SMITHFIELD, R.I. – This spring, the Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences at Bryant University will host a series of three virtual seminars beginning on Monday, March 8, followed by events on March 24 and April 14. The series, which is open to the public with advance registration, will feature three renowned industry experts who will speak on critical issues and changes in health care today.
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On March 8, Andrey Zarur, Ph.D., Founder, President and CEO of Greenlight BioSciences in Cambridge, MA, will provide insights on COVID-19 vaccine developments.
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On March 24, Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., Epidemiologist, COVID-19 Expert, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, will provide a glimpse into life beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic and how to combat infectious diseases, the “invisible enemy.” This is a co-sponsored event with the Bryant Honors Program.
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On April 14, Arun K. Singh, M.D., nationally known Cardiac Surgeon and Adjunct Professor of Bryant University’s Physician Assistant Program, will reflect on his journey as a physician and immigrant, share insights on changes in health care, and discuss his best-selling book, “Your Heart, My Hands.”
This seminar series is presented by the Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences (CHBS), established in August 2020, in part because of a $200,000 grant from the Fred M. Roddy Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the fields of medicine, health care, and education.
The mission of the CHBS is to educate and train the next generation of leaders who are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of others. The challenges of the ongoing global pandemic have highlighted the critical need for multi-disciplinary approaches to identifying and solving problems in this sector. The Center leverages the strength of Bryant’s business core to become a premier choice for students pursuing a career in health sciences, health care, or behavioral sciences.
"We developed this series to help educate students and the public about the current challenges of COVID-19 and how we can better anticipate and take steps to prevent the devastation we are seeing now."
“We developed this series to help educate students and the public about the current challenges of COVID-19 and how we can better anticipate and take steps to prevent the devastation we are seeing now,” says Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Science and Technology, and CHBS Director. “The more we can educate our leaders and every individual, the better we will be able to respond and recover when faced with the spread of infectious diseases and other health care challenges.”
Below is the full lineup for the Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences Seminar Series.
Monday, March 8, at 3:00 p.m. | Insights into the COVID-19 Vaccine | Virtual Event
Andrey Zarur, Ph.D., Founder, President, & CEO of GreenLight Biosciences
Andrey Zarur, Ph.D., is the Founder, President, and CEO of GreenLight Biosciences, a company focused on solving some of the world’s greatest challenges in human health, animal health, and food production through the use of ribonucleic acid (RNA). Greenlight Biosciences is currently developing and expanding vaccine efforts to establish a scalable current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) manufacturing platform. This platform will allow for the production of almost any RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine at a scale and cost that enables global delivery. In parallel, the company is also advancing a number of RNAbased vaccines and therapeutics against COVID-19. Zarur is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lumicell Surgical and is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has contributed to the development of a number of breakthrough, life-saving therapies in a number of areas of human health including oncology, autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders, and infectious diseases. Zarur completed his undergraduate studies in engineering at the National University of Mexico and received doctoral degrees from the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT and from the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School.
Wednesday, March 24, at 3:00 p.m. | Life After the Pandemic | Virtual Event
Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., Epidemiologist, COVID-19 Expert, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
This is a co-sponsored event with the Bryant Honors Program.
Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, is a member of President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 Task Force. Hailed by CNN as “the infectious disease expert who has been warning us for a decade and a half that the world will face a pandemic,” Osterholm quickly became the go to expert on the public health impact of COVID-19. In his bestselling book, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, Osterholm advocates for a plan to combat “an overwhelming army of deadly, invisible enemies” and lays out a nine-point plan to prevent “the unthinkable from the inevitable.” In addition to Director of CIDRAP, Osterholm currently serves as Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a Professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an Adjunct Professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota. He is a frequent consultant to the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control.
Wednesday, April 14, at 3:00 p.m. | TIME TO CLOSE: Reflections on life, an immigrant journey and its obstacles, and a best-selling book, “Your Heart, My Hands”
Arun K. Singh, M.D., nationally known Cardiac Surgeon, Adjunct Professor of Bryant University’s Physician Assistant Program
This event will have a limited audience in Janikies Theatre in addition to a virtual audience.
One of the most prolific heart surgeons in American history, Arun K. Singh, M.D. was born in India in 1944. At age seven, he endured two bone-shattering accidents, resulting in temporary paralysis of his dominant hand that required years of arduous rehabilitation. Despite missing five years of school due to his incapacitates, and later learning he was dyslexic, he eventually graduated from medical school in his homeland with high honors at the age of 22. He immigrated to the United States in 1967 for surgical training where he was trained at Columbia University, Brown University’s Alpert Medical School, and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. At Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, R.I., where he has practiced since 1975, Singh helped to build a nationally recognized cardiac surgery program. He has personally performed more than 15,000 documented heart surgeries along with another 5,000 related procedures—more than nearly every surgeon in history. He was a Professor of Surgery at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School, now Emeritus since 2016, and was voted Rhode Island’s “Top Doc” in heart surgery for 20 years running. Today, he is an Adjunct Professor at Bryant University’s Physician Assistant Program.
About Bryant University
For 158 years, Bryant University has been at the forefront of delivering an exceptional education that anticipates the future and prepares students to be innovative leaders of character in a changing world. Bryant delivers an innovative and uniquely integrated business and liberal arts education that inspires students to excel. With approximately 3,700 graduate and undergraduate students from 38 states and 49 countries, Bryant is recognized as a leader in international education and regularly receives top rankings from U.S. News and World Report, Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, and Barron's. Visit www.Bryant.edu.
