Shrimp, seaweed and diabetic bandages? Research shows it’s a match
Huntsville Times – May 17
Somewhere, it seems, there should be some humor to be had. What do you get when you combine shrimp, seaweed and a bandage? If you’re Dr. Whitney Hough, it’s a combination that will help diabetics overcome slow-healing sores – known as diabetic ulcers. It’s not a joke in need of a giddy punch line. Hough, a 28-year-old Albertville native, is a research engineer at a start-up company called 525 Solutions working at the University of Alabama. The company is working to develop a bandage that would help heal diabetic ulcers and the key ingredients are seaweed and a part of a shrimp shell known as chitin. The bandage would be similar to gauze. “This kind of bandage is going to be a moist dressing,” said Hough, who holds three chemistry degrees from UA. “It’s going to be something that might be already pre-wet or be a little less dry. It’s going to be moist. You want something that’s kind of like the skin that can allow the cells to regrow and has vitamins and things like that.”
UA student takes part in Cannes Film Festival
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 16
Hollywood’s biggest directors and brightest stars are in France for the world-famous Cannes Film Festival, and a University of Alabama student is also there shining the spotlight on the Capstone. Alex Beatty is a film-maker and student at the university. His movie, “Here and Now” won “best drama” at the Campus Moviefest, a national competition held at colleges around the U.S. But after that honor, he received another from CMF: an invitation to show “Here and Now” at Cannes. Beatty’s film was selected from thousands of entries and one of only 30 to be invited to Cannes.
Paige Miller with UA’s Women’s Resource Center discusses domestic violence
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 16
A relationship of a domestic violence victim to their abuser usually started off in a very good place. Most relationships don’t start off with violence immediately; they usually start off with some control methods, but that might escalate into the things we typically identify as domestic violence…Paige Miller with the University of Alabama’s Women’s Resource Center says sometimes the victim thinks the pros of staying with an abuser outweigh the cons. “You can think of it sort of like a scale…if you have children, if you don’t have any financial means then you may think ok, I’m in an abusive relationship but I do have a roof over my children’s head. If I moved out I may not be able to provide for my children so I can put up with the abuse as long as my children have a home,” Miller said.