Category: Blog Post 4

On June 15th, 2022, we visited the pantheon as part of our class visit. this monument lies in the 5th arrondissement. It was intended to be a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve. However, once the construction was completed, the French revolution started and voting led to the church being transformed into a mausoleum, to house the bodies of distinguished French citizens, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. It was an exciting visit, despite its similarities to Pere Lachaise, the mausoleum felt very different. 

 

All the bodies buried at the Pantheon were individuals who achieved greatness publicly only after July 14, 1978, of which Marie Curie was one. Marie Curie a.k.a Maria Sklodowska came to Paris in 1891, to continue her studies in physics and mathematics and gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903. She is one of the 6 women buried in the pantheon and is known for her discoveries in physics and chemistry. She was awarded the noble prize twice when she was alive!. Her most famous discovery was in radiology, where she developed the methods for separating radium from radioactive material and polonium, (named after her birth country, Poland).

Radiology and the use of radium today are most commonly used in the field of oncology to help eliminate cancer using chemotherapies. Radiation from radium is a very common form of radiation used to remove cancer from the brain. Marie Curie is also known for the development of brachytherapy as a method to remove cancer with the collaboration of Claudius Regaud. Brachytherapy delivers high levels of radiation to brain tumors, but has a very high specificity, and thus spares any surrounding tissue to the tumor. Brachytherapy also has a low rate of necrosis of tissue in comparison to other radiation methods. The discovery of radium and polonium as well as a method for removing cancer using radiation is a huge step in oncology and neurooncology.

Apart from the use of this in removing cancer from various body parts, especially the brain, ionizing radiation is very commonly looked at for neurodegenerative diseases. In a study by Sharma et. al 2018, the team of researchers discusses the long-term effects of radiation and exposure to radiation on the prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases. They conclude that the epidemiology of biological mechanisms is yet to be discovered but they showed that slower, long-term radiation from various different sources could be a leading factor in not only cancers and birth defects but also neuro-degenerative effects related to other factors such as age.

Overall, it was a fun visit and helped me learn the histories behind the various distinguished French citizens who I would have otherwise never known!

References:

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/marie-curie/biographical/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00134/full

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/various-types-of-applicators-for-the-use-of-equipment-containing-radium-source-mus%C3%A9e-curie-coll-imprim%C3%A9s/TwFFpalBj16zBQ?hl=en

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7073344/

By Ally Grubman

This week, our class had the pleasure of visiting the infamous, Pantheon. After taking a few great group photos, the class headed into the massive, beautiful building. The huge columns and incredible architecture were surely a sight to see. When walking through the doors and into the Pantheon itself, we were all stunned by the walls, ceilings, and incredible artwork throughout the whole building. After taking it all in, we went downstairs into the crypt, cooling off a little from the Paris heatwave we’re unfortunately going through. Walking through the crypts, it was so interesting to see the differences in mausoleums and the biographies of the people within them. 

Interestingly, Marie Curie is one of the six women resting in the Pantheon. If you don’t know, Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist (born in 1867), who won two Nobel prizes in her time. Specifically, she discovered the elements polonium and radium. Her work helped lead to the development and use of radiotherapy for cancer treatment. Unfortunately, her work on radiation got the best of her and led to an early death. She developed leukemia from repetitive radiation exposure and passed away in 1934 when she was just 66. Even with her career being cut short, she was able to make immense strides in oncology treatments. Without her work and success, it is likely that cancer treatments would not be nearly as developed, or even possible, today. (Fun fact, Marie Curie’s coffin is lined with lead because her body’s still considered radioactive today)

And since then, our discoveries and technologies have only increased within the sphere of radiotherapy. It is believed that the discovery of radium has helped treat thousands of patients worldwide, only in the 80 years since it first became in use. However, these techniques have changed since the first uncovering of these elements. Mainly, radium is often no longer used in the way that Curie used it during her time. The radium and its radioactive properties are too much of a health concern and too easily mishandled. However, in certain careers and instances, radium is still successfully used safely and effectively. 

But overall, the Pantheon strongly reflects French culture and history. With people such as Marie Curie, the Pantheon has an incredible hold on the historical context of France. Each person in the crypt had a unique influence on the overall values, traditions, and society of France. Would highly recommend a trip to the Pantheon if you ever get the opportunity!

