Symposium to address complex issues surrounding water and health

On November 13, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the New York Academy of Sciences will host a symposium to address the complex issues surrounding water and health.

Cited as one of the "grand challenges facing the 21st century" by President Barack Obama, water remains a priority among many public health professionals and is the focus of Water and Health: Global Issues and Our Shared Responsibilities. The conference will examine universal access to clean water, the complex politics of water and the crumbling water infrastructure that experts say poses a significant threat in even the most economically developed nations. Researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public Health have been actively engaged in water science since the early 20thcentury and will discuss the deteriorating conditions in the U.S. and abroad along with solutions to this growing public health crisis.

Featured speakers include:

Peter Agre, MD, professor with the Bloomberg School's W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.

Rita R. Colwell, PhD, professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Environmental Health Sciences; president and CEO of Cosmos ID, Inc. and professor with the University of Maryland College Park.

Erik R. Peterson, MBA, MA, visiting scholar with the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and senior vice president with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Kellogg Schwab, PhD, MS, associate professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the Center for Water and Health.

M. Gordon Wolman, PhD, professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the Division of Environmental Health Engineering.

What:
Water and Health: Global Issues and Our Shared Responsibilities

When:
Friday, November 13, 2009
1:15-5:30 PM

Where:
The New York Academy of Sciences Conference Center
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich Street, 40th floor
New York, New York 10007