Science on tap at Charleston brewery

Tired of the same old, same old after work? Wishing for a conversation that really stimulates the mind in a fun atmosphere where drinks and food are available? Charleston’s second Science Cafe takes place this Tuesday evening, Jan. 12, at the Southend Brewery on East Bay Street. The public is invited to the 6 p.m. event.

Joseph Helpern, Ph.D., a physicist from the Medical University of South Carolina, will talk about something that he said has “totally rewritten the book for almost all fields of medicine.” 

The subject: magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. “There isn’t a part of medicine that doesn’t use imaging, and today we have this unique way of looking inside the body without cutting it open and without hurting the person – it’s almost like Star Trek.”

Helpern, an internationally recognized expert in his field who is also known for his sense of humor and ability to make science interesting to non-scientists, said his talk will include jokes, movie clips and props. “I have to take poetic license. What I’m going to tell you is only good in this setting in Southend Brewery. Don’t tell anyone of importance what I said, because I’ll deny it.”

In other words, Helpern said, he won’t be taking a traditional academic approach and will instead take fun shortcuts to explain things in simple terms so the audience can quickly get up to speed and be part of the discussion. That’s what Science Cafes are all about.

“It’s supposed to be in a relaxed atmosphere where a scientist can answer questions that may be on the mind of people who might not normally look at something like this,” Helpern said.

Helpern will take the audience on what he called “a walk with a water molecule through the brain” to show what happens when brain pathways are blocked. He’ll also talk about ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease, two brain issues that affect millions of people and can be explored with MRI.

“Are there differences we can see using an imaging technique such as MRI? The answer is yes. Our challenge is now that we can measure things, we have to find out what they mean.”

Helpern’s resume includes serving as a reviewer for President Barack Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, directing the MUSC Center for Biomedical Imaging, serving as the South Carolina Centers of Economic Excellence Endowed Chair in Brain Imagingand holding the Levidow Family Distinguished Chair in Neurodegenerative Disease Research. He’s also credited with building the first 3-Tesla MRI.

Charleston’s first Science Cafe took place last September at Fish Restaurant, featuring MUSC professor Kenneth Tew, Ph.D., hosting a discussion about antioxidants.

Helpern said the Science Cafes are a way to show what scientists are doing and how public research money is being spent. “We have not done a good job of communicating to the public what we do and why it’s important. Shame on us,” Helpern said. 

“We should have been doing a better job. If people really understood the importance of medical research,they’d be protesting in the streets about what Congress is doing to the National Institutes of Health right now.”

The Science Cafe at the Southend Brewery will include food and drink specials. Helpern said people can expect to have a good time. “Science is fun.”