V Koski-Karell, MD, PhD will discuss the role of rice in the 2010-2019 Haiti cholera epidemic and how it sparked collaborative research into the biosocial dimensions of rice importation and consumption there. Drawing on over twelve years of traveling and studying Haiti, Koski-Karell will review the significance of Haiti's first-ever cholera epidemic and use its causative pathogen, Vibrio cholerae, as a complicated symbol linking global health equity and One Health.
One way it does so is through rice. In 2017 and in partnership with a rural organization of Haitian growers, Koski-Karell assembled a team of University of Michigan faculty led by Jackie Goodrich, PhD (U-M School of Public Health) to launch an investigation into the hidden risks of rice imported into Haiti, namely from the United States. Together, rice and cholera demonstrate how One Health and global health equity complement each other and also expose their limitations as fields of both practice and theory. Our speaker will discuss their project, findings, and the many challenges they've faced along the way to bring to light a serious food safety concern with deep-rooted implications that ultimately contribute to the structural vulnerability that fueled cholera's spread. The session will be moderated by Goodrich.
This event is sponsored by the One Health Student Consortium.
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About the Speakers
V Koski-Karell, Second-year Resident, University of Washington Emergency Medicine Program
V Koski-Karell, MD, PhD grew up in Arlington, VA, and then attended Harvard College ('12) where they studied social anthropology, pre-med, and Haitian Creole. They first traveled to Haiti in 2008 and, with the outbreak of cholera in October 2010, began on a path of dedicated fieldwork, advocacy, and research in 2011. After college, they served as a research assistant to Dr. Paul Farmer at Boston-based Partners In Health, and then moved to Ann Arbor in 2014 to pursue dual degrees in medicine and sociocultural anthropology through the University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program ('23). During graduate school, they also completed a certificate in Science, Technology, and Society and fellowships at the Graham Sustainability Institute and the Institute for the Humanities. In medical school, they were inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society and AOA. Now in Seattle, they are a member of the Lake Washington Rowing Club and enjoy going on adventures with their dog Roo.
Jackie Goodrich, PhD, Research Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health
Dr. Goodrich's research interests combine toxicology, epidemiology, and epigenomics to identify environmental exposures on environmental exposures of concern to susceptible populations including pregnant women, children, and workers in many regions of the world. Goodrich's research informs environmental policy and prevention efforts aimed at protecting health and reducing environmental injustices. Dr. Goodrich is a co-leader of the DoGoodS-Pi environmental epigenetics laboratory. She is also co-leader of the Pan Omics and Data Sciences Core of the Michigan Lifestage Environmental Exposures and Disease (M-LEEaD) Center.
One Health Student Consortium
The One Health Student Consortium (OHSC) is an interdisciplinary student-run organization at the University of Michigan that unites graduate students from the School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the School for Environment and Sustainability. We embrace a One Health approach to health issues by focusing on the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health. By fostering collaboration between disciplines, we aim to engage diverse perspectives to address some of the most pressing emerging health challenges, such as outbreaks, antibiotic resistance, zoonotic diseases, and the effects of climate change on health. Fun fact: The founders of this organization met through CGHE’s 2023 Graduate Student Development Grant Program!