Emergin Diseases - are we ready? Saturday 8 May, 1999 7:30-10:00pm The Rising Sun Hotel corner Raglan St & Eastern Rd, Melbourne. Science in the PubTM in collaboration with the Victorian branch of the Australian Science Communicators (ASC) launches its first session in Melbourne at ScienceNOW! as part of National Science Week. Funding through the Science and Technology Awareness Program has allowed us to stage sessions around Australia. Tonight’s session will look at emerging diseases and the world’s ecological balance. Although the science will be serious, there is sure to be lots of fun. On the panel we have Ms Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize winning author of ‘The Coming Plague’, and Professor Emeritus Sir Gustav Nossal, former director of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. Our scintillating Science in the Pub compere, Dr Paul Willis—ABC Radio science broadcaster—will lead the discussion, ably assisted by Ms Bernie Hobbs also from ABC Radio. Laurie Garrett is the only writer ever to have been awarded all three of the Big "Ps" of journalism in America: The Peabody, The Polk and The Pulitzer. Garrett took honours in biochemistry from the University of California in Santa Cruz, and was a graduate student in the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology at the University of California in Berkeley. Having done cellular immunology research at both UC Berkeley and Stanford University Garrett dropped out of graduate school shy of completing her PhD in order to pursue science journalism. Early journalistic work included KPFA-FM in Berkeley, Pacifica Radio, OMNI magazine, the Pacific News Service, BBC radio, CBC radio, ABC radio (Australia) and a host of other freelance clients. Included in that period was overseas reporting from sub-Saharan Africa and southern Europe. For eight years (1980-88) Garrett was Science Correspondent for National Public Radio. Coverage included several overseas stints, with particular focus upon sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1988 Garrett has covered science and medicine for Newsday, a New York newspaper with a circulation of roughly 800,000. In addition, she has been a frequent contributor to such things as Vanity Fair, Esquire, The Charlie Rose Show, The Lehrer News Hour, ABC Nightline, National Public Radio programs, a long list of books (including Aids in the World, edited by Jonathan Mann and Daniel Tarantola and Diseases in Evolution, edited by Mary E. Wilson), CNN, Current Issues in Public Health, Foreign Affairs magazine, and a host of other television, radio and print news outlets. During the years 1992-93 Garrett was a Fellow in the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard University. In 1994 Farrar, Straus and Giroux published Garrett’s The Coming Plague: Newly emerging diseases in a world out of balance, which was a national bestseller, ranking on the New York Times Bestseller list for 19 weeks in 1995. Penguin subsequently released the book in paperback. Estimated sales worldwide exceed 500,000 copies. Sir Gus Nossal was born in Bad Ischl, Austria in 1931 and came to Australia with his family in 1939. He studied Medicine at The University of Sydney and, after two years’ residency at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sir Gus moved to Melbourne to work as a Research Fellow at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (the Hall Institute) of Medical Research. One PhD degree later and as Director of the Hall Institute, he embarked on over three decades (1965-1996) of internationally acclaimed research which helped build the foundations of modern immunology. His classic work confirming Burnet’s theory of antibody formation was a watershed in understanding the immune system. Sir Gus has made a remarkable contribution to science and technology. He has been an energetic warrior for improving global health through his long-term involvement with the World Health Organisation (WHO), most recently as Chairman of the Global Programme for Vaccines and Immunisation. Sir Gus’ influence continues to form and shape the scientific affairs of Australia. He has played a role in the birth of many Australian institutions including the Cooperative Research Centres Scheme; VicHealth which he chaired for a decade, and AMRAD, now one of our most prominent biotechnology companies. Sir Gus has exerted strong influence on government policy, especially in his years as President of the Australian Academy of Science. Sir Gus was knighted in 1977 and made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1989. He has received numerous other honours from 11 countries. Amongst the most significant are fellow of The Royal Society of London; Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences; Member of the Academie des Sciences, France; the Robert Koch Gold Medal, the Albert Einstein World Award of Science, the Emil von Behring Prize, the Rabbi Shai Shacknai Prize, and over 90 named lectureships in ten countries. He is also involved in charitable work as Chairman of The Felton Bequests’ Committee; in the business community as a Principal of Foursight Associates Pty Ltd; in aboriginal affairs as Deputy Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal reconciliation; and in international advancement of Australia as Deputy Chairman of the Global Foundation. As a communicator of science he is unparalleled—inspiring future generations of scientists through lectures, radio and television. and true to the tradition of Science in the Pub, Laurie has provided her ‘abstract’ in verse, covered by the explanation: "I’m lousy at this sort of thing!" My colleague in DC named Bill Can often be something of a pill. With Monica and Hillary he’s had his fill, Yet his job is covering that OTHER Bill. Given how low has sunk the DC press, I find it hard, indeed, to caress Pal Bill’s name for me, given the mess That he so accurately reports (more or less). "Hello Germ Lady," friend Bill will call, Asking how streptococcus, HIV and all The other germ names he can recall Are faring? Have they the wherewithall To overcome man’s drugs and pills, Vaccines, quarantines and collective wills? It’s hard to say, I tell the Bills, Including Clinton, in a no-frills Accounting of the enterococcuses, Hantaviruses, flu and staphylococcuses, Hepatitis, TB and meningococcuses, All of them, busy in microbial caucuses Plotting their proximate evolutions That will allow sad revolutions Against our puny defensive solutions. It’s clear, I say, we need diminutions Of silly behaviors that simply give The microbes new chances to grow and live. Where once their lives were prohibitive, Now it is so very permititive. So stop, you Bills, with your obsession With Monica and all licention! Pay heed to the bugs’ progression, Not this blathering political digression!
Science in the Pub™, © 2000. Stutchbury, R, Burton, M.