Science for the Public: Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations
September 08, 2020 zoom-recording by Belmont Media Center, Belmont MA
Davidson Hamer, M.D.., Professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine,; faculty member at BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL); Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
A large percentage of children in the world are not healthy, and many –especially in impoverished nations or communities– suffer serious conditions. Dr. Hamer explains why the World Health Organization is the indispensable lifeline for children around the world. He discusses the variety of health issues he has addressed in his extensive work as physician and researcher for the W.H.O. He explains why wealthy nations, certainly the U.S., must support the international efforts to improve the health of children.
Dr. Hamer, a board-certified specialist in infectious diseases with a particular interest in tropical infectious diseases, has extensive field experience in neonatal and child survival research including studies of micronutrient interventions, maternal and neonatal health, malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases. During the last 20+ years, he has supervised and provided technical support to more than 50 studies in developing countries that evaluated interventions for improving neonatal survival, improving access for pregnant women to emergency obstetrical care, treatment and prevention of malaria, HIV/AIDS, micronutrient deficiencies, diarrheal disease, and pneumonia.
Recent article by Dr. Davidson Hamer Why Withdrawing the United States from the WHO ‘Is a Terrible Decision’
Dr. Hamer is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the International Society of Travel Medicine. Dr. Hamer currently has active projects in Bangladesh, Zambia, South Africa, and the United States. Major current projects include neonatal sepsis prevention using prebiotics and probiotics in Bangladesh; using community health workers to improve early childhood development in rural South Africa, antiretroviral adherence among congenitally infected HIV-positive children in Lusaka, Zambia; and a scaled-up evaluation of community-based mothers’ groups for improving early child development in rural Zambia.