May 30 sees this year’s Annual Meeting of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center – a chance to hear about some of the activities of the center and (more importantly) provide us with your thoughts and insights into where we should be going in the future. The meeting is free and open to anyone, [...]
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I am very pleased to announce that the University of Michigan Risk Science Center has just been joined by Tracy Swinburn as its new Managing Director. Tracy has a background as an economic analyst, and will be working closely on building up the center’s strategic partnerships with stakeholders, as well as developing and contributing directly [...]
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Shobita Parthasarathy is an Associate Professor at University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. She is also a member of the Risk Science Center and sits on our Internal Advisory Board. Dr. Parthasarathy is currently on sabbatical as a Visiting Scholar at the American Bar Foundation. Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, Technology, and the Comparative Politics of [...]
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Cross-posted from the Scientific American Incubator blog: Studying for a Masters degree in Public Health prepares you for many things. But it doesn’t necessarily give you hands-on experience of how to take complex information and translate it into something others can understand and use. Yet as an increasing array of public health issues hit the [...]
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On December 28, the US Food and Drug Administration learned that a juice company had detected very low levels of the pesticide carbendazim in some of its products – specifically orange juice concentrate – and those of its competitors. While both FDA and the US Environmental Protection Agency have stressed that the reported levels do [...]
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The World Economic Forum Global Risks Report is one of the most authoritative annual assessments of emerging issues surrounding risk currently produced. Now in its seventh edition, the 2012 report launched today draws on over 460 experts* from industry, government, academia and civil society to provide insight into 50 global risks across five categories, within [...]
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As 2011 drew to a close, controversy was brewing in the offices of some of the most prominent scientific journals in the field: both Science and Nature received manuscripts in the last quarter of the year describing research on the highly-pathogenic influenza virus A subtype H5N1. This virus is historically very highly lethal, but barely transmitted [...]
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Each year the University of Michigan Risk Science Center awards a small number of fellowships to support research students in their research over the summer. This year the standard of the applications was exceptionally high – the highest I’ve seen. It was exciting to see such a high caliber of risk-related research amongst School of [...]
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Five people died in the anthrax mailings of 2001. Since then, anyone receiving mail containing white powder, or a “suspicious package” of any kind, is automatically on high alert. At the Florida state attorney’s office in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, three employees felt ill after an envelope in the mailroom released a white powdery [...]
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In a little over a week, ten of my University of Michigan Masters of Public Health students will embark on an intensive science blogging course – and they need your help! Every week for ten weeks, each student will take a recent scientific publication or emerging area of scientific interest, and write a public blog [...]
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Much of the attention of the Risk Science Center faculty is focused, appropriately, on new and emerging technologies and their potential impacts on human health. However, as important and intriguing as these emerging issues are, it’s important to acknowledge that there are many existing hazards that we have known about for years, decades, and even [...]
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Please join us in welcoming Shara Evans to the Risk Science Center Team. Shara will generate web content, work on the blog and expand the Center’s social media presence. Shara is a first year Master’s of Public Health student in the Department of Epidemiology at UMSPH. She has a Masters in Health Policy and Demography from the [...]
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The past few years has seen an explosion of interest in silver nanoparticles. Along with a plethora of products using the particles to imbue antimicrobial properties on everything from socks to toothpaste, nanometer scale silver particles have been under intense scrutiny from researchers and policy makers concerned that they present an emerging health and environmental [...]
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One of this year’s Risk Science Symposium highlights was James Wilsdon’s keynote speech on the UK’s approach to governing novel technologies. Dr. Wilsdon is Director of the Science Policy Center at the Royal Society. The transcript of his talk is below. James Wilsdon. Governing novel technologies – a UK Perspective. 2011 Risk Symposium from UM [...]
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Videos of all the keynotes and panel discussions from the recent 2011 Risk Science Symposium are now available on-line at: http://vimeo.com/channels/2011risksymp/ This is a great resource for anyone interested in the challenges and opportunities of developing safe and sustainable technology-based solutions in an increasingly complex world.
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Why do smart people sometimes believe dumb things? It’s a question that constantly bothers risk professionals as they try to help people understand the world through rational eyes. And it bothers them even more when it turns out they themselves aren’t immune from the occasional bit of irrational thinking. On November 1, the Risk Science [...]
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In his opening remarks at this year’s Summit on the Global Agenda, World Economic Forum founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab placed the need for new models to support effective use of technology innovation firmly on the table. This is the fourth year I have participated in the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Summit – [...]
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I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Hilda McDonald will be working full time for the Risk Science Center as the Center’s Coordinator, and will be the primary point of contact for all Center activities and business. Hilda has been supporting the Center as part of her duties for over two years, and over [...]
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Pink Slime and ammonia consumption – the numbers
by Andrew Maynard on April 4, 2012
I‘ve been following the Lean Finely Textured Beef (aka Pink Slime) story with interest for a few days now, and have been struck by how tough it is to dig up hard facts on what the basis of the concerns are here – beyond an instinctive distaste over finding out what goes into today’s processed [...]
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