ProfNet Experts Available on Breast Cancer, Depression, Fantasy Sports, Choosing a Dog, More

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network that are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/alertswire.

EXPERT ALERTS

• New EPA Limits on Smog-Related Pollution
• Breast Cancer: Dense Breasts and Detection
• Low Levels of Face-to-Face Social Contact Can Double Depression Risk
• New, Cutting-Edge Technologies in Brain Surgery
• University Louisville Basketball Scandal Involving Alleged Hiring of Prostituted Minors
• DraftKings/FanDuel Fantasy Sports Scandal Exposes Threat to Integrity of Sports
• Yoga and Copyright Protection
• Choosing the Right Dog for Your Family
• 'The Simpsons'' Smithers to Finally Come out as Gay

MEDIA JOBS

• Reporter – New Britain Herald (CT)
• Copy Editor– Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
• Reporter – Associated Press (DC)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

• Upcoming Twitter Q&A: Investment Reporting for Corporate and Media Writers
• Authors: How About an App for Your Book?
• Want to See Your Name in Lights? Here's Your Chance!

EXPERT ALERTS:

New EPA Limits on Smog-Related Pollution
Philip Stevens
Environmental Science Faculty Chair
Indiana University School of Public & Environmental Affairs
"The EPA's new standard of 70ppb was expected. However, 70ppb doesn't leave much of a margin for safety for protecting public health. While the EPA Science Advisory Panel recommended a standard between 60-70ppb, industry lobbied hard to keep it at its current level of 75ppb. Lowering it to 70pbb, may be seen as a compromise."
Website: https://spea.indiana.edu/faculty-research/directory/profiles/faculty/full-time/stevens-philip.html
Contact: Agata Porter, [email protected] 

Breast Cancer: Dense Breasts and Detection
Dr. Robin Shermis, M.D., M.P.H, F.A.C.R.
Senior Managing Partner
Toledo Radiological Associates
"If I'm looking at your mammogram and you have dense breast tissue, I'm going to recommend you get an MBI (molecular breast imaging). In terms of detection, we're at a state now where we're finding very small cancers, and our goal is to find these invasive cancers before they spread. MBI is fighting breast cancer by catching small lesions in dense breast tissue before they spread."
Dr. Shermis graduated from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1986, and did his residency at University of Michigan Hospitals. He has almost 25 years of experience at ProMedica Breast Care, and has overseen the addition of a variety of new screening technologies into the Northwest Ohio area, including breast MRI, digital mammography, tomosynthesis and molecular breast imaging. Dr. Shermis' radiology practice staffs three hospitals, a large breast care center and an outpatient imaging center. Since 1991, he has served as medical director of breast imaging for ProMedica Breast Care, which manages all breast imaging and procedures in the Toledo Metro area for ProMedica. He is responsible for the breast ultrasound division, percutaneous breast biopsies, and breast cryoablation. Finally, he serves on the executive board for the Toledo Hospital Foundation, and previously served on the board for Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Northwest Ohio chapter. He is very active as a breast imaging advocate in the Toledo Ohio community and has given multiple local, regional and national presentations. He is available for telephone and email interviews. Also, one of his patients, Dianne (55 years old), a breast cancer survivor, is available for interviews.
Website: http://www.toledoxray.com/Doctors.html
Contact: [email protected] 

Low Levels of Face-to-Face Social Contact Can Double Depression Risk
Dr. Frieda Birnbaum
Research Psychologist, Psychoanalyst
"For Millennials, face-to-face interaction may seem like the 'old way' of doing things; however, this kind of interaction is crucial for a person's well-being. Face-to-face interaction allows individuals to see each other for who they are without the false photographic and profile enhancements found on social media. Today, our culture is over stimulated and more isolated than ever before, despite all the ways that people can connect through technology. People should get out more, meet other people and embrace each other's company for that is a staple mark of the human experience."
Dr. Birnbaum is author of "What Price Power: An In-Depth Study of the Professional Woman in a Relationship." She's an expert on depression, women's issues, and attaining happiness, and has been featured on "Oprah" and "20/20" as the oldest woman in the U.S. to have twins.
Contact: Ryan McCormick, [email protected] 

New, Cutting-Edge Technologies in Brain Surgery
James Robinson, M.D.
Neurosurgeon
"There are new, cutting-edge technologies that are allowing brain surgery to be safer than ever in the hands of a highly skilled surgeon."
Dr. Robinson is a board certified and nationally recognized neurosurgeon providing the most leading-edge neurosurgery. The hallmark of his expertise includes cranial microsurgery, gamma knife radiosurgery and endoscopic cranial surgery. His outcomes dramatically exceed the national average. His complexity adjusted case mortality has ranged from 27-29% of predicted on the basis of par data on a national level, with significantly better than average length of stay and readmission rates, reflecting a smooth post-operative course for his patients. He has also participated as a principal investigator on several successful clinical trial initiatives.
Website: http://www.brainexpert.com
Contact: Hillary Zody, [email protected] 

