Dr. Shamoo of Rice U speaks on Superbugs

Dr. Yousif Shamoo, Professor of BioSciences at Rice University, visits the Westchester Campus today and speaks with students about his research in the medical field. Dr. Shamoo obtained his bachelor's from Carnegie Mellon, his doctorate from Yale, and has coauthored numerous academic articles in his areas of study. Dr. Shamoo speaks specifically on his research in molecular evolution, increase in drug resistant pathogens, and how this is affecting the medical field. Upper School students were invited to attend during our extended lunch period today.

Antimicrobial drugs, including antibiotics have greatly prevent the spread of infectious diseases over the last 70 years. They've saved countless lives, and are one of the most important advances in the medical field. However, they've also spurred evolution within pathogens- resulting in more antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pathogens. This results in diseases being harder to treat and medicines that once worked becoming ineffective. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), at least 2 million Americans are infected with resistant bacteria each year. At least 23,000 of them die as a direct result from these infections.

Dr. Shamoo also provides a Q&A session with students, engages in a recorded interview with a WAIS IB Diploma student, and shares with students more general information about the sort of classes he teaches and the experiences students in this field at Rice can engage in.



See also:

• Dr. Yousif Shamoo @ Rice: https://biosciences.rice.edu/facultydetail.aspx?riceid=662
• AMR @ the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/
• AMR @ the WHO: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs194/en/
• Origin & Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance on the NIH: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2937522/