Olsen to discuss ‘One Health’ approach to global health challenges

The first Global Hot Spots Lecture of 2014-15 year will focus on dealing with international health challenges, such as the current Ebola crisis in West Africa.

Olsen_Chris_hs09_7993Christopher W. Olsen, professor of public health and associate director for One Health, Global Health Institute, will speak on MERS, Chikungunya and Ebola – Global Health Challenges Requiring an Integrated ‘One Health’ Approach, on Friday, September 12, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., at the Pyle Center 702 Langdon Street.

The Global Hot Spots Lecture Series – sponsored by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, PLATO (Participatory Learning and Teaching Organization) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of International Studies – is free and open to the public. Registration is requested.

Olsen, who also is serving as acting director of the Global Health Institute, is a professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the UW–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. He received his D.V.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the UW-Madison.

His research has focused on public health aspects of influenza in animals and the genetic factors that control transmission of influenza viruses among people and animals. In addition, he has strong educational interests in zoonotic infectious diseases more generally, in building bridges between the veterinary medical and human medical professions, and in promoting an interdisciplinary One Health approach for global and public health.