoods more likely to report their health as poor

Luisa N. Borrell, D.D.S., PH.D. Co-Associate Director, Health & Society Scholars Program Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Dentistry. Dr. Borrell's research interest is on race and ethnicity, socioeconomic position, and neighborhood effects as they act as social determinants of health. She has expertise in racial/ethnic disparities in health, research methods and the analysis of large databases, including survey, census and spatially linked data

In a study examining the relationship between racial/ethnic neighborhood concentration and self-reported health, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that individuals living in neighborhoods with a high concentration of Blacks were twice as likely to report poor health when compared to their counterparts living in neighborhoods with a lower concentration of Blacks. Based on data from more than 2,800 people who self-identified as white, black, Hispanic, or Asian, this is the first study to examine the effects of racial/ethnic neighborhood concentration and self-reported health in New York City. People living in highly Black concentrated neighborhoods were more likely to report their health as poor (27%) when compared to counterparts living in low (17%) and medium Black concentrated neighborhoods (22%).

Living in a neighborhood with a high concentration of Blacks, regardless of individuals' race or ethnicity, education, income or access to health insurance resulted in a twofold increased chance that residents would report poor health. This finding persisted even after additional adjustments for the socioeconomic circumstances of the neighborhoods and the individual's perception of their own neighborhoods.

"We used proportion of Black residents living in a zip code as a measure of residential segregation. Residential segregation is the damaging form of racial discrimination in this country and one that affects everyone regardless of their race or ethnicity." said Luisa N. Borrell, DDS, PhD, assistant professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and co-author of the study. "This study demonstrates that poor self-reported health was associated with patterns of concentration of Blacks in a neighborhood. Our findings also suggest that individuals living in the most concentrated neighborhoods were almost two times more likely to perceive their health as poor compared to those living in less concentrated neighborhoods," according to Kellee White, MPH, doctoral student in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and study co-author. "Moreover, segregated neighborhoods tend to suffer from concentrated poverty, economic disinvestment, and a lack of health resources. It is important to continue to determine the neighborhood elements that may facilitate or impede health."

The study was based on information from the New York City Social Indicator Survey and U.S. Census. Administered since 1997, the NYC-SIS is a biennial survey that measures individual and family well-being on a range of social and economic living conditions, adequacy of governmental services, and satisfaction and perception of the city.

"Although the deleterious effects of residential segregation on health are not well-understood, residential segregation has implications for most of the disparities of interest in the U.S., such as racial/ethnic, socioeconomic position, and geographic region," observed Dr. Borrell. ###

The research was funded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program. The full study, Racial/ethnic neighborhood concentration and self-reported health in New York City, will be published in Ethnicity and Disease Vol 16, Autumn 2006.

About the Mailman School of Public Health, The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 900 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and more than 270 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu

Contact: Stephanie Berger sb2247@columbia.edu 212-305-4372 Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Race a factor in receiving transplant treatment for bone marrow cancer but does not affect outcomes

Parameswaran Hari, MD, MRCP, MS. Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Hari is Clinical Director of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Program and Asst. Professor of Medicine in the Division of Neoplastic Diseases & Related Disorders. After medical school in India, he completed training in Internal Medicine and Hematology at premier institutions in United Kingdom and then in Medical Oncology and Transplantation at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

A new study by researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center Milwaukee, has found that African Americans and whites have identical survival rates after undergoing autologous (self donor) bone marrow transplant treatment for a common cancer of the bone marrow (multiple myeloma). However, in a previous study the researchers showed that African Americans were only half as likely as whites to actually receive a bone marrow transplant, the well-established life-prolonging treatment for the disease. The results of their study were presented today (Dec. 8) at the 50th Annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Francisco by lead researcher, Parameswaran Hari, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in neoplastic diseases. Dr. Hari who practices at Froedtert Hospital, a major teaching affiliate of the College. Over 15,000 Americans are diagnosed with multiple myeloma each year. The incidence of multiple myeloma in African Americans is twice that of whites and African Americans are twice as likely to die from this disease. It is also the most common diagnosis for which bone a marrow transplant, also known as hematopoietic stem cell transplant, is performed.

