User:Ajpolino

Welcome!

For the most part, I try to improve articles on microbiology and molecular biology, my two academic loves. Anything large enough to see with your eyes is probably too big for me to understand. In general, our microbiology/molecular biology articles are in a sorry state, and would require many lifetimes to bring up to snuff. If you've got the time to help but don't know where to start, let me know and we can coordinate our efforts. Similarly, if there's some way I can help with whatever you're doing, please let me know.

The unwelcome intrusion ofreal lifesometimes keeps me from my more important work here. If you need to reach me for whatever reason,dropping me an emailis a more surefire way to catch my attention. If I don't respond to your email, I'm probably briefly off the grid.

I also write a (semi-)monthly newsletter forWikiProject Medicine.You can find past issueshere,and subscribe to the newsletter (it's free!)here.

Even considering the lousy pay and poor staffing, I've found editing here to be fairly enriching. I hope you decide to stick around and help out. If you do, I hope to see youout there.Happy editing!

Articles I've been heavily involved with

Neglected tropical diseases Buruli ulcer(Dec 2020)- The joy of an open wound, without the pesky pain. Chagas disease(May 2020, atWP:FARwithSpicyunder the careful eye ofSandyGeorgia)- The cardiovascular scourge of Latin America Dracunculiasis(May 2024)Another interesting wound, though this time a meter-long worm crawls out of it Dracunculus Malaria-related things Plasmodium- Huge genus of blood-dwelling parasites Plasmodium knowlesi- Cause of malaria in SE Asia; research model forPlasmodium Plasmodium cynomolgi- Infects monkeys; research model forPlasmodium Piperaquine- Antimalarial drug Maurer's cleft- semi-mysterious structure that appears in red blood cell infected withP. falciparum Other microbes Chlamydia trachomatis- Causeschlamydia Clostridium tetani- Ubiquitous soil-dweller; makes a toxin that causes tetanus Cyclospora- Genus of weird parasites; basically misnamedEimeria Giardia lamblia- Most endearing cause of extra-stinky poo Et al. Lung cancer(May 2023, atFAR)- Deadliest cancer; tobacco's gift to us. Prostate cancer(April 2024)- Second deadliest cancer in men. Typical outcome of having a prostate. Type 1 diabetes- When your immune system kills part of your pancreas Diabetic retinopathy- Consequence of chronic high blood sugar on your retinas Academics George McClellan(1849-1913) - Anatomist. Known for anatomy text and teaching atJefferson Medical College(et al.). Earl O'Roke(1887-1958) - Parasitologist. Worked out transmission ofLeucocytozoon. Bennet M. Allen(1877-1963) - Embryologist. Worked on endocrinology in amphibians. William Trager(1910-2005) - Parasitologist. Set upculturesystems, especially forPlasmodium falciparum. William F. Harrington(1920-1992) - Biochemist. Worked on the structure and function ofcollagensandmyosins,mostly @ Johns Hopkins. Roger Unger(1924-2020) - Endocrinologist. Worked onglucagonregulation and role atUT Southwestern. Howard Rasmussen(1925-2005) - Endocrinologist. Worked oninsulinandaldosteronesecretion. David J. L. Luck(1929-1998) - Cell biologist/biochemist. Described mtDNA and one of the godfathers of flagellum research. Stanley J. Korsmeyer(1950-2005) - Cell biologist. DiscoveredBcl-2,and then BAD, BAX, BAK...