Stephen M. Rich, microbiology and director of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology, has led a research team who report a promising new low-cost combined therapy with a much higher chance of outwitting P. falciparum, the mosquito-borne parasite which causes the deadliest form of malaria than current modes. He and plant biochemist Pamela Weathers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), with research physician Doug Golenbock at the UMass Medical School, also in Worcester, have designed an approach for treating malaria based on a new use of Artemisia annua, a plant employed for thousands of years in Asia to treat fever.
News from the Media
Tick-Borne Illness Discovered
January 17, 2013
Stephen Rich, microbiology and director of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology, comments in a story about a new and as-yet unnamed tick-borne illness that has been discovered on Nantucket. He says ticks contain more than 250 bacteria, any one of which could cause disease.
Winter Moth Control
December 13, 2012
Joseph Elkinton of UMass Extension, talks about how scientists are trying to control the winter moth by using another insect that feeds on the moths. Winter moths are considered a menace because in areas where they exist in large numbers they defoliate trees.
Cigarettes Line Bird nests
December 5, 2012
Paige Warren of the Department of Environmental Conservation, says new findings that birds that line their nests with cigarette butts prevent pests such as mites.
Winter Moth Emergence
December 9, 2012
Joseph Elkinton of UMass Extension, discusses the emergence of winter moths in part of Massachusetts. He says scientists think the weather prompts the emergence of the insects.
Hard Cider
October 26, 2012
Duane Greene, comments in a story about a local company that makes and sells hard cider.
A Great Year for Pumpkins
October 15, 2012
Ruth V. Hazzard, UMass Extension, says this year’s pumpkin crop is turning out to be excellent and high quality.
Emerald Ash Borer: Not so Boring!
October 9, 2012
Robert Childs is interviewed for the “Connecting Point” program about the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that has been discovered in trees in the Berkshires. The borer is a destructive insect that is moving into the region from the Mid West where it was first discovered.
Ethnic Crops Rising
August 28, 2012
The Ethnic Crops Program is growing and selling dozens of crops popular among many ethnic groups to markets across the state and has added chipilín, a leafy green loved by Latinos. Frank Mangan, director of the ethnic crops initiative at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture, says farms in Methuen, Dracut, Lancaster and Amesbury shipped 2,000 pounds of chipilín in recent weeks to the Boston area, where the fresh, locally grown greens are snapped up by people hungry for familiar vegetables and produce.
The Berry Whisperer
December 1, 2013
Boston Globe Magazine story: "Carolyn DeMoranville, the second-generation director of the UMass Cranberry Station in East Wareham, has spent a lifetime studying the little red fruit.
Nutritionally, cranberries are really good for you, but in the sense of what I’ve done in my career with them, we’re looking at the nutritional requirements of the plant, what’s needed for it to grow and thrive and produce a crop. I spend most of my time here thinking about what will make the cranberry industry more sustainable. Specifically, I look at water and nutrient use and how those two interact."