Dr. Hari and a research team from the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) compared the estimated rate of transplants and incidence rate of myeloma from SEER data (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results, a program of the National Cancer Institute). They concluded that African Americans are less likely to undergo transplants.

Further, a review of data reported to the CIBMTR showed no significant difference between the races in survival, progression–free survival, non-relapse mortality or relapse after transplantation. (CIBMTR, headquartered at the Medical College, is the world's largest clinical database of related blood and marrow transplants with the goal of increasing scientific knowledge of blood and marrow transplantation through research).

"This suggests that equal treatment results in equal outcomes," says Dr. Hari. "More study is needed to correct the causes of this imbalance in transplant rates especially since the transplant treatment itself is equally efficacious but less likely to be applied in African Americans. We need to now find out more about the patients who are being excluded from this procedure and why.

"African Americans also received transplants later in the course of their disease, on average, more than a year after diagnosis." says Dr. Hari.

The researchers also found that African Americans receiving autologous transplants were generally younger, and more likely to be both female and to have other illnesses such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, compared to their white counterparts. "However, the outcomes were very similar, in terms of survival, survival without disease progression, relapse of myeloma and treatment-related mortality.

Dr. Hari believes that these subtle differences between patient groups at baseline may hold clues to why African Americans are less likely to get to transplantation. ###

Co authors on the study with Dr. Hari are Navneet S. Majhail, M.D., M.S., University of Minnesota; Anna Hassebroek, MPH, statistician, CIBMTR-National Marrow Donor Program, Minneapolis campus; Mei-Jie Zhang, Ph.D., biostatistician, Medical College; Fareeha Siddiqui, M.D., of St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, Mass.; and Paulette Mehta, M.D., of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare Systems, Little Rock, Ark.

Contact: Toranj Marphetia toranj@mcw.edu 414-456-4700 Medical College of Wisconsin

Black and white is not always a clear distinction

Caption: This is University of Oregon sociologist Aliya Saperstein. Credit: Photo by Jack Liu. Usage Restrictions: Photo credit required.

Socioeconomics and incarceration are factors in defining race, says a University of Oregon sociologist Is race defined by appearance, or can a person also be colored by socioeconomic status? A new study finds that Americans who are unemployed, incarcerated or impoverished today are more likely to be classified and identified as black, by themselves or by others, regardless of how they were seen -- or self identified -- in the past. The findings suggest that race may not be as simple as something you are born with, that it is, possibly, tightly intertwined with social status, says University of Oregon sociologist Aliya Saperstein, who co-authored the study with sociologist Andrew M. Penner of the University of California, Irvine.

The study -- begun long before Barack Obama became the nation's first black president-elect -- appears online this week ahead of regular publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is timely, Saperstein said, because many Americans are raising questions about whether Obama -- the child of a black Kenyan man and a white American woman -- might be considered white because of his successes.

"What I find fascinating about Obama's case is that people are asking questions about it," Saperstein said. "In the past, it wouldn't have been a question what he was, or how we should talk about him. There would have been no debate.

"We do need to take these issues into account when we study race," she said. "Race is not something you are. It is a very complex combination of factors that certainly does include things like skin tone, hair type and ancestry, but it also includes social status and our own stereotypes about people. Our study suggests that part of how we determine who is white is based on our assumptions about what white people do or what black people do. There is probably more mobility in our society by race than we acknowledge, because socioeconomic mobility often turns into racial mobility, where we define successful people as white and unsuccessful people as black."

The study's findings were drawn from a comprehensive examination of data that has been compiled as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that began in 1979 and continues today, tracking the same individuals. Saperstein and Penner focused on 1979 and 2002, comparing how participants identified themselves in both years and how they were labeled by interviewers each year between 1979 and 1998.

They found that 20 percent of the 12,686 respondents to the survey had at least one change in an interviewer's perception of their racial status during that span. Most of the interviews over the years occurred face-to-face, but the researchers found similar results when interviews were conducted by telephone.

