Yale Bulletin and Calendar

April 14, 2006|Volume 34, Number 26

Talk, exhibit explore lessons
learned from past flu outbreaks

The lessons that can be garnered from past outbreaks of influenza in preparing for future flu epidemics will be the focus of a talk and exhibit sponsored by the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Associates.

"Preparing for Avian Influenza: Lessons from the Swine Flu Affair"

Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), will present the library association's 58th annual keynote lecture, "Preparing for Avian Influenza: Lessons from the Swine Flu Affair," on Wednesday, April 19, at 4 p.m. in the School of Medicine's Harkness Auditorium, Sterling Hall of Medicine (SHM), 333 Cedar St.

Chartered by Congress in 1863 as part of the National Academies of Sciences, the IOM advises the government on issues such as health care delivery, nutritional standards, cancer prevention and vaccine safety.

Fineberg became president of IOM in 2001 after serving four years as provost of Harvard University and 13 years as dean of the Harvard School of Public Health. He has devoted most of his academic career to the fields of health policy and medical decision-making. His past research has focused on the process of policy development and implementation, assessment of medical technology, evaluation and use of vaccines, and dissemination of medical innovations. He has chaired many global panels dealing with important health issues and medical decision-making. As a consultant to the World Health Organization on tuberculosis and AIDS and their impact on vulnerable populations, he aided the education of many researchers, health providers, policymakers and the public. He also helped found and served as president of the Society for Medical Decision Making. Fineberg is co-author of "Innovators in Physician Education" and "The Epidemic that Never Was," an examination of the controversial federal immunization program against swine flu in 1976.

"The Flu and You: Old and New Threats"

Fineberg's talk will be preceded at 3 p.m. by a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an interactive exhibit titled "The Flu and You: Old and New Threats" in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, located in SHM. Fineberg will join Medical School Dean Dr. Robert J. Alpern, R. Kenny Marone, director of the Medical Library, and other Yale officials at the opening.

Organized by Dr. Martin E. Gordon, chair of the Associates of the Cushing/
Whitney Medical Library, the display will explore the devastation wrought by previous flu outbreaks and the tools being used to fight new forms of influenza. The exhibit will examine the genomic information to be gleaned from historical tissues stored from the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which killed between 20 and 40 million people worldwide, as well as newer approaches to diagnosis, prevention, vaccine development and treatment. Avian specimens from Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History will also be on view.

Both the talk and the exhibition are free and open to the public.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

It's Official. President of China to speak April 21

As HHMI Professor, Strobel will take students 'bioprospecting'

Scientists find gene linked to drug dependence

Program puts FOCUS on communication

Joan Steitz, Thomas Pollard win prestigious international prize spirit

Renowned poet W.S. Merwin to read from and discuss his work

A heroine's determination prevails in 'All's Well That Ends Well'

Event will examine how to preserve access to knowledge

Performances and workshops will explore 'theatrical bodies' . . .

Symposium on human rights will focus on memorializing atrocities

Talk, exhibit explore lessons learned from past flu outbreaks

SOM conference will examine globalization and technology

India's road to independence is topic of film, panel discussion

Dwight Hall fundraiser to include inaugural social justice award

Symposium to look at 'Success with Learning Differences'

Impact of bird-borne infections on wildlife conservation is topic of forum

Panel discussion will focus on 'Class, Race and Inequality in South Africa'

Trainer describes biker Lance Armstrong's winning ways

Tsunami Awareness Week raised funds and refocused humanitarian efforts

Campus Notes

Wangari Maathai lecture cancelled