UF lecture series to address health challenges in Latin America, Caribbean

September 9, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A Harvard Medical School professor will talk about public health priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the University of Florida.

Arachu Castro, assistant professor of social medicine, will present “Responding to Public Health Priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean: From Academic Research to Policy Setting to Clinical Practice,” in the Keene Faculty Center of Dauer Hall.

Castro’s lecture is the first of five this fall as part of the Health and Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean Bacardi Family Lecture Series.

The series is sponsored by the UF Center for Latin American Studies’ Bacardi Family Endowment in collaboration with the UF Health Science Center. The series will address priority diseases, public policy and strategies for meeting health challenges in the region. Speakers will also participate in a graduate seminar on the same topic.

The other lectures include “Human Influenza H1N1 (Swine Flu) in Yucatan, Mexico,” presented by Dr. Alvaro Quijano,of the Yucatan Department of Health; “Misiόn Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighborhood): The Concept of Health as a Human Right – Venezuela;” by Dr. Carles Muntaner of the University of Toronto; “Mosquito-Borne Diseases and Public Health Challenges in Guatemala,” by Dr. Maria Eugenia Moralesof the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; and “Road to Better Health? Economic Development and Infectious Diseases in Ecuador,” by Dr. James A. Trostle of Trinity College.

The Bacardi Family Eminent Scholar Chair in Latin American Studies was established in 1991 through the leadership of Bacardi Imports Inc. and the collaboration of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the state of Florida. The endowment allows the Center for Latin American Studies to invite distinguished scholars and public figures to teach, lecture, mentor students and carry out research at the university.

Founded in 1930, the mission of the UF Center for Latin American Studies is to advance knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean and its peoples throughout the hemisphere. With more than 170 faculty from colleges across UF, the center is one of the largest institutions for interdisciplinary research, teaching and outreach on Latin America, Caribbean and Latino Studies.

For further information about the upcoming presentations in the Bacardi Lecture Series please visit: www.ufglobalhealth.org or contact: Jorge Hernandez, professor of epidemiology, at 352-392-2212, ext. 4105, or Hernandezj@vetmed.ufl.edu.