The biggest change noted was that individuals who initially had been classified by interviewers as white were less likely to maintain that classification if they were later jailed, became unemployed or had been living below the poverty line. Researchers found that 96 percent of initially classified white respondents who were not incarcerated later still were identified as white, but that only 90 percent of whites who had been incarcerated in later years were still seen as white.

Nearly the same results held for self-identified classification, the researchers found, with 97 percent of whites in 1979 still saying they were white in 2002 if they had never been impoverished. However, just 93 percent of initially self-classified whites still said they were white in 2002 if they had fallen into poverty between the two years.

Respondents who self identified as black in 1979 and then went to prison were more likely to again say they were black in 2002 than were those who didn't go to prison in between, Saperstein said. "Those who went to prison were more likely to stay black, but those who didn't go to prison might move themselves to another identity."

Saperstein and Penner argue that racial identification can be altered by changes in social position, "much as a change in diet or stress level can alter a person's propensity to die of heart disease as opposed to cancer." In their conclusion, they write: "This suggests that racial stereotypes can become self-fulfilling prophesies: Although black Americans are overrepresented among the poor, the unemployed and the incarcerated, people who are poor, unemployed or incarcerated are also more likely to seen and identify as black and less likely to be seen and identify as white. Thus, not only does race shape social status, but social status shapes race." ###

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.

Source: Aliya Saperstein, assistant professor of sociology, 541-346-8021 asaper@uoregon.edu

Links: Saperstein faculty Web page: sociology.uoregon.edu/faculty/saperstein;
sociology department: sociology.uoregon.edu/;
Penner faculty page: faculty.uci.edu/profile

Contact: Jim Barlow jebarlow@uoregon.edu 541-346-3481 University of Oregon

The Fresh Air Fund Helping inner city children

The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that provides free summer vacations to New York City children from low-income communities. Jenny Morgenthau is the Executive Director.

More than 1.7 million children have been helped since 1877 and nearly 10,000 New York City children now enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2006, 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada; 3,000 children attended five summer camps on a 2,300-acre (9 km2) site in Fishkill, New York; and the fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

In 2006, 75% of the total income of the fund came from private individuals.

It has received multiple grants from the Carnegie Corporation, an organization that has supported more than 550 New York City arts and social service institutions since its inception in 2002, and which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The program

Boys and girls from six to eighteen years old, visit over 300 Fresh Air Friendly Towns each summer. Children on first-time visits are six to twelve years old and stay for two weeks. The program also has a special one-week option for New York City families who would like to host children on their summer vacations outside the city.

Over 65 percent of all children are invited to stay with host families again, year after year. Youngsters may continue with The fund through age eighteen, and many spend the entire summer in the country. Children and volunteer families often form bonds of friendship that last a lifetime.

Each placement with a host family costs the fund $629 (2006).

Selection of children

Children are selected to participate based on financial need. Children are from low-income communities, with the majority receiving some form of public assistance. Youngsters are registered by more than 90 social service and community organizations in all five boroughs of New York City.

Host families

Volunteer host families open their homes to inner-city children for two weeks or more in the summertime. Each Friendly Town community is supervised by a committee of volunteers. Committee members select host families after reviewing their applications, visiting them in their homes and checking their personal references.

There are no financial requirements for hosting a child. Most hosts simply want to share their homes with inner-city youngsters. Host families are not paid. The fund has a program for placing children who have special physical or emotional needs.

In 2004, twelve teens were invited to holiday in Switzerland by Credit Suisse First Boston.

The camping program

Around 3,000 New York City youngsters, aged eight to fifteen, attend five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre (9 km2) site in the Sharpe Reservation near Fishkill, New York.

* Camp Hidden Valley is for boys and girls with and without special needs, eight to twelve years old
* Camp Tommy (named after board member/designer Tommy Hilfiger for his dedication and support of Fresh Air children) is for boys aged twelve to fifteen
* Camp Anita Bliss Coler is for girls aged nine to twelve
* Camp Hayden-Marks Memorial is for boys aged nine to twelve
* Camp Mariah is a coed camp for youngsters aged twelve to fourteen (career campers)

Additionally, 2,000 young people participate in year-round weekend camping experiences.

