Webcast Lectures
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Lecture One—Microbe Hunters: Tracking Infectious Agents, by Donald E. Ganem, M.D.
Infectious diseases have plagued us since the dawn of history. Ancient diseases such as smallpox, plague, typhus, and malaria have profoundly shaped human history and evolution, and newer infectious diseases—AIDS is a prominent example—are constantly emerging. Even illnesses long thought to be noninfectious, such as ulcers and some cancers, can now be linked to a microbial agent. How are new diseases recognized as infectious and how are their causes identified? In his first lecture, Dr. Ganem will probe these questions by using examples from epidemics past and present.
Lecture Two—The Microbes Strike Back, by B. Brett Finlay, Ph.D.
During the Middle Ages, the Black Death, or bubonic plague, killed 25 million people. With the discovery of antibiotics and improvements in sanitation, people felt that bacterial diseases such as the plague had become a thing of the past. However, today bacterial infections cause the deaths of millions of children each year in developing countries. And bacterial infections that are resistant to any form of available treatment are now appearing everywhere in the world. In this lecture, Dr. Finlay will explain why bacterial diseases continue to be a major health problem worldwide and discuss the shortcomings of current methods of prevention and treatment.
Lecture Three—Outwitting Bacteria's Wilay Ways, by B. Brett Finlay, Ph.D.
ith the increase in antibiotic resistance, new weapons are urgently needed to fight bacterial invaders. Using examples from his own work, Dr. Finlay will describe how scientists are trying to understand, on a molecular level, how pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria interact with our cells and cause disease. This understanding will reveal new targets for antibacterial weapons.
Lecture Four—Emereging Infections: How Epidemics Arise, by Donald E. Ganem, M.D.
We often think of infection as something that befalls us as a consequence of forces beyond our control. Epidemics seem to have a mysterious dynamic, arising unexpectedly and subsiding inexplicably. But science shows that this impression is inaccurate. While the determinants of epidemics are undoubtedly complex, they are understandable. In this lecture on interactions between viral pathogens and their hosts, Dr. Ganem will consider some of the forces that create and shape epidemic infection.
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Webcast Lectures