Selected as CHOICE magazine's Outstanding Academic Title, January 2017.The book is a narrative of the unfolding of the Ebola virus disease outbreak from a scientific view point. The author provides an analysis of the scientific basis of public health policies that have influenced the public's, and the medical community's, abilities to understand the virus and the disease. This is done in the context of providing insights into the biology of the virus, and exploring open questions, including its likely modes of transmission. The author has included citations from the scientific literature and the press, as well as quotes from expert interviews. The book will help sort out the fact from fiction, given the confusion that arose after the virus arrived in the US. The author used his objective research skills and knowledge of evolutionary genetics and molecular biology to find out what was known, and what questions remained unanswered, and even what questions remained unasked.Written in an accessible style, it is intended for the educated general public, scientists, policy makers, health care workers, and politicians. It delves into the problems of trying to derive a logic-based understanding of a highly lethal emerging disease in 2014, when research funding cuts have gutted research institutions, and when public health institutions really were woefully unprepared. It is a highly distinct narrative analysis that is sure to stimulate new research and thinking in public policy. It will inform thousands of people of the nature of the virus, how it works, in terms they are likely to be able to understand. It will allow others to rapidly catch up with the story of Ebola.

Selected as CHOICE magazine's Outstanding Academic Title, January 2017.The book is a narrative of the unfolding of the Ebola virus disease outbreak from a scientific view point. The author provides an analysis of the scientific basis of public health policies that have influenced the public's, and the medical community's, abilities to understand the virus and the disease. This is done in the context of providing insights into the biology of the virus, and exploring open questions, including its likely modes of transmission. The author has included citations from the scientific literature and the press, as well as quotes from expert interviews. The book will help sort out the fact from fiction, given the confusion that arose after the virus arrived in the US. The author used his objective research skills and knowledge of evolutionary genetics and molecular biology to find out what was known, and what questions remained unanswered, and even what questions remained unasked.Written in an accessible style, it is intended for the educated general public, scientists, policy makers, health care workers, and politicians. It delves into the problems of trying to derive a logic-based understanding of a highly lethal emerging disease in 2014, when research funding cuts have gutted research institutions, and when public health institutions really were woefully unprepared. It is a highly distinct narrative analysis that is sure to stimulate new research and thinking in public policy. It will inform thousands of people of the nature of the virus, how it works, in terms they are likely to be able to understand. It will allow others to rapidly catch up with the story of Ebola.

Did you ever wonder whether doctors want cures, or just treatments?Did you know ... This book reviews recent key, hard-won successes and findings from recent biomedical research. Written by one of the most ardent defenders of the public trust in science, it provides an accessible, detailed look at successes in translational biomedical and clinical research. The author provides an optimistic, forward-looking view for the possibility of change for the public good, cutting through the controversy and gets to very core of each topic. The public can be optimistic about the future of medicine, but only if they learn the facts of these advances, and learn what their doctors should be expected to know.Highly referenced, and filled with interviews from experts and people directly involved in the research behind the new facts in each chapter, this book is a rich source of information on advances in biomedicine that you will want to share with your family & friends.

Did you ever wonder whether doctors want cures, or just treatments?Did you know ... This book reviews recent key, hard-won successes and findings from recent biomedical research. Written by one of the most ardent defenders of the public trust in science, it provides an accessible, detailed look at successes in translational biomedical and clinical research. The author provides an optimistic, forward-looking view for the possibility of change for the public good, cutting through the controversy and gets to very core of each topic. The public can be optimistic about the future of medicine, but only if they learn the facts of these advances, and learn what their doctors should be expected to know.Highly referenced, and filled with interviews from experts and people directly involved in the research behind the new facts in each chapter, this book is a rich source of information on advances in biomedicine that you will want to share with your family & friends.