Special features shared by all camps include a planetarium, model farm, wilderness trail and ropes course. Since 1999, many of the campers have received free guitar lessons on Spirit guitars donated by the Gibson Foundation.

Each placement in a camp costs the fund $1,234 but gives much happiness to many children.

Seven youngsters each year spend the summer at Camp Pioneer on the Sharpe Reservation, training to be counselors.

Career Awareness Program

The innovative Career Awareness Program is designed to help New York City youngsters understand the relationship between school and work and how to make choices that will determine their futures. Youngsters aged twelve to fourteen participate in job shadowing that offers a close-up view of business, and a career fair. The year-round program includes weekend camping trips and an intensive three-and-a-half week summer session at the Career Awareness Camp – Camp Mariah. The career camp is named in honor of Board member/singer Mariah Carey for her dedication, support and commitment to Fresh Air youngsters. Career awareness graduates continue to receive support through the PreOccupations Club and benefit from the guidance of volunteer mentors.

History of The Fund

In 1877, the Reverend Willard Parsons, minister of a small rural parish in Sherman, Pennsylvania, asked members of his congregation to provide country vacations as volunteer host families for children from New York City tenements. This was the beginning of the tradition. By 1884, Reverend Parsons was writing about the fund for the New York Tribune, and the number of children served grew. In 2006, close to 10,000 New York City children experienced the joys of summertime in Friendly Towns and at five Fund camps in upstate New York. When the New York Herald Tribune went out of business in 1966, the New York Times took over sponsorship.

New York City Volunteers

The fund has an active group of New York City volunteers. Metropolitan area volunteers help the fund reach out to New York City parents and children, support Camping, Career Awareness and Friendly Town programs and seek in-kind donations.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Fresh Air Fund

Genetic ancestry of African-Americans reveals new insights about gene expression

Alkes Price, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Department of Epidemiology Department of Biostatistics 665 Huntington Avenue Building 2, Room 211 Boston, Massachusetts 02115. 617.432.2262. aprice@hsph.harvard.edu

The amount of proteins produced in cells—a fundamental determinant of biological outcomes collectively known as gene expression—varies in African American individuals depending on their proportion of African or European genetic ancestry. These findings, by researchers based in Boston, Philadelphia and Oxford, are published December 5 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. Gene expression is known to vary among individuals and to be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Previous studies have reported gene expression differences among human populations, but it has been suggested that this could be due to non-genetic effects.

Populations of recently mixed ancestry such as African Americans, who on average inherit about 80% African and 20% European ancestry, offer a solution to this question, since individuals vary in their proportion of European ancestry while the analysis of a single population minimizes non-genetic factors.

In this study, the researchers show that gene expression levels in African Americans vary as a function of each individual's proportion of European ancestry. The differences due to ancestry (i.e. population differences between all Africans and all Europeans) were generally small—much smaller than differences between individuals within the same population; nevertheless, the authors were able to draw a distinction between effects of genetic ancestry at the location of the expressed gene (cis) and genetic ancestry elsewhere in the genome (trans). They conclude that only about 12% of heritable variation in human gene expression is due to cis regulation.

First author Alkes Price says, "It was a surprise that these conclusions could be drawn given that the differences due to genetic ancestry are so small." However, he cautioned that the results were confined to gene expression levels in a particular type of tissue known as lymphoblastoid cell lines, and have yet to be verified in other tissue types. ###

PLEASE ADD THIS LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal (link will go live on Friday, December 5)

CITATION: Price AL, Patterson N, Hancks DC, Myers S, Reich D, et al. (2008) Effects of cis and trans Genetic Ancestry on Gene Expression in African Americans. PLoS Genet 4(12): e1000294. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000294

CONTACT: Alkes Price Assistant Professor, Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Harvard School of Public Health aprice@hsph.harvard.edu

Disclaimer

This press release refers to an upcoming article in PLoS Genetics. The release is provided by the article authors. Any opinions expressed in this release or article are the personal views of the journal staff and/or article contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLoS. PLoS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the releases and articles and your use of such information.

