New Speaker Series to Focus on Planetary Health and Infectious Diseases
This fall marks the launch of a speaker series aimed at highlighting research surrounding planetary health and infectious diseases. The Planetary Health and Infectious Diseases research group was launched last April as an interdisciplinary team funded through one of the university’s synergy grants. The group includes members of Emory’s Serious Communicable Diseases Program, the Department of Environmental Sciences at Emory College, the Nell Hodgson School of Nursing, and the Rollins School of Public Health.
The group is currently conducting pilot projects on a variety of topics related to planetary health and changes in the transmission of infectious diseases. Some areas of research include the environmental effects of a dam collapse in Brazil and emerging infectious diseases in the U.S., particularly in areas of South Georgia that have been impacted by storms, flooding, and hurricanes. With the launch of the lecture series, the group hopes to drive conversation around planetary health and infectious diseases among researchers inside and outside of the university and to further research in this field.
October 10 marks the start of the series in room 1051 of the Claudia Nance Rollins Building at the Rollins School of Public Health. This series will feature Thomas Gillespie, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Emory College, presenting, “The Ecology of Infection: Zoonotic Transmission at the Anthropogenic Interface.” He will be followed by Abby Mutic, PhD, MSN, CNM, on October 22 in the School of Nursing Auditorium. Mutic’s lecture is titled “Building Stability and Resilience in Children After Storms.”
Both discussions will take place from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Additional dates will be released soon. Find out about upcoming events and related research by joining the Listserv! If you are unable to attend an event in person, join the live-stream for both events from the following link https://zoom.us/j/825419723.
This lecture series is sponsored by the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, the Provost’s Office, Emory School of Medicine, and the Emory College of Arts and Sciences.
