They honestly weren't that surprised. They already knew that I'd been obsessed with my pets my whole life, so writing a book about pet death seemed pretty logical to them. Though perhaps they weren't that concerned about it because it's not like I quit my job to full-time research dead pets. While I was researching, I was also doing my MFA program, then teaching full-time middle school and high school, working as a nanny, a freelance editor/consultant, an instructor at a creative writing center, etc. I think they might have been more worried if I quit doing everything except for going to pet cemeteries!

How did the conversations with your parents go when you told them you were going to spend a decade studying dead pets?

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As a part of a global community, we should ask: how can we collectively be more proactive in preventing disease and the spread of disease? How do your daily actions and decisions, from your purchases to your lunch order, impact the larger global population?

First and foremost, funding for national and international disease prevention is critical. We live in a highly connected world and science tells us that, because of modern air travel, a pathogen is only about 36 hours from anywhere in the world right to our homes.

Moreover, the impact of an infection that is out of control may remain in its geographical location, but can impact our logistical needs worldwide. This can include food, clothes, our electronics, and other critical aspects that enable our lifestyles.

Ultimately, this means we need to think globally and act locally. To speak generally, we are underprepared for global health crises and remain reactive instead of proactive. Most people assume this only has to do with funding and monetary resources, but it is equally due flaws in our collective mindset. We must invest in basic research, new technologies, and eventually distribution of that knowledge and capability around the world—the distributive medical model.

How many times have each of you watched Morbius?

Medical interventions range from prevention (examples include: social distancing, wearing a mask, and washing your hands regularly) to treatment (examples include: antibody therapies, pharmaceuticals, and other symptoms management) phases of an infection. In general, treatment options depend on when a person first engages health care providers and their clinical status. If it is late, it can be too late. There are very few "miracle cures" for infections that have gotten out of control.

When a person feels so bad that they go to the hospital, it can often be too late or require exhaustive measures.

If disease symptoms are moderate to severe, the patient may survive, but have long-term clinical issues as a result of the acute infection (this is common with both COVID-19 and Ebola).

The long term impact on a survivor can range from mild to extremely debilitating. This is why vaccination is always preferable to treatment in a public health approach. Prevention is less costly and less risky for the individual than treatment.

Preventing infectious disease is not as complicated as you might think. Regular exercise is one of the most effective methods to staying healthy and reducing the risk of developing comorbidities. Other simple and effective methods include healthy eating and maintaining a regular sleep schedule.

If you're interested, our CEO, Ian Colrain, has done some fascinating research on human sleep physiology throughout his career.

Do you guys do projects on new bathing techniques? Sorry for joke you guys probably hear on the daily lol

At the forefront of MRIGlobal's disease response efforts is our mobile laboratories. During the 2015 outbreak, we were able to send labs outfitted with testing and diagnostic capabilities to aid in disease detection.

Building on lessons learned, our team of engineers evolved our mobile lab technology. Our Athena Mobile Lab goes beyond traditional mobile laboratory designs. Instead of using an ISO container as the basis of the design, our engineers have created a fully customizable structure that greatly increases the capability of a mobile lab. As a result, we developed a lab that improves work ergonomics, while still allowing for easy transport via trucks, boats, railcars, and airplanes.

We designed the Athena Mobile Lab to fill the need for a gold standard mobile model that allowed diagnostic assays to be closer to a collection event. Their goal is to collect the chemical, biological, biometric, and other evidence necessary to reach a diagnosis and decrease the time between collection and test results.

I spoke in a video a few years back on our mobile lab capabilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7W3Bd4T2cY

My colleague, Chris Hollars, has also spoken about our Athena Mobile Lab in more detail in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGrVqn-mETc

For more insight into our current Ebola response efforts, listen to my recent podcast with our COO, Dean Gray and Program Manager, Peter Anderson: https://www.mriglobal.org/gray-matter-podcast-conversation-with-peter-anderson-and-jay-mansheim-engineering-an-ebola-response/

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What questions SHOULD more people be asking that you feel is important for the general public to get a better understanding of Ebola?

During the 2015 outbreak in West Africa, there were limited local diagnostic resources and test results needed to be sent to laboratories in the capital. Because of the travel time, it could take up to 3 days to get a clinical diagnosis back. In this time, their condition could worsen and they could be infecting those around them.

During this time, a team of MRIGlobal researchers joined the scientific community of about 15 other countries to deploy mobile laboratories adjacent to existing treatment centers to expand the geographic reach of testing capabilities, effectively shortening the diagnostic process to just hours. The team also encouraged containment practices like isolation, contact tracing, and limiting travel.

Local government programs provided additional resources like food, water, and other supplies in response to these containment protocols.

Unfortunately, outbreaks happen nearly every day, even small groups of people impacted by a foodborne illness, influenza, or other viral disease.

