Why research universities benefit us all
Submitted by Jane Brown on Fri, 01/06/2012 - 8:53pm
I just saw that research done by Dr. Myron Cohen, an infectious disease doc at UNC-CH, was dubbed the top scientific breakthrough of 2011 by the prestigious journal, Science. Dr. Cohen and his team discovered that early treatment with antiviral drugs cuts the risk that the infected person will transmit HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This discovery may help slow the spread of this awful disease. This is a BIG deal!
For more than 20 years Dr. Cohen has been working with his colleagues here in NC as well as around the world to help people living with HIV and to figure out how to stop the epidemic.
We should be proud of Dr. Cohen but also NC for having world-class universities like Carolina and State where such path-breaking research can be done.
Next time somebody wonders why we spend taxpayer dollars on higher education, remind them of Dr. Cohen.
Great news
I'm sure the Tea Party will find some way to say this was nothing but a liberal nerd wasting government money to help teh gayz.
Thanks for posting this. Go UNC!
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
The University of Oklahoma has a similar medical research
function. It was there, after years of travail, that my wife finally met the physician who correctly diagnosed and was able to treat her very rare disease. And, fortunately for us, one of the nation's other top physicians in this field is guess where? UNC Chapel Hill.
Duke also has some excellent research facilities and people. I'm aware of leading edge work there on brain cancer.
All the folks who ridicule public funds being used for such work will be the first in line when they, or one of their's, has the same misfortune as someone else...that someone else being labeled as a bedwetting liberal who likely got their disease by being a lazy, income re-distributiing, and otherwise worthless Democrat.
Stan Bozarth