Whether its found in nature or composed by chemists a sweetener undergoes the same evaluations, according to Corey Scott, PhD, Principal Nutritionist, Cargill. Dr. Scott explains to co-hosts Anne Chappelle, PhD, and David Faulkner, PhD, how all sweeteners must be able to replace multiple properties inherit in sugar, such as taste, nutritional content, and binding properties.

About the Guest
Corey Scott, PhD, is a Principal Nutrition Scientist with Cargill in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he leads global nutritional research on sweeteners and carbohydrates. Prior to this role, he was Global Nutrition Manager for Lipid Nutrition BV in the Netherlands, focusing on clinical research involving novel lipids for early life nutrition, weight management, and diabetes. Dr. Scott has also worked for General Mills in Golden Valley, Minnesota, as a nutrition scientist at The Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition. He currently serves as a steering team member and work package leader for Project SWEET (a five-year EU Consortium project evaluating sweeteners). He is the Chair of the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences Low- and Non-caloric Sweetener Committee, Chair of the North Carolina Agricultural and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University Technical Advisory and Finance Committee, and an industry advisor for the University and Industry Consortium/Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Sally Rockey Fellowship. Dr. Scott holds a doctorate degree in food science and nutrition from Ohio State University, a master’s degree in chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University, and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner speak with William J. Sullivan, PhD, Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Professor of Microbiology & Immunology with the Indiana University School of Medicine, about toxic parasites lying dormant in your brain and the power and importance of science communication.

About the Guest
Bill Sullivan, PhD, has been studying the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii since he was a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. David Roos at the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. He completed postdoctoral fellowships with Dr. Chuck Smith at ELANCO (a division of Eli Lilly, Co.) and Dr. Sherry Queener at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He became an Assistant Professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2003. Dr. Sullivan is now the Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Microbiology & Immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Sullivan’s lab studies cellular signaling and the regulation of gene expression in a fascinating protozoan parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma causes congenital birth defects as well as opportunistic infection in HIV/AIDS, cancer chemotherapy, and heart transplant patients. There is also emerging evidence that this parasitic infection may be linked to neurological disorders, such as schizophrenia and behavior modification. While the acute stage of toxoplasmosis can be treated, the ability of the parasite to convert into latent tissue cysts prevents eradication of the infection from the patient. Unfortunately, if immunity wanes, the patient can relapse and suffer additional episodes of life-threatening acute infection. Additionally, toxoplasma is a serious threat to some wildlife and livestock.

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As the foremost experts on the effects of chemicals, biological substances, and more, toxicologists are key contributors to health regulation and laws. Law Professor and lawyer Claudia Polsky, University of California Berkeley, discusses how science can influence environmental health law, as well as environmental justice, with co-hosts Anne Chappelle and David Faulkner and reveals legal gaps in protecting public health.

About the Guest
Claudia Polsky, JD, MAS, is a Clinical Professor of Law and the founding Director of the Environmental Law Clinic.

Before launching the Clinic, Ms. Polsky spent 18 years as a public sector and public interest environmental litigator: 14 as a Deputy Attorney General in the Environment Section of the California Department of Justice and four at Earthjustice and Public Citizen Litigation Group. She has litigated cases in trial and appellate courts, including the US Supreme Court; testified before Congress and the California legislature; and drafted and successfully defended environmental regulations.

Ms. Polsky also served as Deputy Director for Pollution Prevention and Green Technology at California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. There, she managed a program that addressed an area of ongoing professional focus: reducing exposure to toxic chemicals throughout the supply chain, from workers to consumers and communities impacted by toxic waste. The Environmental Law Clinic handles many toxics-reduction matters, ranging from pesticide exposure cases to the regulation of hazardous ingredients in consumer products. It also addresses other issues of environmental health and environmental justice, including climate justice and access to safe drinking water for all.

Ms. Polsky’s past environmental advocacy work has encompassed negotiating conservation easements for The Nature Conservancy; protecting threatened Pacific salmon populations through dam removal; obtaining an injunction to save 50 million national forest acres from logging and roadbuilding; and serving as a volunteer park ranger in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks.

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