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Artist John Scarola’s latest masterpiece heads to Main Street

John Scarola, above, installed the sculpture on the front lawn of the museum over three days in August, after laying out the design at his studio. It has since been painted a sea blue. Photo courtesy of The Whaling Museum

Visitors to the Whaling Museum in Cold Spring Harbor in August were greeted with a new sculpture, courtesy of local artist John Scarola. Titled “Breaching Whale,” the project was started in March and received its final coat of paint this week, just in time for an official dedication ceremony this weekend.

It all began with a thought … “Two Schools of Thought,’ actually.

Scarola has been creating with wood for decades, but when an opportunity came in 2009 to create a public art piece for The Suffolk Center on the Holocaust, Diversity and Human Understanding’s exhibit, Embracing Our Differences at The Long Island Museum, he jumped at the chance.  

“I heard about the Embracing Our Differences exhibit and was interested in the assignment of creating a visual representation of equality. The idea for ‘Two Schools of Thought’ actually came from an episode of ‘Star Trek’ combined with midcentury wall decor in the form of wire fish,” explained Scarola. The piece went on to earn Best in Show. 

When Embracing our Differences ended, “Two Schools of Thought” moved to its current location in Cold Spring Harbor’s Billy Joel Park, appropriately overlooking the harbor. Fast forward to 2017 and another opportunity came along, this time for an NYSCA Decentralization Grant, administered by the Huntington Arts Council. 

Marc Courtade, Huntington Arts Council’s executive director, explained the process. “Huntington Arts Council is proud to administer the DEC grants for Nassau and Suffolk counties, helping to foster the arts in our communities. Only the projects with the highest artistic merit and community service receive funding. The grants not only validate the artistic merit for the recipients, but allow them to further explore their creative visions and enrich the cultural landscape of the Long Island community. The panel [thought] John’s project was innovative in the use of materials and that the scale would be attractive to the community.”

So how did the sculpture end up at The Whaling Museum? “I felt the museum was an obvious choice for my sculpture because I am passionate about environmental issues. The museum provides great programs in that direction. My goal is for the sculpture to provide visual impact to get passers-by to stop in and see all that the museum has to offer,” said Scarola. 

After fine-tuning the plans for the 15-foot-tall sculpture, the artist began the installation at The Whaling Museum in August. Having grown up in the area and on the waters of the North Shore, Scarola is happy to have two of his sculptures book-ending the town of Cold Spring Harbor. 

“Great public art fosters a pride of place and enhances a community’s identity. John’s sculpture indeed accomplishes that as this mammoth whale celebrates our Island’s deep ties with the sea,” said Whaling Museum Executive Director Nomi Dayan. “We are grateful to John and the Huntington Arts Council for enriching our space with this new focal point, a wonderful reflection of the exciting things going on in our museum building.”

“Breaching Whale” was officially dedicated to The Whaling Museum during its annual SeaFaire & Festival on Saturday, Sept. 29. Scarola was hand for the ceremony and set up his own “workshop” space offering demos of some simple wood-working techniques. He, along with other crafters, offered items for sale at this family-friendly event. The museum’s new exhibit, Heroines at the Helm, also officially opened on Sept. 29 with interactive exhibits for visitors of all ages.

The Whaling Museum & Education Center is located at 301 Main St., Cold Spring Harbor and specializes in the culture and history of local maritime heritage as illustrated by the Cold Spring Harbor whaling industry of the 1850s. Learn more by calling 631-367-3418 or by visiting www.cshwhalingmuseum.org.

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By Fr. Francis Pizzarelli

Father Frank Pizzarelli

Another school year has begun. In the more than three decades that I have had the privilege of teaching college and graduate students, I have never had a class that I did not love and learn from. I continue to be amazed at their openness and enthusiasm about life.

Their love for others, their concern for the environment and their desire to leave the planet better than how they found it continues to inspire me to do my small part at making the world a better place.

Every fall semester I teach an honors sociology class at Suffolk County Community College in Selden, one of our best-kept secrets in higher education. Usually by my second class, I ask my students how many are registered to vote, and then take a count on how many are not registered to vote. It is always a mix on who is and who is not registered.