The health care system, as well as a dedicated public health system with ample resources, is always working to protect us! These are caring and well-meaning people that have individual and community interests in mind.

It's difficult to estimate given that there are no current cases of Ebola Sudan in the US.

In general, the higher the concentration of people in a given area, the more likely it is that transmission occurs and becomes harder to control. The midwest is also a less frequent international travel destination. Just like we saw with COVID-19, the coasts typically experience earlier outbreaks relative to the midwest.

We are working in many parts of the world with government, NGO, and commercial organizations to distribute diagnostic assays to these areas and equip them with trained staff to identify cases early on.

We are also working on Global Health and One Health efforts to better understand threats in different parts of the world to both humans and animals.

A key aspect of infectious disease response is biosurveillance, with the goal of developing effective surveillance, prevention, and operational capabilities to detect and counter infectious disease threats.

Following the Ebola epidemic in 2014-2016, we collaborated with local human and animal health professionals to offer a series of trainings with the goal of enhancing biosurveillance and biosafety and biosecurity (BS&S) in West Africa. These trainings provided them the ideas, policies, and techniques to effectively implement BS&S efforts in the region, improving future response efforts.

In fact, the molecular diagnostics laboratory that we established in Guinea remains in operation, serving as a local public health resource and first line of effective surveillance for the community.

Have you reached Hadiyah-Nicole Green? Do you know who she is?

Everyone plays a role in viral outbreak response, whether it's a local outbreak or an international pandemic. First and foremost, your question imparts that you have an open mind and interest in understanding and helping; the core mission of the "professionals".

Caring is key! Yes, there are always ways to contribute. First is to apply basic public health principles—what I refer to as "what my mom and grandmother told me to do"—like washing your hands, staying home if you feel ill, eating well, sleeping well, and avoiding other sick individuals. Here are some strategies for a healthy fall from the CDC.

Outbreaks and pandemics encompass needs other than medical treatments, including food, water, and other resources for patients, their families, and caregivers. Donating or reallocating resources to those in need is a great way to help.

Working with politicians to make informed decisions, which can be unpopular and costly, can also make a massive impact. Staying in the know with international and local policy can make you better equipped to understand and positively contribute to relief and response efforts.

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Who’s head is that in the foreground?

The order of operations is to detect the disease in people (or animals for some diseases) as early as possible, using:

• Contact tracing—monitoring who was in contact with the patient, then monitoring the patients for fever and illness.

If things get worse, countries may:

• Ask for assistance—when the resources are not available or limited, as in remote locations or in the case of new diseases, usually through the Africa Union, WHO, and other trusted partners

The response to these requests for assistance may include:

• Deploying Mobile Laboratories for advanced diagnostic and research capabilities
• Deploying Mobile Treatment Centers to bring patient care closer to the point of outbreak
• Building Isolation Hospitals to mitigate the outbreak and prevent further spread

How close is an effective vaccine to being made? Also how cost efficient is it currently and what hurdles are there to making it more cost effective so it can be readily handed out in places where Ebola is regularly spread?

It seems like Ebola tends to spread in areas that have little money or funding for medical treatment such as this. How does that effect your ability to get treatment and help to these areas?

How effective are your treatments at preventing disease?

The on-going responses in Africa are well-coordinated within each country and have the strong backing of Africa Union CDC.

Earlier outbreaks relied on US, EU, or other countries to participate with resources including staff. Now, Africa uses its own scientists, health care resources, and experts at the regional and continent members to rapidly detect, respond, and recover from any outbreak.

These have been a strong part of the US and WHO. Global resources have been invested in developing this expertise, including work from MRIGlobal, making Africa a partner in Global Health and One Health.

Our team recently covered this topic on our blog.

In his book “Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History,” author Paul Farmer reports on the myriad of complex cultural, political, and economic factors that contribute to the conditions that allow Ebola to exist in West Africa. Though too numerous to list here, they include a lack of education, especially in poor and rural communities; Lack of infrastructure, including roads, hospitals, and clinics; Years of civil war and strife, driving professional outmigration; A lasting control-over-care legacy of colonial rule that officials use to quarantine and isolate the affected, rather than developing a medical and educational infrastructure that emphasizes a proactive approach to care; Caregiving practices, especially for the deceased, that are often the responsibility of the family – this results in the deceased spreading the virus to members of their family; The virus is difficult to study due to fear of infection, so even basic therapies aren’t fully understood.In the wake of these many harrowing, ongoing, and compounding factors, the virus itself is sometimes seen as the final blow.

We know RBCs don't posses nuclei and therefore have no DNA. So, technically speaking, is synthetic production of RBCs easier than growing other kinds of cells from stem cell differentiation due to that reason?