Tuesdays January 8 – February 6, 12:30 pm
Hal Slavkin, Professor and Dean Emeritus from USC, returns
to Crowell Library January 8th, with a new class about the recent advances in
healthcare based on new understanding of the human genome. In six sessions, participants will explore
healthcare and biotechnology, with a focus on the new personalized healthcare
options.
The lectures will provide an
historical view of healthcare in the United States from 1900 to the present,
highlighting major healthcare reforms. Throughout this period of time, cost,
access, and quality have each served as drivers for various types off health
policies and federal, state, and local legislation. Considering cost, the USA
now spends $3.2 trillion on healthcare yet ranks 9th out of the 9 major
industrial nations of the world in health outcomes. Considering access, we do
not as yet provide healthcare access to all Americans whereas other industrial
nations provide 100% of their populations with healthcare. We have 10,000
people per day turning 65 years of age and this cohort also contains the vast
majority of chronic diseases and disorders. Meanwhile, profoundly significant
discoveries have and are being made that can provide innovation and
transformation for USA healthcare. This lecture series will highlight what is
and what might be.
Today healthcare providers consider factors
such as genotype (an inventory of all that person’s genes), phenotype (the sum
of observable characteristics from hair color to cardiac function) and the
environment (epigenetics) in which the individual exists. This course will demonstrate how phenotype
connects with genotype; the principles underlying the development and
evolutionary process of how an organism grows; and how novel and innovative
gene editing techniques can address major human diseases and disorders such as
birth defects, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary disorders,
periodontal diseases, cancers, mental diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases
and disorders.
Professor and Dean Emeritus
at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California,
Hal Slavkin has served as Chair of Biochemistry,
and as the Director for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.
This
program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. No reservations are required.
