Intriguing Lectures on the History of Medicine Coming up at Academy

NEW YORK CITY, Sept. 6 -- How did the germ theory shape Parisians??? response to putrid odors emanating from their sewers in nineteenth-century summers? What role do celebrity patients play in shaping the public???s perception of disease and medicine? These are just some of the intriguing issues that will be explored in a nine-lecture series beginning later this month at The New York Academy of Medicine.

Two of the lectures being held early this fall will commemorate significant events in America???s history of public health: it has been 100 years since the passage of the Pure Food and Drugs Act, which established the Food and Drug Administration; and 25 years since doctors in New York and California first reported cases of men suffering from what came to be known as HIV/AIDS.

Sponsored by the Academy???s Section on the History of Medicine and Public Health, this lecture series is free and open to the public. Unless otherwise noted, lectures begin at 6 p.m. in the Academy, at 1216 Fifth Ave. (at 103rd Street) and are preceded by refreshments at 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Mathilde Krim, with Ron Bayer, "HIV AIDS: The First Quarter-Century"
Nearly from the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Mathilde Krim has been a leading activist, successfully raising funds for research, and raising consciousness and public understanding of HIV/AIDS in its medical, social, and political contexts. She is co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and has been an important contributor to the drive to control and cure HIV/AIDS. Dr. Krim will be interviewed by Ron Bayer, a prominent scholar of the AIDS epidemic. Bayer is a professor at the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. He is the author of several books and dozens of articles on AIDS and other public health subjects.
Lecture begins at 6:30 p.m., preceded by 6 p.m. reception.

Thursday, October 12, 2006
The John Lattimer Lecture David S. Barnes, "The Great Stink of Paris and the Nineteenth-Century Struggle against Filth and Germs"
The advent of the age of germ theory played a complex role in shaping Parisians??? response to the "Great Stinks" that frequently arose from their city's sewers in hot summer months. In this talk, University of Pennsylvania Professor David S. Barnes will discuss those responses over time to explore French society's adaptation to a microbe-centered science of public health during the 1880s and 1890s, when the germ theory of disease burst into public consciousness.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006
John P. Swann, "100 Years and More of Misbranding, Adulteration, and Drug Regulation in America"
In 1906, Congress enacted the Pure Food and Drugs Act, responding to growing concern about adulterated and unsafe foods, and worthless or harmful medicines. In the hundred years since the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the particulars have changed, but many of the century-old concerns remain. This talk by FDA historian John Swann will review the situation in the age of Upton Sinclair's ???The Jungle,??? and discuss the development of today's regulatory system.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Barron H. Lerner, "When Illness Goes Public: Celebrity Patients and How We Look at Medicine"
From Lou Gehrig and Steve McQueen to Eva Peron and Betty Ford, celebrity patients have shaped public perceptions about diseases, influenced medical research, reduced stigma, charged political campaigns for resources, and redefined patients' expectations about the doctor-patient relationship. This talk introduces some case histories from a new book by Columbia University Professor Barron Lerner, MD, PhD. Lerner is a frequent contributor to The New York Times??? Science Times section, and author of ???The Breast Cancer Wars: Hope, Fear and the Pursuit of a Cure in Twentieth-Century America.???

Lectures to be offered in 2007 are:

Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Lilianna Sauter Lecture
Harriet Washington, "American Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans"

Thursday, February 15, 2007
Chris Feudtner, "Depicting Decisions: The History of Diabetes and the Daily Work of Care"

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Annual Friends of the Rare Book Room Lecture
Walton Schalick "School Books, School Days: The Technology of Medical Books in Medieval Paris"

Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Iago Galdston Lecture
Susan Lederer, "Bombs, Blood, and Bio-Markers: Medical Preparedness in Cold War America."

Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Gerry Oppenheimer, "Shattered Dreams?" The Impact of AIDS on the New South Africa"

Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of the public. The Academy is a leading center for urban health policy and action working to enhance the health of people living in cities worldwide through research, education, advocacy, and prevention. Visit us online at www.nyam.org.

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Posted on September 6, 2006

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Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
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amartin@nyam.org

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