Professor Bruce Lanphear from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver is joining the Centre for Academic Child Health for three months as a Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professor. Whilst here Professor Lanphear will be giving three guest lectures, please see details below.
Lecture for Population Health, History, Paediatrics, Nutrition.
Why We Live Longer: Thursday 16 February
British physician Thomas McKeown documented a steep increase in life expectancy from 1900 to 1940, but experts disagree about why we live longer. “There is little empirical evidence,” David Cutler said, “and much unresolved debate about what caused these improvements.” To resolve this dispute, we need to distinguish strategies focused on treating individual patients from those reducing hazards in large populations, often before they become sick. I will focus on the decline in fatalities from smallpox, diarrhoea, measles, and tuberculosis during the 20th century, including the unappreciated role of vitamin A, rickets, and airborne pollutants.
Postgraduate Lecture
The Mysterious Decline in Coronary Heart Disease: Thursday 23 February
In the fall of 1978, physicians and scientists gathered in Bethesda, Maryland to solve a mystery: why had deaths from coronary heart disease plummeted in the US, but not in Britain? The attendees concluded that preventive measures and medical care contributed equally to the decline, but nobody really knew why coronary deaths had declined. Using data from the United States and Britain, this presentation will explore reasons for the mysterious decline in coronary heart disease deaths, including the insidious role of pollutants.
Public Lecture
Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxic Chemicals on the Developing Brain: Tuesday 28 February
Toxic chemicals – such as lead, pesticides, and flame retardants – are implicated in the development of preterm births, intellectual deficits, and behavioural problems in children. The impact of low-level exposures to toxic chemicals is usually subtle for an individual child, but they can be substantial for populations. Yet too little has been done to protect children from toxic chemicals. This session will provide an overview of the population impact of toxic chemicals on children’s brain development and ways to avoid exposures to toxic chemicals during pregnancy and childhood.
For further details on any of the above lectures, please email:
cach-centre@bristol.ac.uk