After the question about voter registration, I ask how many intend to vote. This semester I was shocked at how many indicated that they had no intention or desire to vote. The conversation that erupted after that statement was deeply troubling. Most of my students feel that their vote is meaningless and that their voice does not matter at all. They believe that our country is led by special interests and not by those elected to represent the people.

Even more disturbing was my question about the issues. What are they? Who do they affect? Some could articulate some of the national issues like gun safety and a broken immigration system. Very few could identify or articulate the local issues like health care, high taxes and affordable housing to name a few. 

What was really troubling is that this group of students who are among the brightest of the bright who may go on to Harvard or Yale, have no foundation on the core values of our nation and how it works.

We in education need to revisit this issue and reassess how we are preparing the next generation of American leaders. What are we doing in our junior high and in our high schools civics classes? Are we teaching our students to be critical thinkers and analytical writers? Are we discussing the important social issues of our times and helping them to understand what it means to be sociologically mindful?

They are the next generation of leaders that need to salvage our democracy and protect human rights for all. We need to work harder to prepare the next generation to become our future leaders. Our democracy demands it and our country desperately needs them.

Fr. Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

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Recent research focuses on modest lifestyle changes

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

Parkinson’s disease has burst into the public consciousness in recent years. It is a neurodegenerative (the breakdown of brain neurons) disease with the resultant effect of a movement disorder. 

Most notably, patients with the disease suffer from a collection of symptoms known by the mnemonic TRAP: tremors while resting, rigidity, akinesia/bradykinesia (inability/difficulty to move or slow movements) and postural instability or balance issues. It can also result in a masked face, one that has become expressionless, and potentially dementia, depending on the subtype. There are several different subtypes; the diffuse/malignant phenotype has the highest propensity toward cognitive decline (1).

The part of the brain most affected is the basal ganglia, and the prime culprit is dopamine deficiency that occurs in this brain region (2). Why not add back dopamine? Actually, this is the mainstay of medical treatment, but eventually the neurons themselves break down, and the medication becomes less effective.

Risk factors may include head trauma, reduced vitamin D, milk intake, well water, being overweight, high levels of dietary iron and migraine with aura in middle age.

Is there hope? Yes, in the form of medications and deep brain stimulatory surgery, but also with lifestyle modifications. Lifestyle factors include iron, vitamin D and CoQ10. The research, unfortunately, is not conclusive, though it is intriguing.

Let’s look at the research.

The role of iron

This heavy metal is potentially harmful for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis and, yes, Parkinson’s disease. The problem is that this heavy metal can cause oxidative damage.

In a small, yet well-designed, randomized controlled trial (RCT), researchers used a chelator to remove iron from the substantia nigra, a specific part of the brain where iron breakdown may be dysfunctional. An iron chelator is a drug that removes the iron. Here, deferiprone (DFP) was used at a modest dose of 30 mg/kg/d (3). This drug was mostly well tolerated.

The chelator reduced the risk of disease progression significantly on the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). 

Participants who were treated sooner had lower levels of iron compared to a group that used the chelator six months later. A specialized MRI was used to measure levels of iron in the brain. This trial was 12 months in duration.

The iron chelator does not affect, nor should it affect, systemic levels of iron, only those in the brain specifically focused on the substantia nigra region. The chelator may work by preventing degradation of the dopamine-containing neurons. It also may be recommended to consume foods that contain less iron.

CoQ10

When we typically think of using CoQ10, a coenzyme found in over-the-counter supplements, it is to compensate for depletion from statin drugs or due to heart failure. Doses range from 100 to 300 mg. However, there is evidence that CoQ10 may be beneficial in Parkinson’s at much higher doses. 

In an RCT, results showed that those given 1,200 mg of CoQ10 daily reduced the progression of the disease significantly based on UPDRS changes, compared to the placebo group (4). Other doses of 300 and 600 mg showed trends toward benefit but were not significant. This was a 16-month trial in a small population of 80 patients. Though the results for other CoQ10 studies have been mixed, these results are encouraging. Plus, CoQ10 was well tolerated at even the highest dose. Thus, there may be no downside to trying CoQ10 in those with Parkinson’s disease.

Vitamin D: Good or bad?

