President Jason DeKeuster called the 501 Rotary Club of Saint Paul to order.
President Jason thanked the meeting support crew of Melissa Musliner, Beth Naughton, Dave Dominick, Matt Magers and Todd Nicholson.
Beth Naughton shared an inspirational moment around medical research and ended with the 4 Way Test.
Dr. Jim Hart introduced our speakers which were two medical research/scientists of the U of M. Dr. Jovany Betancourt presented on Cryptococcus neoformans, an opportunistic fungal pathogen that is the second leading cause of infectious disease death in patients with HIV/AIDS globally. His PhD research on this pathogen involved investigating the immunological characteristics that effectuate control of the infection to the lungs and prevents disseminated disease. By presenting his work at Rotary, his hope is to bridge the gap between medical researchers and the general public to foster trust and a love for curiosity. Our second researcher, Geoff Hart, PhD presented malaria research and discussed the history of malaria, what is malaria and various vaccines that are being tested in Africa.
Both presenters did a great job sharing their stories and Rotarians provided some great questions at the end of their presentations.
Past President Todd Nicholson did a great job collecting happy dollars from many happy Rotarians.
President Jason thanked everyone for attending and adjourned the meeting.
As the science advances, Rotary members join the quest to find malaria vaccines. For more on this topic from the April issue of Rotary Magazine read here
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