Epidemic diseases, and efforts to contain them, have been and continue to be an inescapable part of human existence. Dr. Powel Kazanjian, chief of infectious diseases at Michigan Medicine and a professor of history and public health, will trace these efforts, including similarities between efforts to contain syphilis in the early 20th Century and HIV/AIDS in the latter part of the century, as well as COVID-19 in 2020.

He'll also explore why scientific public health campaigns must also address how to rectify the socioeconomic conditions and human behaviors that vex elimination efforts and lead to emerging epidemics.

The lecture is the 19th annual Horace W. Davenport Lecture in the Medical Humanities, presented by the U-M Medical School's Center for the History of Medicine.

Full details and a Zoom link to watch the lecture are at https://chm.med.umich.edu/chms-19th-annual-davenport-lecture-nov-12-2020/