Harvard School of Public Health - Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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Rear Row —Dr. Michelson, Dr. Spielman, Dr. Frothingham, Dr. Alford, Dr. Pan, Dr. Chernin, Dr. Burnett. Front Row —Mrs. Butler, Dr. Weller. T hose of us in the Department of Tropical Public Health find our interests focused on the ever expanding list of infectious agents that attack mankind, and particu¬ larly on the ecological determinants of the diseases they produce. In a brief summary, it is possible to express specific priorities of interest in such a multifaceted area only in general terms. At the top of the general list must come the primary responsibility of any academic institution, namely, the task of attempting to improve our teaching program so as better to disseminate relevant knowledge, to our student body and to colleagues in other disciplines. Our teaching obligations increase as old infectious dis¬ ease problems reappear in new forms—at a time when it is fashionable to de-emphasize the teaching of infectious disease at all educational levels in medicine and public health. A second obligation inherent in an academic environment is the development of new knowledge, and particularly of knowledge that is immediately relevant to the solution of pressing health problems. We look with pride, for example, on the con¬ tributions of our research group that for the past ten years has focused on schisto¬ somiasis, and has now achieved a worldwide reputation for pioneering research on this most important parasitic disease. A final obligation deals with the responsibility to perpetuate and improve the sub¬ stance and philosophy of our program. Thus, we are involved in a variety of programs that literally are global in extent. These range from the recruitment of medical stu¬ dents through the provision of field experience in developing areas, to the acceptance of a direct role in the molding of scientific and other decisions at various levels via service with national and international consultant groups. In line with this objective, it is our hope that the Class of 1964, as a consequence of the mutually stimulating interaction that should characterize the student-teacher relationship, will have found something of philosophical as well as factual value in our offering. Thomas H. Weller Head of the Departoient 27

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TROPICAL PUBLIC HEALTH 26

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MICROBIOLOGY John C. Snyder Head of the Department of Microbiology T he most important activity of the Microbiology Department in the immediate future is that of developing its part of the new Center for Prevention of Infectious Diseases, namely, the establishment of endowment and construction funds, the planning of new laboratories and classrooms, and the coordination of the teaching program with the new curriculum for the Master of Public Health degree. At present, the two departments most directly concerned with infectious diseases. Microbiology and Tropical Public Health, are located at a considerable distance from one another in different buildings and are handicapped by crowded and inadequate facilities. During the academic year 1963-64, we are launching a major effort to obtain funds for the construction of six floors in the new research buildings of the school. These floors will be designed to provide adequate facilities not only for research on the various infectious agents which continue to plague mankind but also for the explora¬ tion of the role of infectious agents in the causation of diseases hitherto regarded as non-infectious, for example, cancer, mental retardation and certain chronic degenera¬ tive disorders. The importance of the emphasis by the Harvard School of Public Health on the prevention of infectious diseases is underscored by the recent trend in medical educa¬ tion to reduce sharply the time devoted to the study of infectious diseases. Thus com¬ munities, states, and nations must depend increasingly on the graduates of schools of public health for intelligent leadership in the control and prevention of epidemics and in the search for the causes of diseases affecting large segments of society. The School has accepted the responsibility for intensifying its program of research on infectious diseases, and for providing in its future curriculum a comprehensive and balanced presentation, to include the essential knowledge as well as the principles upon wihch to base wise administrative practices in the prevention and control of infectious diseases of man. 28 John C. Snyder Head of the Department