Laboratory Work to Wilderness

Trinity College Vernon D. Roosa Professor of Applied Science Susan A. Masino’s accolades run long. She is the co-author of three books, 在科学期刊上发表了50多篇神经科学文章, a dedicated teacher and tireless researcher, an advocate for applied science, and a crusader for forests and the environment. She has been featured on “The Academic Minute” for work on brains and forests. A recent publication was quoted in a piece in The New Yorker.

9月17日，学院庆祝马西诺被任命为弗农博士. Roosa Professor of Applied Science with her inaugural lecture. 在讲座中，马西诺将她所有的工作都与大脑健康联系起来. 在她的讨论中，主要是马西诺坚持应用科学应该以一种“无畏的善良”的方式来追求.” To do so, she asks, “How can science make ourselves better, make our lives better, and make our planet better?”

From the molecular level, to vast expanses of natural space, 马西诺的方法代表了拥抱文科如何影响我们的环境和我们的身体. In discussing her life’s work, 马西诺将科学机遇和障碍的故事编织在一起, reflections on Henry David Thoreau, and consideration of Connecticut’s renewable energy policy. 她提出了两个主要结论:“健康的大脑代谢对身体健康至关重要,” and “We need nature preserves.毫无疑问，这些结论跨越了生物学和神经科学的广泛范围. She is quick to acknowledge this, saying frankly, “I’m usually talking about either brains or forests.”

Metabolism and Brain Health

In most of her work Masino studies the ketogenic diet, a metabolic therapy that is based on changing the ratios of fat, carbohydrate, and protein. 长期以来，她一直关注生酮饮食和腺苷之间的关系, a molecule known to be a neuromodulator, a neuroprotector, and major factor in behavioral and physiological processes.

马西诺清楚地表明，我们对所吃食物产生的戏剧性生理反应不应该让我们感到惊讶. 近100年来，生酮饮食已被证明对癫痫等严重疾病有积极影响. “Our brains are very adaptable and dynamic, but they require a lot of energy to keep going,” she said. Healthy metabolism, Masino explains, 对预防甚至帮助逆转疾病至关重要:“这就像银行里的钱, our brain’s reserve fund to delay or even prevent pathology.”

Masino shared that interest and research in metabolic therapy is growing, 但由于一些系统的限制，它一直没有得到充分的利用和研究:医学院课程中缺乏信息, lack of financial incentives as compared to drug therapies, 对患者和家属缺乏一致和适当的饮食支持, and a bias toward new innovative ideas and against diet-based treatment. Her interest in the ketogenic diet, its mechanisms, 它对神经和生理健康的影响是由于代谢疗法在帮助解决许多常见疾病方面的前景.

Preserving Natural Resources for Public Health

马西诺倡导对公共卫生和大脑健康采取开放的态度，这是她在神经科学和森林保护方面看似不同的兴趣联系在一起的原因. In many ways, conservation was a natural progression for Masino’s work. “我用与神经科学相同的原则来研究自然世界:第一，不要伤害. Focus on prevention. And finally, sometimes things take time.“由于缺乏预防和治疗许多神经系统疾病的良好工具这一现实, Masino supports having natural forest ecosystems available for public use to offer numerous low-cost benefits for a community and personal health; besides immediate human benefits, 它们是防止物种灭绝的最佳途径，也是未来新药的丰富分子来源.

马西诺和她在科学界的同事将森林和绿地的生理和心理益处归因于森林和绿地. 例如，森林浴已被证明能显著降低血压. 在自然环境中运动可以提高创造力，即使对于那些坐着体验自然的行动不便的人来说也是如此. 马西诺还解释说，自然环境与良好的心理健康有积极的联系. 即使在沃尔特里德国家军事医疗中心这样的传统医院，自然疗法也已经扎根, where they have constructed The Green Road, 一条宁静溪流旁的林地花园，为克服创伤后应激障碍的军人提供服务, traumatic brain injuries, and other challenges.

马西诺对保护森林充满热情，原因有很多，他敦促“森林需要跨学科的科学”, now. 林业作为一种职业可以帮助我们以特定的方式管理森林并提供资源, 但最近的科学表明，基于自然的解决方案为我们解决气候危机和保护本地物种提供了最大的希望.最近，她与一位气候科学家和一位生态学家合作，研究植树造林的尚未实现的好处——保护和种植一些现有的森林，使其成为完整的生态系统，以最大限度地封存碳，实现生态和结构的多样性. “我们必须小心对待自然世界，确保我们不会让它超负荷运转, piece by piece, with good intentions. 森林有益于大脑健康，是保护我们自然遗产的一种方式, an oasis of quiet reflection, and the place where natural selection and evolution is still taking place.听马西诺与新英格兰新闻合作组织谈论造林 here.

Proteins to Proforestation

马西诺的研究范围从地球上出现生命之前就存在的微小分子对大脑的影响，到我们面临当前全球危机时保护地球森林的巨大任务. In each of these, the interdisciplinary, 她所采取的合作方式体现了文科教育的力量. 她认为有三件事促使她选择了这份充满活力的工作:她自己的本科院校提供的经济资助, Tufts University; the liberal arts as a place of creative and interdisciplinary exploration; and tenure as providing freedom to take on bold endeavors. 她通过让学生成为她的研究伙伴，与他们分享她的事业成功, working together in her lab, and even co-authoring papers together. 她也参与了当地社区的活动，支持Trinfo的社区花园.Café. Ultimately, Masino tries to embody Trinity’s mission statement, “Engage. Connect. Transform,挑战她的学生和她的社区从内部批判性地思考他们的健康, out.

Vernon D. Roosa, H’67, of West Hartford, Connecticut, established the Vernon D. Roosa Professor of Applied Science Chair in 1976.

 

Watch Masino’s full lecture here.

For more details on Masino’s neuroscience research, click here.

To read her published neuroscience research, click here.

Learn more about the ketogenic diet here.

Learn more about proforestation here or read the original paper.

To support natural forests and proforestation in New England, visit:

Old-Growth Forest Network

Northeast Wilderness Trust

CT Land Conservation Coalition, Forever Wild Model Easement

Written by Tess Dudek-Rolon