Cohen to Kickoff the Student Research Group’s Distinguished Speaker Series
Dr. Myron Cohen, director of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, will be the first speaker in the Distinguished Speaker Series, presented by the Student Research Group. This hour-long event is scheduled for Friday, September 7 at 1 p.m. in the Kirkland Auditorium.
At the lecture, Cohen will present a course entitled The Great HIV Pandemic: The Beginning of the End? Cohen is well known for his work on prevention of HIV transmission, notably having his HIV prevention study be named 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by Science. The study found that early treatment with antiretroviral therapy, which slows down the growth of retroviruses, reduced HIV transmission in couples by at least 96 percent. While naming the honor, the editors of Science said, “In combination with other promising clinical trials, the results [of Cohen’s study] have galvanized efforts to end the world’s AIDS epidemic in a way that would have been inconceivable even a year ago.”
Cohen’s findings are currently being incorporated in the policies of the World Health Organization, President Obama’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. Dr. Cohen holds an appointment on the Scientific Advisory Board of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR, created in 2003, serves as an important component of President Obama’s global health initiative.
The Distinguished Speaker Series is an ongoing project during 2012-13 that will provide various researchers the opportunity to speak to the dental school community. The second installment of the Distinguished Speaker Series will feature the School of Dentistry’s Dr. Bill Maixner, director of the Regional Center for Neurosensory Disorders and co-director of the Pain Management Program. Maixner will present on November 1.
