Tackling Society’s Toughest Issues

Responding to the fentanyl crisis, a pair of BGSU forensic researchers made a discovery that significantly reduces the danger of exposure. Dr. Travis Worst of BGSU’s Center for the Future of Forensic Science and Department of Chemistry, and Noah Froelich, a junior from Sylvania who came to BGSU for its new Forensic Science program, discovered that a popular laundry detergent would in most cases remove all traces of fentanyl. The benefit of this discovery is literally life-saving, especially for first-responders and hospital staff who are often exposed to raw fentanyl, which is 100 times more toxic than morphine and can be deadly.

Central State University junior Daniel Lee, an environmental engineering and water resources management major from Los Angeles, has travelled halfway around the world to test a proactive idea that could prevent Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), which are threatening the world’s potable water supply. It’s a local issue, too, as nutrient runoff from fertilization of crops is a primary cause of algal blooms in Lake Erie. Daniel is testing his idea at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. He is the first Central State student to study abroad as part of a partnership between at the University of Nicosia as a result of a partnership between the University’s Environmental Engineering Department and CSU’s International Center for Water Resources Management.

NEOMED graduate Holly Benjamin (M.D., ’94) is a national leader in the growing effort to address an increasingly prevalent public health problem: head injuries incurred in high-impact sports activities. Holly says a mentoring experience at NEOMED played a major role in charting her course in sports medicine, which ultimately steered her to the University of Chicago where she started and today directs the school’s sports medicine program. Holly also is lead investigator on a 30-institution national research study on concussion, which is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and the NCAA. The goal is to enhance the safety of student athletes and service members.