Scott Podolsky – The Antibiotic Era: Reform, Resistance and the Pursuit of a Rational Therapeutics

Speaker: Scott Podolsky, MD, Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Director of the Center for the History of Medicine, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine

Today, as we increasingly turn our attention to antibiotic resistance and the possibility of a “post-antibiotic” era, it is important to consider the historical evolution of forces that promote or impede a “rational” therapeutics. In this talk, Scott Podolsky analyzes the far-reaching history of antibiotics and their use, focusing particularly on seven decades of reformers who have attempted to change how antibiotics are developed and prescribed. Tensions between antibiotic marketing and conservation, and between the education versus regulation of physicians, continue to play out today in medical offices, hospitals, and the halls of Congress alike.

Free an open to the public. Advance registration is required. Please see the New York Academy of Medicine website for details.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Weill Cornell Medical College’s Heberden Society.