In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama presented the United States with a vision of a better future through investment in education, infrastructure, and research. The president noted that fifty years ago American innovation played a pivotal role in the nation’s history and today holds promise for addressing the many challenges the country faces. “Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success,” he said during his State of the Union address, calling for investments in biomedical research, education, information technology and clean energy technology [1].
Biomedical Research Rock Stars
June 4, 2009 | by
A new public service campaign called the Rock Stars of Science (ROCK S.O.S.) features eleven of America’s leading biomedical research scientists appearing alongside rock stars such as Joe Perry, Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, Seal and Josh Groban. The campaign is designed to increase public awareness of the researchers and their work while showcasing the need for increased science funding. Although biomedical research received additional funding earlier this year through the economic stimulus, continued investment is critical for the development of future advances. Indeed, just last year a report writing by a consortium of seven institutions warned that the flat funding of biomedical research was a threat to America’s health.
The innovative campaign to bring attention to research is the brainchild of Meryl Comer, president of the Geoffrey Beene Gives Back Alzheimer’s Initiative, a philanthropic wing of the Geoffrey Beene menswear label, which donates all its net profits to support medical and educational research and outreach. Rock Stars of Science launched with a 6-page photo spread in the June issue of GQ Magazine, the popular men’s fashion magazine.
The print ad campaign is supported by the website www.rockstarsofscience.org, which will include behind-the-sciences videos and profile the scientists, their teams and research institutions. Readers will also be able to nominate their own Rock Stars of Science and sign a declaration calling for more funding in science research.
Following the Biomedical and Healthcare Blogosphere
April 4, 2009 | by
The mission of Highlight HEALTH is to promote advances in biomedical research, to encourage health literacy and to provide reliable sources of health and medical information (more on the about page). In support of these goals, when Highlight HEALTH hosted the Holiday Edition of Grand Rounds in December 2008, I introduced subscription options for eight credible, rotating health and medicine blog carnivals.
There’s a revolution occurring on the Web: those “authoritative” articles written on traditional, static websites are being replaced with blogs, wikis and online social networks. In the sphere of health, medicine and information technology, this “real-time Web” consists of many who are professionals in the field; their posts are listed below.
In the digital age, these are the characteristics of new media: recent, relevant, reachable and reliable.
In the digital age, these are the characteristics of new media: recent, relevant, reachable and reliable.
Fast-forward to April 2009. There are now ten health and medicine blog carnivals that offer email and/or RSS subscription options. Each carnival feed post links directly to the blog hosting the carnival. You never have to search for the latest edition of any of your favorite health and medicine blog carnivals again! There’s something for everyone: the weekly best of the “medical blogosphere”, nursing, genes and genetic diseases, Web 2.0 and medicine, cancer research, neuroscience and psychology, surgical experiences, health policy, medical librarianship and palliative care.
 Grand Rounds |
Change of Shift |
| Gene Genie |
Medicine 2.0 |
| Cancer Research |
Encephalon |
| SurgeXperiences |
Health Wonk Review |
| MedLib’s Round |
Palliative Care Grand Rounds |
A Google Calendar highlighting all of these carnivals is also available. The calendar is publicly accessible, so if you have your own Google Calendar, you can conveniently follow the Health and Medicine Blog Carnival schedule right next to your own by clicking on the +GoogleCalendar icon in the lower right corner of the calendar. If you click on any event, the description links directly to the specific carnival feed. You’re just three clicks away from the latest edition of any carnival in the biomedical and healthcare blogosphere. You can also subscribe to the Health and Medicine Blog Carnival calendar using iCal or RSS.
If you’re interested in more than one carnival, an aggregated feed is available. The Health and Medicine Blog Carnival Mashup enables you to receive notification of all the carnivals by email and/or RSS.
Lastly, many people are using Twitter to complement or replace RSS. If you use the microblogging service, you can also keep up with all of the new carnival editions by following @BioMedCarnivals on Twitter.
My hope is that these subscription options increase the popularity and readership of each of the carnivals. With all these choices, it’s easier than ever to follow your favorite health and medicine blog carnival(s).
Do you know someone who isn’t reading any of the health and medicine blog carnivals? Click on the “ShareThis” button below this post and share on Facebook or email this article to a friend so that they can learn how to follow the biomedical and healthcare blogosphere.
