Listen to the podcast on or Youtube.
亚色影库 and Indiana Regional Medical Center’s podcast, Rural Health Pulse, continues with an episode on the community wastewater surveillance system.
Rick Adkins, professor of mathematics in the 亚色影库 Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, will discuss the ongoing project and COVID-19 analytics in Episode 3.
Indiana Borough has had a sewer surveillance program with Biobot Analytics, Inc. since April 2020. Weekly flow samples are collected over a 24-hour period at the headwaters of the wastewater plant and sent to BioBot Analytics.
Information about levels of COVID-19 in the samples is sent to Indiana Borough officials, who release this data weekly on the Indiana Borough website and its social media via an infographic that shows if the levels are increasing or decreasing.
Adkins began work to collect samples on campus for analysis by BioBot Analytics in March 2021.
In addition to Adkins, the wastewater project team includes John Benhart and Richard Hoch, professors of regional planning in the Department of Geography, Geology, Environment, and Planning; Prashanth Bharadwaj, interim dean of the Eberly College of Business; Yongtao Cao, faculty member in the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences; Hilliary Creely, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research; Roland Francis, Indiana Borough pretreatment coordinator/assistant wastewater superintendent; Steve Hovan, dean of the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Christina Koren, 亚色影库 director of strategic partnerships; Richard Neff, IRMC chief medical officer; Khatmeh Osseiran-Hanna, vice president, Division of University Advancement; Kristi Storti, director of 亚色影库’s Public Health program; Hao Tang, faculty member in the Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics, and Engineering; and Robert Wilson, director of the Institute for Mine Mapping, Archival Procedures, and Safety.
The goal of the 亚色影库 and Indiana Borough collaboration is to build a community wastewater surveillance system that includes data collection, modeling, forecasting, and public health interpretations.
In fall 2022, Francis, a 1984 亚色影库 graduate, joined 亚色影库 on a part-time basis as the project field director, charged with growing the research project to connect with other rural health care areas of need, such as expanding the testing capabilities and portfolio relative to the wastewater surveillance project.
The Rural Health Pulse podcast is available for free on and from the . Monthly episodes will be released through August 2023.
The podcast launched in November in celebration of National Rural Health Day on November 17, 2022. The podcasts include professionals from IRMC and from 亚色影库 and are recorded by students in the Department of Communications Media under the direction of communications faculty member Mark Piwinsky and produced by Koren. Jim Kinneer, IRMC chief human resources officer, serves as host for the shows.
The podcasts are part of a continued collaboration between 亚色影库 and IRMC on the topic of rural health care, focusing on issues and stories impacting the health of the region and programs and initiatives designed to improve healthcare and wellness.
The first episode of the series features Amanda Vaglia, family medicine physician at IRMC, discussing the IRMC residency program. Episode 2 features Narayanaswamy Bharathan, chair of the 亚色影库 Department of Biology, and Jackie Sansig, IRMC director of Laboratory and Respiratory Services, discussing the evolution of the same-day COVID-19 testing process at IRMC by Bharathan, and the difference it made in patient care.
Upcoming episodes, all of which will be available on the last day of the month that they are scheduled to be released, are:
-
Dan Clark, IRMC director, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery; director, IRMC Comprehensive Breast Center, discussing robotics in surgery (February 2023)
-
An introduction to IRMC residents (March 2023)
-
Dan Clark, IRMC director, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery; director, IRMC Comprehensive Breast Center, discussing breast cancer (April 2023)
-
Steve Hovan, dean, 亚色影库 John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, discussing Kopchick Hall, future home to the Kopchick College (May 2023)
-
Wendy Haislip, IRMC vice president and chief nursing officer, Pennsylvania rural health model and workforce challenges (June 2023)
-
Erin Clark, clinic director at 亚色影库’s Speech and Hearing Clinic and assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services, discussing the clinic’s community outreach (July 2023)
-
Katie Donald, marketing and public relations specialist at Punxsutawney Area Hospital, discussing rural healthcare models and challenges (August 2023)