Citations:

Gasinska, A.. (2016). The contribution of women to radiobiology: Marie Curie and beyond. Reports of Practical Oncology & Radiotherapy, 21(3), 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpor.2015.11.006

Mazeron, J. J., & Gerbaulet, A. (1999). Le centenaire de la découverte du radium [The centenary of the discovery of radium]. Cancer radiotherapie : journal de la Societe francaise de radiotherapie oncologique, 3(1), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1278-3218(99)80031-6 

On Saturday, June 11^th, Cynthia, Lauren, Sam, and I took a day trip to Reims, the unofficial capital of the Champagne wine-growing region. We left first thing in the morning for the 45-minute high-speed train ride out through the countryside to make the most of our day away. We started off getting breakfast at a local café on what appeared to be the main street of the city. After, we had our first champagne tasting. Personally, I do not like to drink but was excited to take a sip of each for the experience of tasting France’s finest! After this tasting, we walked around the city and grabbed lunch before our second tasting. While walking, we saw Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims and Basilique Saint-Remi. Both beautiful. Our last stop of the day was the Pommery house where we toured the cellars and learned about how champagne is made and stored.

At our second tasting, the staff was asking us to pay close attention to the taste and flavors. We also smelt every champagne before testing. We learned that the proper way to drink champagne is to inhale through your nose while taking a small sip to get the most of the flavors. This trip was right after we reviewed the article on covid and olfaction, so it made me think about the connection between olfaction and taste.

In the article we discussed in class, we learned that covid-19 could cause anosmia, loss of sense of smell, due to damage to sustentacular cells (Bryche et al., 2020). However, studies have shown that in addition to losing the sense of smell, people also lose their ability to taste (Parma et al., 2020). While many individuals regain their ability to smell and taste after having covid, some have these abilities return in an unpleasant way, by developing parosmia. Parosmia is a type of olfactory dysfunction that causes distorted smell and taste. Patients with parosmia will describe food as tasting/smelling like sewage and other unpleasant descriptors (Walker et al., 2022). I found this disorder fascinating to learn about since damage to olfactory cells causes abnormalities in taste, illustrating that these two sensory systems are connected.

Something I hope to do in my career as a scientist, and hopefully physician, is to use a big picture approach. To understand that so many systems are connected and need to be explored together to be fully understood. I felt that I did just that in this experience.

References:

Bryche, B., St Albin, A., Murri, S., Lacôte, S., Pulido, C., Ar Gouilh, M., Lesellier, S., Servat, A., Wasniewski, M., Picard-Meyer, E., Monchatre-Leroy, E., Volmer, R., Rampin, O., Le Goffic, R., Marianneau, P., & Meunier, N. (2020). Massive transient damage of the olfactory epithelium associated with infection of sustentacular cells by SARS-CoV-2 in golden Syrian hamsters. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 89(July), 579–586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.06.032

Parma, V., Ohla, K., Veldhuizen, M. G., Niv, M. Y., Kelly, C. E., Bakke, A. J., Cooper, K. W., Bouysset, C., Pirastu, N., Dibattista, M., Kaur, R., Liuzza, M. T., Pepino, M. Y., Schöpf, V., Pereda-Loth, V., Olsson, S. B., Gerkin, R. C., Rohlfs Domínguez, P., Albayay, J., … Restrepo, D. (2020). More than smell – COVID-19 is associated with severe impairment of smell, taste, and chemesthesis. Chemical Senses, 45(7), 609–622. https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjaa041

Walker, A., Kelly, C., Pottinger, G., & Hopkins, C. (2022). Parosmia-a common consequence of covid-19. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 377, e069860. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-069860

Last Wednesday, my class and I went to the Panthéon to see some paintings and some even more important crypts. Prior to going, I truly knew nothing about this place. Honesty I thought it was going to be a tritubte to the greek gods, but oh was I wrong! Upon looking it up in the wiki, I learned that Rousseau and Voltaire were buried here, but I was surprised to see all the beautiful art and a few memorials to some notable people.

When we got there, I saw the beautiful architecture and had to take photos. Paris has once again left me awestruck by the beauty of the design. Who knew that pillars could be beautiful?! One thing that left me in shock was seeing a memorial to Aimé Césiare and Toussaint Louverture. It was so surreal seeing a memorial to THE Toussaint Louverture, especially given that he was so anti-French state/colonial rule and led the Haitian Revolution against the French, the only successful enslaved person-led revolt in history. Seeing this memorial to him was powerful sight to see. I will say, however, that seeing Césiare’s memorial had more of a bodily-shock response from me. His memorial physically gave me chills.For those of you who do not know, Aimé Césiare was one of these most influential thinkers and contributors to black studies for his work with the Negritude movement and his Discourse on Colonialism and decolonization. Seeing his memorial, took me back to the time that I took Critical Black Studies in the Fall of 2021. Taking that class was so transformative for me. It was such a paradigm shift for so much for the better. It made me question many aspects of society that I ignored or that I didn’t know that I was ignorant. So, seeing Césiare’s memorial was a cue that triggered my chills which made me think about the science of happy memories.

