Athens, Ga. – The increased intensity of travel in our ever smaller world has brought with it a greater vulnerability to the spread of old, new and re-emerging infectious diseases. As a result, it is more important than ever for travelers and their health-care providers to be informed about the vaccines, medications and other measures necessary to prevent illness and injury during international travel.
The University of Georgia College of Public Health and Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute hope to address the concerns of the international traveler with a public lecture on Tuesday, April 22 at 7 p.m. in Masters Hall at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel.
Titled “How to Travel and Stay Healthy,” the evening lecture is part of a new series featuring Georgia experts and aimed at increasing community knowledge and awareness about public health issues in the media and at home.
Featured speakers will be Dr. Chris Whalen, professor of epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Dr. Ron Forehand, medical director of UGA’s University Health Center.
Whalen will be joining the faculty of the College of Public Health in the fall, as a professor of epidemiology. His research interests focus on the control of infectious diseases in human populations, especially tuberculosis and HIV infection. Since 1991, he has been involved with the Uganda-Case Western Reserve University Research Collaboration as a physician-epidemiologist. In this international collaboration, he has evaluated the interaction of tuberculosis and HIV infection at the cellular, clinical and population levels. He has served as a consultant for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Fogarty International Center.
While serving as a captain in the United States Navy from 1974 to 2001, Forehand served on hospital teaching staffs, clinical staffs and as a senior medical executive. Additionally, he practiced medicine overseas for eight years in Asia and Europe. He is the former president of the board of directors of the Athens Area Child Abuse Prevention Council. Forehand currently sees patients in the medical and travel medicine clinics at the University Health Center.
The lecture is open to the public and audience members are invited to bring specific concerns to the question-and-answer session following the lecture.
For more information about this event and the UGA Community Lecture Series on Public Health Issues, see www.biomed.uga.edu.
