Time: 12:30 to 1:30 pm
Location: West Conference Room
March of Dimes
1275 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10605
Speaker: Rebecca Skloot
Title: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: The Story of HeLa Cells
Rebecca Skloot is an award-winning science writer in the subjects of science and medicine. She teaches creative nonfiction in the MFA program at the University of Memphis. Her articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, NY Times Magazine, Discover Magazine, and other magazines and journals. Her new book to be released in February, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, tells the story of the African-American woman Henrietta Lacks and her cell line – known as HeLa cells – that have been used in biomedical research since the 1950s. HeLa cells were instrumental in the development of the Salk polio vaccine and have been used to advance research in in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping. The bioethical implications of the use of HeLa cells in scientific research have paramount significance today as we grapple with a host of complex issues in medicine, genetics, and reproduction. Ms. Skloot used the resources of the March of Dimes Archives for a portion of her research, and an article accompanying the release of her book appears in the February 2010 issue of Oprah Magazine. For more information, see http://rebeccaskloot.com/.
Rebecca Skloot here. Thanks for posting that, Samantha. for those interested, I'll also be speaking at Columbia on Feb 2nd at noon, and at McNally Jackson Bookstore that night at 7pm.
ReplyDeleteThe details for the Columbia event are below:
Tuesday Feb 2, 12pm, Davis Auditorium, Schpiro Center, 530 West 120th Street, 4th Floor.