This then prompted me to explore more into how fond memories arise and to look deeper into this concept. One thing that I found in a Sheldon et al. (2020) paper was that memories are better remembered if that emotion is high in arousal and or high in valence. Also, cues that are high in valence (i.e. for me seeing Aimé Césiare’s name/memorial) are better driven by emotional cues (Sheldon et al., 2020). I didnt know (or at least consciously think) that there was a such a strong connection between emotion and memories. I guess that explains why we better remember traumatic memories more than we do the happy ones. Given the valence and arousal of those bad memories it makes sense we would rememebr those memories more vividly. 

But altogether, I had such a great time learning about who was buried inside the Panthéon and seeing the intricate architechure. When I get back to the states I am surely going to miss the rich history of Paris and all of its beauty. But I rest assured that I can always come back for the small cost of an arm and a leg!

References:

Sheldon, S., Williams, K., Harrington, S., & Otto, A. R. (2020). Emotional cue effects on accessing and elaborating upon autobiographical memories. Cognition, 198, 104217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104217

by Samantha Feingold

During our class visit to the Museé des Moulages, I learned about both the science and the history behind dermatology. The Museé des Moulages translates to the museum of castings and is a collection of wax models that depict the dermatological presentations of neurological diseases, including those that we have discussed in class such as syphilis (Lynn et al., 2004; Rasoldier et al., 2020). The museum had an in-depth collection demonstrating the range of skin presentations and the changing appearances throughout the four progressing stages of syphilis.

 

The story of Museé des Moulages begins with artist Jean Baretta creating models of apples in 1863. Discovered by Charles Lailler, it was suggested that Baretta use his talent to reproduce skin diseases. As a result, the first wax dermatological model was made by Baretta in 1867.

Prior to the creations of castings when photographs were not available, students depended on engravings and drawings to learn about these pathologies. Thus, it was very difficult to understand these diseases and be prepared to diagnose patients. At the Museé des Moulages, castings were made of patient skin conditions and affected body parts to aid the improvement of education and diagnosis accuracy. We were not permitted to take photographs of the castings out of respect for privacy and patient confidentiality. The castings are painted, appear incredibly realistic, and include facial and genital castings which contribute to the seriousness of privacy and respect for those patients. These unique three-dimensional models were very valuable and have curated a historical collection of de-identified patient cases. Many of the castings were quite graphic and demonstrate how far medicine has come. When these castings were made, the treatments for these disorders were nothing compared to today and those individuals’ contribution to the creation of these wax models was essential for the identification of the same diseases that can now be treated. While some of these castings were hard to look at knowing that people suffered tremendously, it is informative to see the severity of syphilis progression and many other dermatological diseases due to the inability to provide medical intervention at that time. I am grateful we had the experience to observe incredibly accurate models of these diseases that we previously were googling to understand. I am glad I now know about the history of advancing dermatology. Knowing wax molds of apples inspired this museum, I wonder if that is where the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” originated from.

Works Cited

Lynn, W. A., & Lightman, S. (2004). Syphilis and HIV: a dangerous combination. The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 4(7), 456–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(04)01061-8

Rasoldier, V., Gueudry, J., Chapuzet, C., Bodaghi, B., Muraine, M., Tubiana, R., Paris, L., Pestel-Caron, M., Caron, F., & Caumes, E. (2021). Early symptomatic neurosyphilis and ocular syphilis: A comparative study between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients. Infectious Diseases Now, 51(4), 351–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medmal.2020.10.016

 

On June 15^th, 2022, Cynthia, Sam, Alyssa, and I visited the Marie Curie Museum, located down the street from the Pantheon, where Marie and Pierre Curie are both buried. I was very excited to go to this museum and have been talking about it for the past few weeks because of the importance of Curie’s work in the field of oncology. The museum is located at the former Radium Institute, now called the Institut Curie, and featured Curie’s (decontaminated) lab, office, and garden. Curie spent the last 20 years of her life as the first director of Curie Laboratory at the Radium Institute, where she ensured her lab comprised of 25% of the women, before passing away from leukemia in 1934. I noticed Curie’s lab was smaller than most labs I have seen at Emory or during my research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which begs the question of whether things in the United States are just larger or if labs in the past were built smaller. The museum displayed a replication of the 1902 lab book entry by Marie and Pierre Curie estimating the atomic mass of Radium and outlining the various steps of their calculations. It’s insane to think that the original page is still dangerously radioactive over 100 years later.

