The Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus on How We Protect U.S. Citizens from Contagious Diseases in the Age of Globalization. Our distinguished speaker is Dr. Peter Hotez from Baylor College of Medicine.
If you think river blindness, hookworm, or elephantiasis are diseases that can just be found in tropical, less developed countries, guess again. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) affect an estimated 12 million Americans living in poverty, primarily in the southern half of the U.S. NTDs are called “neglected,” because they generally afflict the world’s poor, and historically have not received as much attention as other diseases.
Join Dr. Hotez as he discusses the challenges for controlling these diseases as they ebb onto our shores. There is an urgent need to step up surveillance of these NTDs. Equally important, we need new and better control tools, including point-of-care diagnostics and new drugs and vaccines.
The Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus provides a forum where Members and staff can interact directly with preeminent researchers responsible for important scientific discoveries. Many of the stunning advances, made possible by NIH funding, highlighted in these presentations have led to improved understanding of the cause, treatment, and prevention of human disease.