In a prospective (forward-looking) study, results show that vitamin D levels measured in the highest quartile reduced the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 65 percent, compared to the lowest quartile (5). This is quite impressive, especially since the highest quartile patients had vitamin D levels that were what we would qualify as insufficient, with blood levels of 20 ng/ml, while those in the lowest quartile had deficient blood levels of 10 ng/ml or less. There were over 3,000 patients involved in this study with an age range of 50 to 79.

When we think of vitamin D, we wonder whether it is the chicken or the egg. Let me explain. Many times we are deficient in vitamin D and have a disease, but replacing the vitamin does nothing to help the disease. Well, in this case it does. It turns out that vitamin D may play dual roles of both reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease and slowing its progression.

In an RCT, results showed that 1,200 IU of vitamin D taken daily may have reduced the progression of Parkinson’s disease significantly on the UPDRS compared to a placebo over a 12-month duration (6). Also, this amount of vitamin D increased the blood levels by two times from 22.5 to 41.7 ng/ml. There were 121 patients involved in this study with a mean age of 72.

So, what have we learned? Though medication with dopamine agonists is the gold standard for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, lifestyle modifications can have a significant impact on both prevention and treatment of this disease. Each lifestyle change in isolation may have modest effects, but cumulatively they might pack quite a wallop. The most exciting part is that lifestyle modifications have the potential to slow the progression of the disease and thus have a protective effect. Iron chelators specific to the brain may also be very important in disease modification. This also brings vitamin D back into the fold as a potential disease modifier.

References:

(1) JAMA Neurol. 2015;72:863-873. (2) uptodate.com. (3) Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014;10;21(2):195-210. (4) Arch Neurol. 2002;59(10):1541-1550. (5) Arch Neurol. 2010;67(7):808-811. (6) Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;97(5):1004-1013.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

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By Kyle Barr

Us youngins can still remember when the first “Harry Potter” movie jumped so gracefully from book to the big screen. Those novels, written by J.K Rowling, were already a sensation before the whole thing exploded in popularity with a near decade of new movies.

 

Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro and Jack Black in a scene from the film.

It’s not strange then that Hollywood has since been pushing out more and more films based off young adult literature, from “The Hunger Games,” to “Maze Runner,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” and on and on. It seems we’re at the point that Hollywood is looking back in time to “The House with a Clock in its Walls,” a book by John Bellairs written in 1973. This book is a precursor to all the Harry Potters and Hunger Games that line kids’ bookcases to this day. It must have seemed a cinch to bring it to theaters.

Sad to say it doesn’t work, and not so much because the material is rotten but because the tropes have become stale.

Our movie opens with young Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) taking the Greyhound bus to a new town after his mother and father have died in a car accident. He goes to live with his uncle Jonathan Barnavelt (Jack Black), an eccentric and near-recluse who lives in a house that contains any number of secrets. The elder Barnavelt spends most of his time with fellow eccentric Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett) who quips regularly with Jonathan, though barely concealing a deep friendship.

Of course, not all is as it seems, and Lewis quickly learns that both Jonathan and Zimmerman are Warlock and Witch. Though reluctant, Jonathan agrees to teach young Lewis magic, all the while a clock ticks constantly behind the house’s walls, counting down to something, and both Jonathan and Zimmerman know it can’t be anything good.

Owen Vaccaro in a scene from the film.

Vaccaro does a fine, if standard job as the young kid trying to fit in to the conformities of a new town. Young actors have always had the hardest job, and its rare you’ll find a real exceptional performance, (If you’re curious for one, watch Hailee Steinfeld performance as Mattie Ross in the 2010 remake of “True Grit”.) The big problem is he and other leading kids such as Sunny Suljic, playing the young, athletic Tarby Corrigan, don’t have a good script to work from. Suljic also gets a raw deal as his character flips so suddenly from nice guy to bully right in the middle of the second act. It’s both jarring and confusing.

Black doesn’t seem to be taking the job too seriously either. He can be a fun actor, and he has done some fun jobs in kids flicks before, (just check out 2015’s “Goosebumps.”) It’s a mild performance at best without even Black’s usual blend of expressional and physical comedy.

Jack Black in a scene from the movie.