Marie Curie was a Polish and nationalized-French physicist and chemist who won two Nobel Prizes for her work with radioactivity. She developed contact curiethérapie, known as brachytherapy in English, a technique still used today for the treatment of cancer. Brachytherapy can be used for the treatment of a variety of cancers, including prostate, cervix, breast, vagina, endometrium, and head and neck cancers and has been shown to be an effective and safe non-pharmaceutical treatment with fewer serious complications and better outcome than other treatments for breast cancer (Deng et al., 2017). Brachytherapy has also been found to treat brain tumors with high doses of radiation while sparing the healthy surrounding tissue and can be used as a primary treatment, an adjuvant treatment, or as therapy for recurrence of some malignant gliomas, low-grade astrocytomas, meningiomas, metastases, and pediatric brain tumors (Suh et al., 1999).

I find it amazing that, even after almost a century, the science Marie Curie lived (and died) for continues to help patients around the world. She truly is an inspiration to all young girls interested in science and medicine. It was a wonderful experience to step back into the past and learn about radiation, cancer research, and the life of Marie Curie.

Citations:

Deng, X., Wu, H., Gao, F., Su, Y., Li, Q., Liu, S., & Cai, J. (2017). Brachytherapy in the treatment of breast cancer. International journal of clinical oncology, 22(4), 641–650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-017-1155-5

Suh, J. H., & Barnett, G. H. (1999). Brachytherapy for brain tumor. Hematology/oncology clinics of North America, 13(3), 635–ix. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0889-8588(05)70080-0

It is crazy to think that four weeks have already passed, only leaving us one more week in Paris. With still so many places to explore, I am not ready to say goodbye yet. However, yesterday, Wednesday, June 15th, I had the opportunity to check an item off of my bucket list when our class visited the Pantheon. As I was living very close to this monument during the first three weeks of the trip, I was very excited to finally be able to go inside. The Pantheon, originally built to be used as a church and modeled after the Roman Pantheon, features very tall ceilings with paintings that date back to the nineteenth century. In the center of the main floor is Foucault’s Pendulum, which was, unfortunately, being cleaned during our visit, so we weren’t able to see its full swing. 

After exploring the ground floor, we delved into the basement to visit the Pantheon crypt. Prior to the visit, I had a few stops that I wanted to make, such as the tomb of Marie Curie as she was the first woman to be buried in the Pantheon. However, while looking around, I was surprised to find that Louis Braille had been buried there as well. He was publicly recognized by the French government due to his creation of the Braille alphabetic writing system, which greatly contributed to the blind and visually impaired communities around the world, and his remains were taken to the Pantheon in 1952. 

There are around six million blind people around the world using Braille, stressing the importance of doing more research on it. Reich, Szwed, Cohen, & Amedi 2011 explored the areas of the brain that could potentially play the role of the visual word form area (VWFA) in people with visual impairment. They recruited eight congenitally blind individuals to partake in multiple different experimental conditions: braille words, braille nonsense words, verb generation, and verb generation control. Their participant results and associated functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) were compared to data from Cohen et al., 2004 to highlight that visual word form area activation occurred almost identically in visually impaired individuals and sighted, suggesting a “specialization for reading regardless of visual experience”. It is fascinating to learn that the contributions of one man, Louis Braille, have allowed visually impaired individuals to read, even though reading is typically thought of as a unique visual experience. 

References:

 

 

Following a busy week of assignments– two papers and a small presentation later– my roommate and I were ready for the weekend! Before arriving in Paris, Solanch, Jewel, and I booked a tour of the Eiffel tower and it turned out to be the perfect adventure after a long week. During the first three weeks in Paris, Solanch and I enjoyed seeing the Eiffel tower twinkle from our apartment kitchen each night before bed. We knew we wanted to enjoy the beauty of the tower as much as possible, so we decided that we would take full advantage of our visit and spend the entire day in the area. While we have gotten the chance to study at the accent center, the nearby cafes, and even the Sainte-Geneviève library, we wanted to experience studying with the tower in the background. We decided that the view would inspire us as we worked on our assignments so we brought our computers to get ahead on some readings. 

