by Nkem Asianua

I am Nkem Asianua and in the fall I will embark on my second and final year in the MA in Biomedicine program at EMU. Since beginning this program in the fall of 2015, I have truly come to appreciate the curriculum that the biomedicine program has to offer. Many of the courses I have taken in the past year proved to be challenging at times, however through hard work, perseverance and help from my classmates, I was able to overcome my academic obstacles to reach success. This summer I had the opportunity to take three different courses: Drugs: Discovery, Design and Action, Biomedicine Practicum and Research in Biomedicine. Regarding research, I am investigating African American/African awareness of their increased risk of ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema. An ACE inhibitor is a medication that is commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure. An example of an ACE inhibitor is Lisinopril. Like many pharmaceutical drugs, ACE inhibitors can cause side effects, and one of these side effects is called angioedema, which refers to swelling underneath the skin. Typically angioedema will occur in the face, throat, and lips.

After reviewing the literature, I found that African Americans/Africans have a higher risk of experiencing angioedema from using an ACE inhibitor (the reason for this is not yet known). However, the gap in the literature reveals that there are no studies about how aware African Americans/Africans are about their increased risk. Therefore, I have been conducting survey-based research this summer in Ventura County, California to investigate African Americans/Africans awareness of their increased risk of angioedema from ACE inhibitors. I attend a church in California with a large population of African Americans/Africans, so that is the first location I chose to start my research. I was able to make an announcement in front of the church in regards to the research, additionally noting that the survey was completely voluntary and required a signed informed consent form before taking the survey. Next, I plan on taking my research to a few of the local businesses in Ventura County. While gathering information has been interesting, I have experienced some difficulties with trying to recruit strangers to take the surveys. Often people are caught up in their daily lives and do not have the time to take the survey. However, I still have more time to gather more surveys before the summer break is over, so I am excited to see what the final results will ultimately be.