Join us for World AIDS Day 2014 at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry
More people die in a 48 hour period from HIV/AIDS than have died in the entire Ebola epidemic so far. With 27 million people infected worldwide, it continues to be the world’s number one killer.
These staggering statistics are part of what drives researchers at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry to invest countless hours in the lab looking for ways to better understand and stop HIV/AIDS from continuing to spread.
“Beginning with the great science and vaccine work that was done by Yong Kang, and the molecular research that was done by Jimmy Dikeakos and Steve Barr, we have become one of the top HIV research teams in the country,” said world-renowned HIV researcher Dr. Eric Arts, the new chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2014, these leading researchers will come together to share their knowledge and provide insight into the latest breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS research.
Moderated by the Middlesex London Health Unit’s Officer of Public Health, Dr. Chris Mackie, the panellists include:
- Dr. Stephen Barr, Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology
- Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos, Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology
- Dr. Gregor Reid, Professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, and Surgery
- Dr. Michael Silverman, Chief of Infectious Diseases at London Health Sciences Centre
- Dr. Eric Arts, Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Arts strongly believes that coming together to draw attention back to HIV/AIDS on World AIDS Day is an important endeavor, especially because so much attention has been taken away from this epidemic in recent months with the focus on more minor pathogens like Ebola.
“That’s not to say that Ebola isn’t a devastating disease,” he said. “But it is nowhere even remotely close in scale to HIV. If we look at 13,000 people infected with Ebola, compared with 27 million, it’s not even in the same league.”
Join us for this panel discussion on December 1, 2014 from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building, Rm. 282. Space is limited, so if you plan to attend R.S.V.P. to comms@schulich.uwo.ca before Thursday, November 27, 2014.
