Written by Mya Washington, BA candidate in Medical Laboratory Science at Saint Louis University, and participant in the 2024 Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program
During my time at the Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program—RADIANCE track, I had the pleasure of listening to Joseph T. Steensma, EdD, MPH, MA, speak about his work in Haiti. The history of Haiti has always interested me, and I’ve always wanted to learn what I could about it.
Professor Steensma spoke about his research in Haiti, which explored why children, despite getting a substantial amount of food and water, were not gaining weight. It was discovered that the charcoal used to cook the food was poisoning the air, preventing the children from gaining weight. So that’s an easy fix, right? Just give Haitians natural gas to cook with so they are no longer being poisoned. Wrong; it’s not that simple.
Professor Steensma went on to talk about how, when they tried that, it did not work because it created new problems. When they imported natural gas to Haiti, charcoal farmers would sabotage the natural gas plants. Charcoal is one of Haiti’s most profitable crops, and bringing in natural gas would hurt Haiti’s economy. I feel like this happens a lot. Researchers make these discoveries but find it hard to implement solutions because when they try to fix one problem, it creates another.
And that got me thinking. What is the point of doing all this research to find the cause of a problem but not being able to do anything to fix the problem?
When I start my research career, my goal will be to not only find the cause of a problem and implement the changes that need to be made to fix the problem, but also work to fix any other problems that may arise as a result of fixing the initial problem. It can seem like an impossible task to try to fix all the problems at hand, but I want to see my research through and see that the discoveries made by my team and I have made a difference.