The jokes are so incredibly flat, and it doesn’t help they keep getting repeated. There is one particular joke about a hedge shaped like a lion, *ahem* expelling rotten leaves and twigs from its rear. Yeah, its crass, but it’s also repeated another three times during the runtime, and another time after the credits are rolling. 

Director Eli Roth is known mostly for his shock horror films like the “Hostel” movies. I think people were more curious than they were interested in seeing what chops Roth might have had for children’s movies. Sure, there are a few creepy scenes, such as with a number of puppets and jack-o-lanterns, but those scenes are marred with some really horrible CG. They’re made all the more apparent because set design, especially of the house, was quite good. The whole place had an off-kilter but intriguing vibe, from the stained-glass window that can change shape to the massive number of clocks that Jonathan uses to drown out the sound of the other clock hidden in the walls. 

Cate Blanchett in a scene from the film.

Blanchett seems to be the only one really trying, and it’s sad, borderline painful, to see her really excel in the role of the straight-backed aging spinster maintaining that edge of deviousness. I would honestly rather see her in the role of Mary Poppins in the upcoming sequel to that beloved Disney musical, but that’s really for a different’ review.

Have we exhausted the young adult fiction gold rush? No, we haven’t, as long as people continue to try. Even as one generation grows out of the right age for these types of stories, it’s a human inevitability that another will grow to take their place. 

Honestly, if you go rewatch the first “Harry Potter,” you realize most of the acting was subpar, and the plot, even when it was taken directly from the book, was really contrived. But that movie remains fondly remembered because it was new, different, and it captured the imagination of a young audience with sweeping shots of a huge castle, of a dining room filled with floating candles and a promise of a much wider world to explore. “The House with a Clock in its Walls,” is missing the wonder, and keeping the cliché.

Rated PG, running time is 1 hour 45 min.

Photos courtesy of Amblin Entertainment

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Many businesses in the Village of Port Jefferson and Port Jefferson Station will be ‘dressed in pink’ throughout the month of October.

Pink pumpkins, chocolate nights and yoga classes will be part of this year’s Paint Port Pink, Mather Hospital’s month-long October breast cancer awareness community outreach in Port Jefferson and Port Jefferson Station. The event was created in 2015 to raise awareness about the disease, share information and education and foster solidarity in the community.

Employees at Mather Hospital will celebrate Wear Pink Day on Oct. 9.

New this year are Pink Your Pumpkin and Pink Your Windows contests and chocolate-making classes. It Takes a Village Wellness will offer yoga classes with a portion of the registration fees going to the Fortunato Breast Health Center’s Fund for Uninsured and Underinsured. 

Paint Port Pink begins on Oct. 1 with Turn Your Pink Lights On!, when local merchants and residents will be asked to light up Port Jefferson and Port Jefferson Station. On Wear Pink Day, Oct. 9, Mather employees and community residents will be encouraged to dress in pink and to post their photos on Facebook and Instagram using #paintportpink. 

Local residents and merchants can Pink Their Pumpkins and Pink Their Windows in contests designed to raise awareness about breast cancer. Month-long promotions by local businesses will raise funds for the Fund for Uninsured and Underinsured. Mather has teamed up with about 120 local community partners — businesses and professional offices — to help spread the word about the importance of breast health.

Mammograms can help save lives

The American Cancer Society reports that the chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer in her life is about one in eight. That is why increased awareness, education and early detection are important parts of breast health care.

Fortunato Breast Health Center co-medical directors Dr. Michele Price and Dr. Joseph Carrucciu.

A mammogram can reveal a tumor as much as two years before you or your health care professional can feel it. Following the American College of Radiology guidelines, the Fortunato Breast Health Center recommends that you get annual mammography screening starting at age 40. In some higher risk situations, earlier mammography screening or additional breast imaging studies, such as ultrasound, may be recommended. To make an appointment, call 631-476-2771, ext. 1.

If you are uninsured or underinsured, you may be eligible for no cost or discounted screenings through the center’s Fund for Uninsured and Underinsured. If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and need financial assistance, contact Pink Aid at www.pinkaid.org.

Women receiving their annual mammograms will now have even more accurate screenings thanks to two new state-of-the-art 3-D mammography units at the Fortunato Breast Health Center. Advances in imaging technology deliver highly detailed images that enhance a radiologist’s ability to provide accurate diagnoses. Improvements in ergonomic design allow for improved patient comfort and relaxation. The units also protect patients by delivering the lowest radiation dose of all FDA approved 3-D mammography systems.