University Louisville Basketball Scandal Involving Alleged Hiring of Prostituted Minors
Cynthia Godsoe
Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
"Juvenile prostitution continues to be a massive problem in the U.S.; the FBI estimates that 100,000 minors are sold for sex each year. The recent scandal about the Louisville basketball team's alleged use of prostituted girls is just one sad illustration of this massive problem. Unfortunately, discussion of the scandal coverage largely continues to ignore these victims, and also gives a pass to some of the alleged perpetrators -- there has been no talk of prosecuting the players or recruits that had sex with these young girls."
Godsoe teaches courses in family law, criminal law, children and the law, professional responsibility and public interest lawyering. Her scholarship centers on the regulation of intimate behavior and gender roles through family and criminal law, encompassing topics including the path to marriage equality, the designation of victims and offenders in intimate violence, the public vs. private family law systems, and the criminalization of non-conforming girls. Articles include "Punishment as Protection," Houston Law Review (2015); and "Give Restitution to Victims of Child Pornography, But Also Recognize All Child Victims of Sexual Exploitation," Huffington Post, (March 2015).
Website: http://www.brooklaw.edu
Contact: John Mackin, [email protected] 

DraftKings/FanDuel Fantasy Sports Scandal Exposes Threat to Integrity of Sports
Jodi Balsam
Professor of Law
Brooklyn Law School
"The DraftKings/FanDuel scandal invites closer scrutiny of the daily fantasy phenomenon and its threat to the integrity of sports. While sports entities line up to take stakes in fantasy games, no one appears to be focusing on the long-term threat they pose to the values that undergird sports' popularity. On the list of short-term profit seekers who have invested in fantasy are most of the pro leagues and the biggest sports networks. More ominously, the NFL Players Association just struck a deal with DraftKings to earn fees from the company's use of player images in its ads. The concern here is less with the integrity of fantasy sports games -- that ship has sailed despite DraftKings and FanDuels' new ban on employee participation in any fantasy games -- but rather the integrity of the underlying sports competition. No one is going to watch, much less bet on, a contest infested with point-shaving and other forms of performance manipulation."
Balsam is a former attorney for the NFL, where she managed litigation in all areas of law, oversaw a variety of policy and operational matters, negotiated contracts for League special events, and administered the League's internal dispute resolution processes and compliance program. She is frequently quoted in media (including USA Today and The New York Times) on NFL legal matters.
Website: www.brooklaw.edu
Contact: John Mackin, [email protected] 

Yoga and Copyright Protection
Barbara Dobberthien
COO
Yoga Alliance
On Oct. 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California affirmed a previous ruling by a federal district court that Bikram Choudhury's sequence of 26 yoga poses is not entitled to copyright protection. Says Dobberthien: "Yoga instructors can now put together a sequence of yoga poses without fear of infringing copyrights."
Website: www.yogaalliance.org
Contact: Dani Mackey, [email protected] 

Choosing the Right Dog for Your Family
Tracey Heyder-Kitching
Veterinary Technology Instructor
Argosy University, Twin Cities
"Every breed of dog has the capability of being a wonderful family member, but you need to do some research. For any species, understanding how much energy that animal has is important. Make sure you and your family can fit the needs of the animal. Another thing to consider is the health of the family. If you have individuals with allergies, there are different breeds that are better for people with allergies…even dogs that are hypo-allergenic. Take into consideration the demands of the animal, the husbandry and the expenses associated with that breed."
October is Adopt a Dog Month, and Heyder-Kitching can share her expert tips on choosing the right dog for your family. She is a veterinary technology instructor at Argosy University, Twin Cities. She is also a certified veterinary technician with 20 years' experience and a certified massage therapist for animals.
Contact: Mandy Wilson, [email protected] 

'The Simpsons'' Smithers to Finally Come out as Gay
Angela D. Giampolo
Founder
PhillyGayLawyer.com and Giampolo Law Group
"Smithers' infatuation with his billionaire boss has been hinted at in many episodes of the iconic show, which began airing in 1989 and is the longest running primetime sitcom in the U.S. It's only fitting that, like 'Ellen,' there be a proper coming out on the most influential show to a majority of kids and most adults. Rosie O'Donnell said she came out so people could never say they didn't know a gay person -- adding Smithers, you can definitely say that now!"
Giampolo's practice focuses on LGBT law, corporate transactions, civil rights, employment discrimination, real estate, domestic and international adoptions, and estates. She is an advocate for gay people everywhere.
Contact: Mark Goldman, [email protected] 

MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

• Reporter – New Britain Herald (CT)
• Copy Editor– Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
• Reporter – Associated Press (DC)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line.

• UPCOMING TWITTER Q&A: INVESTMENT REPORTING FOR CORPORATE AND MEDIA WRITERS. For our next #ConnectChat, Susan Weiner, a writer, editor and chartered financial analyst (CFA), will discuss how to become a better investment/financial reporter, how to write for investment and wealth management firms, and more. Details here: http://prn.to/1LoPyq7
• AUTHORS, HOW ABOUT AN APP FOR YOUR BOOK? Are you looking for nontraditional avenues for repurposing content and expanding the reach of your book? Consider creating an app. Here's what you'll need to consider: http://prn.to/1Z7gZii 
• WANT TO SEE YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS? HERE'S YOUR CHANCE! Want to see your picture in the bright lights of Times Square? Refer ProfNet to your writer friends on Twitter, and you might be rewarded with your picture on the Reuters sign in Times Square! Details: http://prn.to/1QaCh8S

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