Amy Wagoner Johnson

One of the biggest challenges physicians face during pelvic exams is the collapse of the lateral vaginal walls, which obstructs their view of the cervix. Although there are ways to get around this problem, it is unclear which method is the most efficient. In a new study, doctors in training and researchers have studied a pelvic exam model to create a guide for the best tools that can be used. 

Coral reefs provide many benefits to society, including storm protection to shorelines, tourism, and supporting sport and commercial fisheries. They are also crucial for biodiversity, providing a home to 25% of marine life while occupying less than 1% of the ocean floor. However, the rapid decline of coral reefs around the world has significantly reduced those benefits.

Coral reefs have long faced problems like overfishing, global warming and pollution — but they’re also threatened by how slow they regenerate.

To reproduce, coral release sperm and eggs and form larvae, which then swim around and attach to a surface, where they begin to develop into coral polyps and grow. They face a variety of competitors, and most don’t survive. If they do survive, it takes years for the coral to be able to reproduce, and even longer for entire reefs to form.  

Interdisciplinary collaboration is a fundamental tenet of the IGB, and also central to the work of Mechanical Science and Engineering Professor Amy Wagoner Johnson, a faculty member of IGB’s Regenerative Biology & Tissue Engineering (RBTE) theme. The pursuit of new opportunities to work alongside world-class researchers will soon take her to Grenoble, France during a yearlong sabbatical.