ATLANTA – Georgia State University College of Law’s Center for Law, Health & Society will host bestselling author and award-winning journalist Seth Mnookin, who will discuss vaccinations and the media’s role in creating public health scares, at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in the Speakers Auditorium in the Student Center.
Following his lecture “Misinformation and Measles: The Disneyland Outbreak, Public Health and the Nature of Truth,” there will be a reception and book signing for his latest, Panic Virus. This book won the National Association of Science Writers 2012 Science in Society Award. Mnookin will speak during a two-part lecture series on “Understanding the Vaccine Debates.”
“Based on his meticulous research for his award-winning book, Seth Mnookin conveys the complex issues of vaccine science, public health policy, and the anti-vaccine movement in a straightforward, easily understandable manner,” said Leslie E. Wolf, professor of law and director for the Center for Law, Health & Society.
“Parents determine whether their children are vaccinated,” Wolf said. “Attendees will better able to make informed decisions based on good science instead of fear — fear often perpetuated by media.”
The Center for Law, Health & Society also will host public health law scholar Ross Silverman, professor of health policy and management at Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, at 11:45 a.m., Tuesday, April 24, in Room 100 of the Urban Life Building.
Silverman, who also holds a secondary appointment at Indiana’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law, will discuss vaccination requirements on school entry in “It’s A Small World After All: Law, Politics, and Immunization Policy.”
“Professor Silverman is a leading public health law scholar,” Wolf said. “His presentation, coupled with Mnookin’s, will shed light on why measles is having a resurgence.”
For the Silverman event, the center has applied for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit from the State Bar of Georgia Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency (cost is $5 per credit hour).
Registration is not required for either event but seating is limited.