Russian Gas Executive Reviews Energy Market Challenges

The Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies hosted a panel discussion yesterday in Gaston Hall that focused on the evolution of global energy markets. The discussion featured Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Gazprom, the largest natural gas extracting company in the world. Other panel members included Georgetown faculty and representatives from the U.S.-Russia Business Council, the Nixon Center and Pace Global Energy Services.

The diverse panel discussed the role of both energy producing and energy consuming countries in promoting better reliability in global energy markets. Gazprom is the leading company in Russia’s energy market and is acquiring a notable position in the global market.

Medvedev explained Gazprom’s role in the global economy. “Gazprom has the exclusive right to export gas in Russia; its major customers are Italy, Germany, Turkey and France,” he said. “It has been a reliable supplier for over 40 years.”

The challenge facing Gazprom, according to Medvedev, is meeting [the] growing electricity demand while preserving the environment and maintaining economic health and security. “[Our] goal is to become a leader among global energy companies, to expand, to ensure a supply that meets the increasing demand and to approach global energy not with fear but with the prosperity and security of all countries alike,” he said.

Thane Gustafson, government professor and director of the department’s undergraduate studies program, commented on the increasing challenges that Gazprom has to face. “Moving into established European markets has meant new ways of selling gas,” Gustafson said. “A new business model is created both outside, in Europe, and inside, in Russia.”

Gustafson addressed the environmental concerns but is confident in Gazprom’s ability to face the challenges ahead. “An innovative and beyond-engineering approach to doing business has been Gazprom’s signature,” he said.

The other members of the panel included Angela Stent, Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies; Eugene Lawson, President of U.S.-Russia Business Council; Dimitri Simes, President of the Nixon Center; Sarah Carey, Attorney at Squire, Sanders and Dempsey; and Tim Sutherland, Chairman of Pace Global Energy Services.

– Maria Kefala

GU Medical Center Researcher Links Stress, Obesity in New Study

The world of science has long suspected a connection between stress and weight gain, but a recent study conducted at the Georgetown University Medical Center confirmed that the link between stress and weight gain does exist and may be stronger than originally thought.

Zofia Zukowska, chair of the physiology and biophysics department at the Medical Center, said she was inspired to conduct the study after observing the ways that stress affected different types of people. She said she was “particularly intrigued” that people can either gain or lose weight when stressed and that she was “unsatisfied with the common answer that this is all due to differences in food intake.”

Although stress has been linked to obesity in the past, the study notes that it had never been shown to directly cause obesity. Yet, Zukowska showed that stress exacerbates the unhealthy effects of a diet high in fat and sugar in mice.

Zukowska tested the link between stress and weight gain by exposing mice to “[factors that] mice and humans are normally exposed to in . real life,” such as cold temperatures for one hour per day and aggressive mice for 10 hours per day to observe the effects on weight gain. She said that researchers soon observed that exposure to stress worsened the effects of an unhealthy diet.

“Those that were stressed and ate high fat and sugar . gained twice as much weight as those on the same diet but unstressed,” Zukowska said.

Additionally, mice exposed to stress but living on a low-calorie diet did not experience weight gain.

Based on the findings of the study, Zukowska said that students should only eat to satisfy hunger and never as a means to cope with stress.

– Rich Luchette