Disaster delivers unexpected, but possibly hopeful, lessons to researchers

Anna Stewart Ibarra, PhD (center), is shown in flooded Machala, Ecuador, in early 2016. She was also part of earthquake relief efforts in Ecuador, where she conducts research. (PHOTO BY DANY KROM)

During the April 2016 earthquake in Ecuador, Upstate‘s Anna Stewart Ibarra, PhD, and her team of researchers in that country helped mobilize relief efforts, including setting up a basic health clinic and buying emergency supplies with a continuing fund through the Upstate Foundation. The researchers also saw the impact of the disaster on residents‘ physical and mental health and how the quake worsened existing health problems, such as the mosquito-borne diseases Stewart Ibarra studies. Those observations and ongoing studies can help to prepare for future efforts to fight diseases and disasters.