 

As we walked toward the tower, we learned that Gustave Eiffel’s apartment could be found at the top of the tower. Apparently, the space was used to accommodate his guests and work on scientific experiments– how cool is this? As I heard this, I thought to myself: I wouldn’t mind the commute every morning! Before reaching the lines to start our ascension, we could already see the Eiffel tower in all of its glory. It towered 1083 feet above us and was even more breathtaking up close. As we got closer and closer, our tour guide pointed out the names that bordered the four sides of the tower. Apparently, the names of 72 scientists, including mathematicians and engineers, were inscribed along the four sides of the tower. I wondered if there were any neuroscientists that had made the cut. A quick google search told me that Marie-François Xavier Bichat, although not a neuroscientist by training, was an anatomist who made substantial contributions that were later used for the development of neuroscientific understanding. He is most recognized for establishing the Medical Society of Emulation and for his publications titled: Physiological Researches on Life and Death and General Anatomy Applied to Physiology and Medicine (Clara et al., 2012). Through many***  dissections of corpses, he was able to identify 21 different types of elementary tissues. All of this was done without the use of a microscope! Pretty remarkable! I love how history is so integrated and evident all throughout Paris. I can’t believe that we have a little over 1 week left of this incredible experience!

 

Clarac, F., Barbara, J.-G. ., Broussolle, E., & Poirier, J. (2012). Figures and institutions of the neurological sciences in Paris from 1800 to 1950. Introduction and Part I: Neuroanatomy. Revue Neurologique, 168(1), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurol.2011.08.013

Today (Wednesday), the class visited the Pantheon in Paris. I had no idea that such a building existed, and I was very surprised to know that a select few were buried in the crypts beneath it.

Personally, the big name for me was François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume (pen name) Voltaire. In my preparation to come to Paris, I read his book, “Candide,: which turned out to be a very readible story that I might even compare to a text such as “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. 

I wonder, however, whether any of the folks buried in the crypt would even consent to being there–it seems that these “important” people were moved posthumously. Perhaps this was a disservice.

The list of 70 figures buried in the crypt include Rosseau, Curie, and even Braille. 

I did not know very much about Marie Curie prior to the visit, and I found that there was actually a pubmed article dedicated to her:

“Marie Curie was a remarkable woman whose discoveries broke new ground in physics and chemistry and also opened the door for advances in engineering, biology, and medicine. She broke new ground for women in science: she was, for example, the first woman to receive a doctor of science degree in France, the first woman to win Nobel Prize, the first woman to lecture at the Sorbonne, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, and the first Nobel Laureate whose child also won a Nobel Prize. Her life offers insights into the changing role of women in science and academia over the past century. It also offers examples of many ways in which scientists can, and should, work to improve the educational programs and career opportunities available to those who follow in their footsteps.”

However, in response to the prompt offered by the NBB 402W rubric on the question:

“Marie Curie is one of the only women at the Pantheon. Why?”

I felt it would be more appropriate to talk about a female scientist who was not celebrated and honored due to the systemic imbalance of power she faced. In our NBB 471 class, our guest speaker, Dr. Herve Chneiweiss, made several references to Dr. James Watson. Even in the context of this discussion, there was no credit given to Rosalind Franklin who actually discovered the “informative X-ray diffraction patterns of DNA that provided vital clues for James Watson and Francis Crick’s double-stranded helical model.” 

Rather, she was overshadowed by the sexism in science, back when DNA was discovered, and today, in class when she was not a part of the conversation of genetic research. She continued her research and maintained correspondence with Watson and Crick through her study of diffraction patterns of Tobacco mosaic virus–details all swept under the rug by very apparent sexism everywhere we look. 

To answer the question of “why” the one-word answer is: sexism.

p.s. my last Parker pen, a gift from a dear high school friend, was stolen on a trip to Barcelona, and so i purchased a Caran d’Ache pen from Palais du Stylo. i would highly recommend a visit here if you are interested in a new writing utensil. also, a very fun fact is that is that

“Caran d’Ache was the pen name for Emmanuel Poiré (6 November 1858 – 25 February 1909). The pseudonym comes from Russian: карандаш, romanized: karandash meaning “pencil” in Turkic languages. While his first work glorified the Napoleonic era, he went on to create “stories without words” and as a contributor to newspapers such as the Le Figaro, he is sometimes hailed as one of the precursors of comic strips. The Swiss art products company Caran d’Ache is named after him”

this fun post-script fact brings us to a full circle ending as Voltaire was a pen name as well.

voila.

References:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15482656/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18702397/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caran_d%27Ache