WHAT: Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., MACP, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), speaks at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
In a lecture titled “Science: A Tool for Justice,” Dr. Rodgers will discuss how “common, chronic, costly and consequential diseases” – including type 2 diabetes – disproportionately affect minority populations. He’ll make the case that science and medicine can serve as powerful tools for justice.
His presentation is the 12th annual Frank Bryant Jr., M.D., Memorial Lecture in Medical Ethics. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is presented by the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the Health Science Center.
WHEN:
Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015
5 p.m. reception
5:30-6:30 p.m. keynote presentation
WHERE: UT Health Science Center Holly Auditorium, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio.
WHO: Named NIDDK director in 2007, Dr. Rodgers provides scientific leadership and manages a $2 billion budget and more than 600 employees. Previously, he served as the institute’s acting director and deputy director.
Dr. Rodgers, a physician-scientist and molecular hematologist, is credited with discovering the first effective therapy for sickle cell disease. He received undergraduate, graduate and medical degrees from Brown University and, more recently, earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Johns Hopkins University.
The lecture series, held in February to coincide with Black History Month, is named for Frank Bryant Jr., M.D., a much-loved family physician and community leader in San Antonio until his death in 1999. Among the first African-American students to graduate from The University of Texas Medical Branch, Dr. Bryant became an important advocate for the medically underserved living on San Antonio’s East Side.
Dr. Bryant was co-founder and the first medical director of the Ella Austin Health Clinic, and he co-developed the East San Antonio Medical Center. He served as the first African-American president of the Bexar County Medical Society and the first president of the C.A. Whittier Medical Society.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 13 percent of academic institutions receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 31,000 graduates. The $787.7 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.