Introduction to Graphic Medicine

This webinar, taught by Matthew Noe from the Lamar Soutter Library at UMass Medical School, will introduce the emerging field of graphic medicine, or, the use of comics in healthcare. We will begin with a brief overview of the field’s emergence, and then switch directions to highlight the role that comics can play in two key areas of librarianship: health literacy and medical education. The webinar will conclude with suggestions for collection development and programming to kickstart graphic medicine in your library

Graphic Medicine in the Library: An Educational Outreach Program

Objectives: Graphic medicine refers to the discourse of healthcare by way of the medium of comics and is a growing field with far-reaching impact. The objective of this outreach program was to provide educational opportunity to librarians on building graphic medicine collections and the creation of related programming.Methods: The outreach program proceeded on several fronts over the course of a six-month period, beginning with a two-part webinar series targeted to librarians both in-and-out of the region. These webinars sought to provide background information on graphic medicine, materials to aid with collection development, including key title lists, and serve as brainstorming opportunities for programming, including potential partners. At the same time, outreach was conducted with libraries in the local region, seeking to build community ties and support for the creation of new collections and programming. The program, in this iteration, concluded by creating a series of book club kits, that target specific medical conditions and include graphic novels, suggested questions, further readings, and more. These kits are available to regional groups for borrowing, including libraries who may find them valuable as a trial before building a new collection

The Use and Efficacy of Comics in Healthcare: A Scoping Review in Graphic Medicine

Background: Graphic medicine is defined as the “interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare”. We seek to understand the ways in which comics are currently being employed in healthcare settings and what effects, if any, these practices have on physician, patient, and their experiences and health outcomes. Methods: Our scoping review is following the six-stage methodology laid out by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) in order to map the field – an appropriate methodology, as graphic medicine is a relatively new field that thus far lacks clear boundaries. We built, tested, and conducted searches in six databases: (1) PubMed, (2) CINAHL, (3) SCOPUS, (4) ERIC, (5) Web of Science (Core), and (6) Google Scholar. Preliminary Findings: Search results netted 5,097 unique citations, which highlights a clear problem with current indexing of comics in medical databases, as at least 80% of the citations were in fact NOT comics at all. In-depth screening and analysis of relevant results is ongoing. Potential Impact: Graphic medicine shows potential as a tool in medical and patient education and may help bridge the health literacy gap. Next Steps: Our next steps include synthesis of relevant studies and ongoing hand-searching for results outside of typical scholarly publications. Questions for the MTL Community: How might you make use of comics in your practice and/or praxis

Defining the determinants of protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and viral control in a dose-down Ad26.CoV2.S vaccine study in nonhuman primates.

Despite the rapid creation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines, the precise correlates of immunity against severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) are still unknown. Neutralizing antibodies represent a robust surrogate of protection in early Phase III studies, but vaccines provide protection prior to the evolution of neutralization, vaccines provide protection against variants that evade neutralization, and vaccines continue to provide protection against disease severity in the setting of waning neutralizing titers. Thus, in this study, using an Ad26.CoV2.S dose-down approach in nonhuman primates (NHPs), the role of neutralization, Fc effector function, and T-cell immunity were collectively probed against infection as well as against viral control. While dosing-down minimally impacted neutralizing and binding antibody titers, Fc receptor binding and functional antibody levels were induced in a highly dose-dependent manner. Neutralizing antibody and Fc receptor binding titers, but minimally T cells, were linked to the prevention of transmission. Conversely, Fc receptor binding/function and T cells were linked to antiviral control, with a minimal role for neutralization. These data point to dichotomous roles of neutralization and T-cell function in protection against transmission and disease severity and a continuous role for Fc effector function as a correlate of immunity key to halting and controlling SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants