Laurie Garrett, the 2003 Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecturer.
Renowned journalist and author Laurie Garrett gave a timely and riveting lecture on "SARS and Other Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance," at the 2003 Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture hosted by the Cornell University's Center for the Environment (Ithaca campus). At the event, held June 16 in the Medical College's Uris Auditorium, alumni of Cornell University in Ithaca and friends of the Medical College came to hear Ms. Garrett's talk on illnesses including SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which appears to have originated in southern China. Studies also suggest that SARS developed through a process called zoonosis, which refers to diseases that can be passed from animals to humans.
Dr. Robert Millman, the Saul P. Steinberg Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health and chief of the Division of Community and Public Health Programs at Weill Cornell, gave the opening remarks. "Laurie Garrett was prescient in recognizing the very danger of these communicable diseases, which are real and potential catastrophes. She speaks with authority and has remained in the center of these catastrophes when other people have moved away from them."
Mark Bain, director of the Cornell Center for the Environment, said the Center is very interested in developing an environmental research agenda in New York City. He added, "This is the beginning of bringing more public research into the New York metropolitan area."
In her presentation, Ms. Garrett spoke about the detrimental economic effects caused by SARS's presence in China and the frequent fever checks she was submitted to before she could eat in restaurants. "It felt like the Great Depression had hit. People were afraid to shop, to go out. I stayed in a hotel where only one other person was staying. It was absolutely devastating to the economy. And at the crux of it all was whether one had a fever or not."
Ms. Garrett admits that as of yet, there is no absolute answer to the origin of SARS, because "we just haven't honed in enough. The truth is we have a tremendous mystery on our hands." While fear of SARS seems to have dissipated in recent weeks, Ms. Garrett says there are still many questions that need to be answered. She hypothesized, "What if something like SARS hits us here? Will there be no one visiting the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty? Would there be a post-9/11 at large going on and on for weeks?"
From left: Dr. Robert Millman; Laurie Garrett; and Jill and Ken Iscol.
Ms. Garrett has chronicled countless incidents of infectious diseases. She is the only writer ever to have been awarded all three of the "Big P's" in journalism: the Peabody, the Polk (twice) and the Pulitzer, as well as numerous other awards. She joined Newsday as a medical and science writer in 1988 and is the author of "The Coming Plague" and "Betrayal of Trust."
The Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture is presented annually by the Cornell Center for the Environment. The Center promotes interdisciplinary collaborations on environmental topics and encourages greater environmental awareness in the Cornell community and beyond. The Iscols established the Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture program in 1999, to introduce prominent scholars, newsmakers, scientists and leaders to the Cornell community.
Photos by Amelia Panico.