“The mammographic images are very clear and detailed, which helps us to identify abnormalities at the smallest possible size,” says Dr. Michelle Price, co-medical director of the breast center. 

Above, one of the new 3-D mamography units at Mather Hospital

The new devices allow for improved detection rates and diagnostic accuracy over older mammography technology through the addition of tomosynthesis, also known as three-dimensional (3-D) mammography. This allows radiologists to see more than what is shown on a standard digital mammogram. “A traditional mammogram offers a top-down picture from compression of the breast tissue. With tomosynthesis, the ‘3-D’ portion of the exam, we get thin cross-sectional images so we can see what it looks like at different angles — in that respect, it is almost like a CAT scan,” said Price.

Having your mammogram done by the same center year after year allows your doctor to compare prior images and look for subtle changes or abnormalities. This can allow for early detection of breast cancer, which in turn can lead to life-saving treatment. “Being able to look back at a history of breast images and compare with prior films is critical for being able to interpret studies correctly. That’s a major advantage of coming to a place where you have established your medical records,” said Price. “It improves the accuracy of the reading.” 

Special community events

Paint Port Pink will offer several events throughout the month of October hosted by Mather’s community partners. Register for events at www.paintportpink.org.

Monday, Oct. 1: Turn Your Pink Lights On!

Thursday, Oct. 4, 6 to 8 p.m.: Chocolate Making Class, Chocolate Works, Stony Brook. Join them for some sweet fun molding and decorating your own chocolate creations! Registration is required.

Tuesday, Oct. 9, Noon: Wear Pink Day, Mather Hospital, Port Jefferson. Get dressed up in your best pink outfit, take a photo and post using #paintportpink

Wednesday, Oct. 10: Pink Sale, Mather Hospital, Port Jefferson. Come and find some pink treasures at the Mather Hospital Thrift and Gift Shop lobby sale. 

Saturday, Oct. 14, Noon & 1 p.m.: Community Reiki Circle, It Takes a Village Wellness, Port Jefferson with two chances to participate in and learn about the power of reiki. Registration is required.

Friday, Oct. 19, 6 to 7 p.m.: Meditation Session, It Takes a Village Wellness, Port Jefferson. Attend a meditation session to enhance your health and tune in to mindfulness. Registration is required. 

Friday, Oct. 19, 7 to 9 p.m.: Chocolate Making Class, Chocolate Works, Stony Brook. Join them for some sweet fun molding and decorating your own chocolate creations! Registration is required. 

Monday, Oct. 22, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Yoga for Health class, Mather Hospital, Port Jefferson offered through It Takes a Village Wellness in Mather Hospital’s conference room B. Registration is required.

Friday, Oct. 26, 12 to 2 p.m.: Wellness Luncheon, Nantucket’s, Port Jefferson. Hosted by It Takes a Village Wellness, attend their “whole health” wellness luncheon and learn about staying healthy naturally. Registration is required. 

Saturday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m to 1:30 p.m.: HealthyU, Mather Hospital, Port Jefferson, a seminar series and health fair focused on physical, emotional and financial well-being. Registration is required. Call 631-686-7879.

Wednesday, Oct. 31: Winners of the Pink Your Pumpkin and Pink Your Window contests will be announced. 

* Proceeds from all events benefit the Fortunato Breast Health Center Fund for Uninsured and Underinsured.

Month-Long Promotions

Chick-fil-A, Port Jefferson Station: $1 from all milk shake sales during the month of October will benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

LI Pour House, Port Jefferson Station: Hosting Wine Down Wednesdays. Every Wednesday during the month of October a glass of wine will be $4 with 10 percent of your purchase benefiting the Fund for Uninsured.

East Main & Main, Port Jefferson: $1 from all pink donut sales during the month of October to benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

Amazing Olive, Port Jefferson: $1 from all extra virgin olive oil sales during the month of October to benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

Luck Soap, Port Jefferson: 40 percent of all Luck Soap Pink Ribbon soap sales (available for sale at Amazing Olive, Port Jefferson and Patchogue locations) during the month of October to benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

The Soap Box, Port Jefferson: 20 percent off Pink Sugar Kiss items during the month of October.