About PLoS Genetics

PLoS Genetics (www.plosgenetics.org) reflects the full breadth and interdisciplinary nature of genetics and genomics research by publishing outstanding original contributions in all areas of biology. All works published in PLoS Genetics are open access. Everything is immediately and freely available online throughout the world subject only to the condition that the original authorship and source are properly attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors. The Public Library of Science uses the Creative Commons Attribution License.

About the Public Library of Science

The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. For more information, visit www.plos.org.

Contact: Mary Kohut Press@plos.org 415-568-3457 Public Library of Science

Genetic variation increases HIV risk in Africans

Professor Weiss and the study of HIV/AIDS, Professor Weiss is a leading international authority on HIV and AIDS, having been responsible for some of the most important research breakthroughs in the field. His team identified CD4 as the cell surface receptor for the HIV virus, and contributed to the development of the first screening test to detect HIV in blood banks and prevent transmission of the disease through transfusions. Professor Weiss was awarded the Ernst Chain Award, in recognition of his contribution to HIV/AIDS research, in 2007. He currently leads a $25 million research consortium funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which is searching for a vaccine against HIV.

A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent, according to new research. Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years. The discovery marks the first genetic risk factor for HIV found only in people of African descent, and sheds light on the differences in genetic makeup that play a crucial role in susceptibility to HIV and AIDS. The research, published today in Cell Host & Microbe, was co-authored by Professor Robin Weiss, UCL Infection and Immunity, who worked with colleagues in the US to analyse data from a 25-year study of thousands of Americans of different ethnic backgrounds. The gene that the research focused on encodes a binding protein found on the surface of cells, called Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC).

The variation of this gene, which is common in people of African descent, means that they do not express DARC on red blood cells. DARC influences the levels of inflammatory and anti-HIV blood factors called chemokines.

Discussing the findings, Professor Weiss said: "The big message here is that something that protected against malaria in the past is now leaving the host more susceptible to HIV.

"In sub-Saharan Africa, the vast majority of people do not express DARC on their red blood cells and previous research has shown that this variation seems to have evolved to protect against a particular form of malaria. However, this protective effect actually leaves those with the variation more susceptible to HIV."

Lead author of the study, Professor Sunil K. Ahuja, from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, added: "It turns out that having this variation is a double-edged sword. The finding is another valuable piece in the puzzle of HIV-AIDS genetics."

HIV affects 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa today, an HIV burden greater than any other region of the world. Around 90 per cent of people in Africa carry the genetic variation, meaning that it may be responsible for an estimated 11 per cent of the HIV burden there. The authors observe that sexual behaviour and other social factors do not fully explain the large discrepancy in HIV prevalence in populations around the world, which is why genetic factors are a vital field of study. ###

Notes for Editors

1. Journalists seeking more information, or to interview Professor Robin Weiss, can contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk

2. The paper 'Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) Mediates Trans-infection of HIV-1 from Red Blood Cells to Target cells and Affects HIV-AIDS Susceptibility' is published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, published by Cell Press. This is not an open-access journal but copies of the paper can be obtained from Ruth Metcalfe, UCL Media Relations, using the above contact details.

3. The authors of this paper are from: South Texas Veterans Health Care System, Texas, US; The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, US; UCL; Uniformed Services University, Maryland, US; Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center, US and the San Antonio Military Medical Center.

4. In the UK, this work was supported by a grant to Professor Weiss from the Medical Research Council.

About UCL, Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence.

UCL is in the top ten world universities in the 2007 THES-QS World University Rankings, and the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2007 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Marie Stopes, Jonathan Dimbleby, Lord Woolf, Alexander Graham Bell, and members of the band Coldplay. www.ucl.ac.uk

Contact: Ruth Metcalfe r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk 020-767-99739 University College London