It's an overcast day at Andrews University this first Tuesday of October. The CLS majors are gathering in room HH333 to hear a presentation by our newest faculty member, Don Barton.
Karen Reiner, the coordinator for Academic Discoveries ( formerly called Assemblies) introduces Don to those present. The title of Don's presentation is: "Student Missions, Medical Technology, and Malaria"
Don began the meeting with a bible text that illustrated his premise that whatever we do for God is not wasted.
Don explained how he came to chose the degree in Medical Technology (now called Medical Laboratory Science) and where he served as a student missionary.
The country of Belize was where Don served working in a hospital laboratory.
For his Masters research Don developed a rapid method of malarial identification using microhematocrit tubes in place of the traditional thick smear. He found that it was effective in the identification of Plasmodium vivax but not effective for other forms of malaria. Perhaps while at Andrews he will pursue perfecting the technique for the other malarias?