Yogo Delish, Port Jefferson: Donate $1 with your purchase during the month of October and get a $1 off coupon for your next visit.

Tapestry Salon, Mount Sinai: A portion of all pink hair extension sales during the month of October will benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

Cutting Hut, Port Jefferson Station: 10 percent of all pink hair extension sales during the month of October will benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

The Pie, Port Jefferson: Give a donation during the month of October and receive a free Pink Lemonade.

MAC Hair Salon, Mt. Sinai: Pink hair strands for $15 or $10 per pink foil during October with 50 percent of the proceeds to benefit the Fund for Uninsured.

Theatre Three, Port Jefferson: Receive a 20 percent discount on the purchase of your tickets in October when you mention Paint Port Pink.

For more information, please visit www.paintportpink.org.

All photos courtesy of John T. Mather Memorial Hospital

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EXPO shoppers. Photo by Miranda Gatewood

Fall brings with it a chill in the air, pumpkin spice everything and the Women’s EXPO at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach.

A recent study by American Express shows that between 1997 and 2017, the number of women-owned businesses increased at a rate 2.5 times higher than the national average with many of these businesses being run by creative women from their homes and studios. 

The annual Women’s EXPO, now in its 18th year, celebrates these women by connecting them with their peers, local business women and potential customers. This year’s event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 4 and will feature 83 exhibitors. 

“Our favorites are back along with a great selection of new women entrepreneurs just starting out,” said Sophia Serlis-McPhillips, director of the library. 

With a diverse group of entrepreneurs, there is something for everyone. Shoppers can find items such as jewelry, pottery, handbags and home decor. Serlis-McPhillips reminds us that the EXPO is much more than a trade show. “The library’s Miller Business Center works with these and other entrepreneurs all year, educating them on business topics and offering them ample opportunities to network with business professionals from throughout Long Island.” 

Here are some of the great women entrepreneurs you can meet at this year’s event:

Victoria Collette

Victoria Collette

According to Victoria Collette, she is in the business of empowering women. She started her fragrance company, POP SCENTsation, which allows shoppers to create their own fragrance; in the process they get to “discover what it means to be their unique self.”

Since launching, Collette has expanded to 23 fragrances and recently added Perfume Creation Kits. Participating in last year’s EXPO helped her get the word out about her new company and she is excited to be a part of this year’s event. “The energy of the day, being surrounded by and meeting so many amazing women entrepreneurs is incredible.”

Linda Johnson

Linda Johnson

Linda Johnson has always been a maverick, living outside the box. Her dream of owning her own business came to fruition in 2014 with Chocology, which was born out of her family’s “love of chocolate paired with a passion for learning and sharing.” The chocolate and fudge are delicious but, more importantly, it is sold with excitement and education. Beyond her businesses she created #ChocologyCares, supporting charities such as American VetDogs and Stony Brook Cancer Center.

Johnson’s commitment to community and supporting other entrepreneurs can be seen in her new venture — the Three Village Artisan and Farmers Market in Setauket, a gathering place bringing people together. This support and community is also what keeps Johnson coming back to the EXPO. “I love the camaraderie, I love the women and I learn so much!”    

Carly McAllister 

Carly McAllister

After Carly McAllister’s son developed eczema, she became concerned about the ingredients in store-bought soaps and started making her own using organic ingredients. McAllister gave extra bars to friends and family who told her it was so good she should sell it. Encouragement from her husband Michael and others resulted in Modern Primal Soap Co., whose goal is to make products that are as natural as possible. 

Having been an EXPO shopper for years McAllister (top photo) was excited to join the event as an exhibitor. ”I would love to be able to participate and applied as soon as I could.”  She is looking forward to another successful show. “The EXPO is something really special! I love being in a room with so many smart, talented women! The fellowship between the participants is amazing.”

