{"661293":{"#nid":"661293","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor Dusts Off High School Musical Skills for \u201cThe Mold That Changed the World\u201d","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen he was 14 years old, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/brian-hammer\u0022\u003EBrian Hammer\u003C\/a\u003E learned the hard way about the dangers of bacteria, and the wonders of penicillin, thanks to a wrestling bout with a sibling.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy older brother thought it would be fun to wrestle me holding my dad\u2019s fishing knife,\u201d said Hammer, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. What wasn\u2019t fun: accidentally ending up with a stab wound in his leg.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe next day he couldn\u2019t walk and had a high fever, thanks to a blood infection caused by \u003Cem\u003EStaphylococcus\u003C\/em\u003E bacteria on his skin ending up in his wound. \u201cThose bacteria can grow very quickly in your blood. And they should never be there,\u201d Hammer said. Doctors gave him penicillin intravenously, and Hammer remained in a hospital for nearly a month before recovering.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, this November, Hammer \u2014 who performed in high school and college musicals and choruses \u2014 will get to sing the praises of Alexander Fleming, the Scottish scientist who indirectly healed him by discovering the antibacterial qualities of penicillin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHammer will be in the chorus at the Science Gallery at Pullman Yards Nov. 1-6, 2022 when the musical \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mouldthatchangedtheworld.com\/\u0022\u003E\u201cThe Mold That Changed The World\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E comes to Atlanta during its U.S. tour. It will be the second stop for the show, which has its stateside premiere in Washington, D.C.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHammer, who is also a faculty member of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/microdynamics.gatech.edu\/faculty\u0022\u003ECenter for Microbial Dynamics and Infection (CMDI)\u003C\/a\u003E, is getting a chance to dust off singing skills because the musical is giving local professionals in science and health-related industries a chance to join the chorus when the show comes to their city. Colleagues at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/\u0022\u003ECenters for Disease Control\u003C\/a\u003E, which is co-sponsoring the musical\u2019s 2022 U.S. tour, have also successfully auditioned to sing in the Atlanta performances, as have other area scientists and researchers, along with an emergency medical technician and a veterinarian.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Hammer, there are strong similarities in singing about science, and teaching it at Georgia Tech. \u201cThere\u0027s a lot of entertainment in teaching, a lot of showmanship. It\u2019s the way I got interested in microbiology, when the teacher was pretty charismatic and dynamic. So I\u0027ve always wanted to be that kind of teacher.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESinging for science education\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Mold That Changed The World\u201d doesn\u2019t just focus on Fleming\u2019s discovery. It also shows how Fleming overcame social obstacles to finding life-saving qualities in a \u201cnasty mold,\u201d as Hammer put it, and conveys in singing and music the dangers of relying too much on antibacterial drugs \u2014 an ongoing worry that has Hammer and several other CMDI researchers looking for new treatments.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFleming won the Nobel Prize for discovering the first antibiotic, penicillin, and even in his Nobel Prize speech, he predicted the dangers of the emergence of resistant microbes,\u201d Hammer said. \u201cHe said then that he can imagine a scenario in the future where if someone doesn\u0027t take their antibiotics correctly, you could end up with resistant \u2018superbugs\u2019 that get transferred to another person. And then you don\u0027t have a treatment. He said that in 1945.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWarning children about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was the chief reason the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.charadestheatre.com\/\u0022\u003ECharades Theater Company\u003C\/a\u003E in the United Kingdom staged \u201cThe Mold That Changed the World,\u201d which was first performed for primary grades. The company thought it would be a fun and effective way to teach children ages 9-12 about the proper use of antibiotics. It was that educational aspect that attracted Hammer.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u0027s one way of communicating science,\u201d he said. \u201cWe scientists, we have to do a better job of communicating science, in all ways. That may mean different media, different settings. It\u0027s just got to be part of what we do now. This is one unusual example of how to do that. But why not, right?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe musical did prove effective. A 2020 UK \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0240471\u0022\u003Estudy\u003C\/a\u003E showed that students answered more questions about AMR correctly and retained more of the science information after seeing the musical.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearching cholera, and\u0026nbsp;challenging\u0026nbsp;stereotypes\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs a teenager, Hammer sang in high school musical productions like \u201cGodspell.\u201d He then went to Boston College, where he joined the university chorale and got to sing for Pope John Paul II at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in the Vatican.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut Hammer was also busy earning his B.S. in biology. He went on to receive his M.S. in conservation biology and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Michigan. He said his desire to sing was overcome by his desire to learn everything about microbes and how they impact ecosystems and biodiversity \u2014 and then what they can do to humans.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.hammerlab.biology.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EHammer Lab\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech, he and his team study microbial interactions at scales that span genes and genomes, regulatory networks, cells, populations, and communities. His longtime focus has been on \u003Cem\u003EVibrio cholerae,\u003C\/em\u003E the waterborne pathogen that causes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/add-one-more-weapon-choleras-deadly-arsenal\u0022\u003Echolera\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s this combination of thinking about pathogens and their ecological environment,\u201d Hammer explained. \u201cIt\u0027s still fascinating to me how microbes can do all they need to do to live out there somewhere else, and then they can adapt to life in our bodies and wreak havoc. That single cells can do this still blows my mind, and how they do it, and what the consequences are. And cholera was the first \u0027bug\u0027\u0026nbsp;that I worked on that had this kind of dual lifestyle.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHammer was preparing for the Fall 2022 semester when his wife, Tracy, a fifth-grade teacher, said she would be taking her students to a children\u2019s version of \u201cThe Mold That Changed The World\u201d when the musical\u2019s cast came to Atlanta. \u201cShe found out about it because some of the parents in her school work at the CDC,\u201d he said. \u201cShe knew that I had done this (sung in musicals).\u201d A visit to the musical\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mouldthatchangedtheworld.com\/\u0022\u003Ewebsite\u003C\/a\u003E led him to audition for the special chorus.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHammer said that his chance to perform on stage again isn\u2019t just about educating audiences. It\u2019s also about showing humanity in science, he added.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think part of this is also to remind people that we scientists are just normal people too. I think there\u0027s this misperception that scientists are elitists who don\u0027t know how to interact with other people, or choose not to, or can\u2019t. We\u0027re not elitist, we just have an area that we think about a lot \u2013 just like everyone else has subjects that they think about, and have strong opinions about and expertise in. So we\u0027re no different.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u201cThe Mold That Changed the World\u201d runs Nov. 1-6 at Science Gallery@Pullman Yards,\u0026nbsp; 225 Rogers St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30317.\u0026nbsp; Tickets go on sale soon and can be purchased\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mouldthatchangedtheworld.com\/us-shows\/\u0022\u003E here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"A touring musical celebrating the man who gave us penicillin is inviting local scientists to join the chorus for its Atlanta shows \u2014 and School of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Brian Hammer is ready for showtime. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA touring musical celebrating the man who gave us penicillin is inviting local scientists to join the chorus for its Atlanta shows \u2014 and School of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Brian Hammer is ready for showtime.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A touring musical celebrating the man who gave us penicillin is inviting local scientists to join the chorus for its Atlanta shows \u2014 and School of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Brian Hammer is ready for showtime. "}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2022-09-19 20:39:20","changed_gmt":"2024-02-15 20:17:09","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-09-22T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"661324":{"id":"661324","type":"image","title":"A rehearsal for \u0022The Mold That Changed the World\u0022 musical. 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