* 2006-2007 Dean's Lecture Series* *and Lecture in the Sciences* *Oceans, Climate, Biodiversity, and Human Health:* *The Cholera Paradigm* ** *Rita Colwell* Distinguished University Professor, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland at College Park Senior Advisor and Honorary Chairman, Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. Former Director, National Science Foundation *Tuesday, March 6, 2007 * *4:00 PM* *Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study* ** *Radcliffe Gymnasium* *10 Garden Street, Radcliffe Yard* *Cambridge, Massachusetts* ** This lecture is supported by the Marjorie Cabot de Enriquez Fund. It is designed for the interested layperson and is free and open to the public. Global warming can profoundly change the pattern of infectious diseases. Cholera, which is strongly intertwined with the environment, serves as a paradigm of this phenomenon. Over the past decade, the complexity of climate change has been the subject of extensive discussion. Microbial factors associated with climate change, notably infectious diseases, are rarely---if ever---included in climate models. Rita Colwell recognizes that, although the problem is complicated and the interactions involved are both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, the human health aspect must be considered if global effects of climate change are to be fully understood. Colwell will address how the interaction of humans with cholera bacteria, plankton, and other environmental factors provides the basis for reasonable predictions about cholera outbreaks. She will also look at how other climate-driven diseases may prove similarly measurable in a holistic understanding of disease agents. Colwell is a Distinguished University Professor both at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Maryland at College Park and a senior advisor and honorary chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. Her interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water, and health, and she is currently developing an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world. Prior to serving as the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1998 to 2004, Colwell was president of the Biotechnology Institute and professor of microbiology and biotechnology at the University of Maryland. In her capacity as director of NSF, she served as cochair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the US government, in nonprofit science policy organizations, and in private foundations, as well as in the international scientific research community. She is a nationally respected scientist and educator and has authored or coauthored 16 books and more than 700 scientific publications, served on editorial boards of numerous scientific journals, and produced the award-winning film /Invisible Seas/. A geological site in Antarctica, Colwell Massif, has been named in recognition of her work in the polar regions. For more information, visit www.radcliffe.edu <http://www.radcliffe.edu/> or call 617-495-8600. The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is a scholarly community where individuals pursue advanced work across a wide range of academic disciplines, professions, and creative arts. Within this broad purpose, the Institute sustains a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender, and society. -- Jenny MacGregor Events and Publications Coordinator Harvard University Center for the Environment ph: 617-495-8883