Angelique Velez

Angelique Velez

A bad breakup didn’t slow down Angelique Velez; in fact, it was the impetus for Breakups to Makeup, her company that sells travel makeup clutches, T-shirts and tanks featuring motivational and inspirational words. Velez  (photo on right) realized that makeup inspires and lifts people up. “Making other people feel better inevitably helped to lift my spirits,” she said. Breakups to Makeup’s first slogan Love Raised Me, Lipstick Saved Me “encompassed everything I had been going through and showcased the importance of makeup in our lives as artists.” Since its inception, her products have been sold in major stores like Sephora and have been featured in InStyle, Refinery29 and Latina.

Velez is looking forward to her first time exhibiting at the EXPO. “Anything that supports women and women-owned business is very important to me. The fact that this also caters to Long Island businesses is something unique as well and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”

The annual Women’s EXPO will take place on Thursday, Oct. 4, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Middle Country Public Library, 101 Eastwood Blvd, Centereach. Admission is free and there is ample parking. For further information, call the library at 631-585-9393, ext. 296 or visit www.womensEXPOli.org.

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Above, Mikala Egeblad works with graduate student Emilis Bružas in the Watson School of Biological Sciences. Photo from Pershing Square Soon Cancer Research Alliance

By Daniel Dunaief

For some people, cancer goes into remission and remains inactive. For others, the cancer that’s in remission returns. While doctors can look for risk factors or genetic mutations, they don’t know why a cancer may come back at the individual level.

In a mouse model of breast and prostate cancers, Mikala Egeblad, an associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, has found an important driver of cancer activation and metastasis: inflammation. When mice with cancer also have inflammation, their cancer is likely to become more active. Those who don’t have inflammation, or whose inflammation is treated quickly, can keep the dreaded disease in check. Cancer cells “may be dormant or hibernating and not doing any harm at all,” she said. “We speculated what might be driving them from harmless to overt metastasis.”

Egeblad cautioned that this research, which was recently published in the journal Science, is on mice and that humans may have different processes and mechanisms.

CSHL’s Mikala Egeblad. Photo from Pershing Square Soon Cancer Research Alliance

“It is critical to verify whether the process happens in humans,” Egeblad suggested in an email, which she will address in her ongoing research. Still, the results offer a window into the way cancer can become active and then spread from the lungs. She believes this is because the lungs are exposed to so many external stimuli. She is also looking into the relevance for bone, liver and brain metastases. The results of this research have made waves in the scientific community.

“This study is fantastic,” declared Zena Werb, a professor of anatomy and associate director for basic science at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California in San Francisco. “When [Egeblad] first presented it at a meeting six months ago, the audience was agog. It was clearly the best presentation of the meeting!”

Werb, who oversaw Egeblad’s research when Egeblad was a postdoctoral scientist, suggested in an email that this is the first significant mechanism that could explain how cancer cells awaken and will “change the way the field thinks.”

Egeblad credits a team of researchers in her lab for contributing to this effort, including first author Jean Albrengues, who is a postdoctoral fellow. This group showed that there’s a tipping point for mice — mice with inflammation that lasts six days develop metastasis.

Egeblad has been studying a part of the immune system called neutrophil extracellular traps, which trap and kill bacteria and yeast. Egeblad and other researchers have shown that some cancers trick these NETs to aid the cancer in metastasizing.

In the new study, inflammation causes cancer cells that are not aggressive to develop NETs, which leads to metastasis. The traps and enzymes on it “change the scaffold that signals that cancer should divide and proliferate instead of sitting there dormant,” Egeblad said.

To test out her theory about the role of enzymes and the NETs, Egeblad blocked the cascade in six different ways, including obstructing the altered tissue scaffold with antibodies. When mice have the antibody, their ability to activate cancer cells after inflammation is prevented or greatly reduced, she explained.

The numbers from her lab are striking: in 100 mice with inflammation, 94 developed metastatic cancer. When she treated these mice with any of the approaches to block the inflammation pathway, 60 percent of them survived, while the remaining 40 percent had a reduced metastatic cancer burden in the lungs.

If inflammation is a key part of determining the cancer prognosis, it would help cancer patients to know, and potentially treat, inflammation even when they don’t show any clinical signs of such a reaction.

In mice, these NETs spill into the blood. Egeblad is testing whether these altered NETs are also detectable in humans. She could envision this becoming a critical marker for inflammation to track in cancer survivors.

The epidemiological data for humans is not as clear cut as the mouse results in Egeblad’s lab. Some of these epidemiological studies, however, may not have identified the correct factor.

Egeblad thinks she needs to look specifically at NETs and not inflammation in general to find out if these altered structures play a role for humans. “We would like to measure levels of NETs and other inflammatory markers in the blood over time and determine if there is a correlation between high levels and risk of recurrence,” she explained, adding that she is starting a study with the University of Kansas.

Werb suggested that inflammation can be pro-tumor or anti-tumor, possibly in the same individual, which could make the net effect difficult to determine.

“By pulling the different mechanisms apart, highly significant effects may be there,” Werb wrote in an email. Other factors including mutation and chromosomal instability and other aspects of the microenvironment interact with inflammation in a “vicious cycle.”

In humans, inflammation may be a part of the cancer dynamic, which may involve other molecular signals or pathways, Egeblad said.

She has been discussing a collaboration with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Doug Fearon, whose lab is close to hers.

Fearon has been exploring how T-cells could keep metastasis under control. Combining their approaches, she said, cancer might need a go signal, which could come from inflammation, while it also might need the ability to alter the ability of T-cells from stopping metastasis.

In her ongoing efforts to understand the process of metastasis, Egeblad is also looking at creating an antibody that works in humans and plans to continue to build on these results. “We now have a model for how inflammation might cause cancer recurrence,” she said. 

“We are working very actively on multiple different avenues to understand the human implications, and how best to target NETs to prevent cancer metastasis.”

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Comsewogue Public Library in Port Jefferson Station celebrated Coffee With a Cop Day on Thursday, Sept. 20.

Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department’s 6th Precinct — in top photo from left, Deputy Inspector Alexander Crawford, Commanding Officer Patrick Reilly and Officer Casey Berry — met with community members to chat over coffee and learn more about the police and each other. It was a huge success with patrons of all ages. The event concluded with Berry reading to the kids and parents the book titled “Police: Hurrying! Helping! Saving!” by Patricia Hubbell.  

 

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Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

By Barbara Beltrami

Dressing a salad is a lot like dressing oneself. Just as clothes should compliment the body, so should dressing enhance the salad type. If one sticks to the basic elements of oil, vinegar or lemon juice, salt and pepper and maybe some herbs or garlic or a dab of mustard in good proportion, it is hard to go wrong. 

Keeping in mind the kind of salad being dressed and other ingredients impinging on the flavor, a basic ratio of three to four parts oil to one part vinegar or lemon juice usually is fail-safe. With so many varieties of salad greens available these days, it is particularly important to dress them appropriately. 

From gorgeous leafy lettuces like Boston and bibb and romaine to escarole, green leaf, red leaf and frisee to mesclun and baby leafy greens, choices abound. Then there are radicchio, Belgian endive and arugula with their slightly bitter or sparky flavor. 

If they are genuinely fresh, they all deserve the highest quality ingredients for dressings that enhance their textures and taste. And for that you can’t do any better than vinaigrettes made from extra virgin olive, hazelnut, pumpkin seed, grape seed or walnut oils complimented by fine vinegars like balsamic, wine or raspberry or freshly squeezed lemon juice and fresh herbs and seasonings. 

Forget about packaged, processed or powdered ingredients and save those heavy ranch and Roquefort dressings for otherwise tasteless iceberg wedges. Go with a nicely balanced vinaigrette and let the salad itself be the center of attraction.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

YIELD: Makes about ⅔ to ¾ cup.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon sugar or honey

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Crush raspberries and push through a small wire strainer. In a small or medium bowl, whisk together two tablespoons of the raspberry puree, raspberry vinegar, lemon juice and sugar. Continuously and vigorously whisking, add oil, salt and pepper and toss with salad just before serving, no sooner. Serve at room temperature with any delicate salad greens, fresh baby spinach or greens of your choice.

Dijon Vinaigrette

YIELD: Makes about ⅔ cup.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, shallot and garlic. Gradually whisk in the oil, salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature with a salad of mixed greens or any greens of choice.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

YIELD: Makes one cup.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together the vinegar, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. When mixture is thoroughly blended, still vigorously whisking, gradually drizzle in the oil. Serve at room temperature with mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and red onion or any greens of your choice.

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