Course Format:
A series of six, two to three-hour sessions on critical topics related to health and nutrition. Sessions are scheduled from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM on six consecutive Tuesdays, as noted below. Two co-directors will lead and moderate the seminars, comprised of one or two 30-minute guest speaker presentations followed by a one hour discussion period. Student participation is an integral component of this course and student volunteers will lead discussions after a short (10 minute) introduction to defined topics. Topics and planned guest speakers are as follows:
January 9th, 2007
Session I: The Millennium Development Goals: What Are They?
Speakers: Pedro Sanchez, Ph.D., Soil Agronomist, The Earth Institute and Co-Leader of the
Millennium Village Project.
Facilitator: Richard J. Deckelbaum, M.D., Director, Institute of Human Nutrition and Co-
Health Scientist, The Millennium Villages Project.
Readings: Millennium Development Goals, available online at: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
and
Hunger in Africa:the link between unhealthy people and unhealthy soils, Sanchez, Pedro & Swaminathan, M., The Lancet, 2005; 365: pps. 442-444.. (PDF)
Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development: A Strategy for Large-Scale Action, Washington, D.C., The World Bank, 2006,
Available online at: http://0-web.worldbank.org.library.vu.edu.au/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/
and optional additional reading
A Global Compact to End Poverty, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time, Sachs, Jeffrey, New York, Penguin Press, 2005, pps. 266-287.
For additional reference material, see the website at www.unmillenniumproject.org.
Pedro Sanchez Lecture Slides in PDF format
Location: Clark Conference Room #4, First Floor Milstein Hospital Building
January 16th, 2007
Session 2: Chronic Disease in the Developing World
Speakers: Henry Greenberg, M.D. and Susan Raymond, Ph.D., Columbia University College of
Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia University Earth Institute.
Facilitator: Dickson Despommier, PhD, School of Public Health
Readings: A Race Against Time: the Challenge of Cardiovascular Disease in Developing
Countries, Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, Sachs, Jeffrey, Chair, New York, Trustees of Columbia University, 2004. (Complimentary copies are available courtesy of Drs. Greenberg and Raymond from the Institute of Human Nutrition office (PH15E-1512, ext. 5-4808).
and
Cardiovascular Disease And Global Health: Threat And Opportunity, Greenberg H, Raymond SU, Leeder SR, Health Aff (Millwood), Health Affairs (Web Edition), 2005.pps 31-41. (PDF)
Henry Greenberg Lecture Slides in PDF format
Susan Raymond Lecture Slides in PDF format
Location: CU Science and Technology Ventures Conference Room, Presbyterian Hospital Building, 15th Floor, East Side, Room PH15-1505
January 30th, 2007
Session 3: Parasites, People and Poop: Hindsights and Foresights
Dickson D. Despommier, Dr.PH, School of Public Health
Charles Knirsch,, M.D., Department of Medicine (tentative)
Readings: Control of Parasites, Parasitic Infections, and Parasitic Diseases, Molyneux, D.H., in Topley and Wilson’s Microbial Infections and Parasitology, A.H. Arnold Pubs, London UK, 2006. pps 85-114.
and
New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People, Desowitz, Robert S., W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition (April 1987).
and
The Summer a New Virus Came to Town, Despommier, Dickson,
The Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, Winter 2002. pps. 20-22. Available as PDF online at: http://cumc.columbia.edu/news/journal/journal-o/pdf/P%26S12002.pdf
Location: Hammer Health Sciences Building, Room 316
February 6th, 2007
Session 4: Human Conflict and Natural Disasters: Rescuing Populations
Speakers: Ron Waldman, M.D., Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Facilitator: Dickson Despommier, Ph.D.
Readings: Complex Humanitarian Emergencies in International Public Health: Diseases,
Programs, Systems, and Policies,Toole MJ, Waldman RJ, Zwi AB Ed. Merson M, Black R, Mills A, Sudbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett, 2001. pp.439-510. (PDF)
Location: Hammer Health Sciences Building, Room 316
February 13th, 2007
Session 5: Eco-Nutrition: Models from Africa and the Middle East
Speakers: Richard J. Deckelbaum, M.D., Institute of Human Nutrition
Xavier Simcock, MS2
Readings: Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development: A Strategy for Large-Scale Action, Washington, D.C., The World Bank, 2006, Chapter 1, pps.1-21. (PDF)
and
When Africa's Malnutrition Victims Survive, Wines, Michael, The International Herald Tribune, December 27, 2006. (PDF)
and
Econutrition – Implementation Models from the Millennium Villages Project in Africa, Deckelbaum R, Palm C, Mutuo P, and DeClerck, F. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, in press. (PDF)
Dr. Richard Deckelbaum's Lecture Slides in PDF format
Xavier Simcock's Lecture Slides in PDF format
Location: Hammer Health Sciences Building, Room 316
February 20th, 2007
Session 6: Barriers to Attaining the MDGs: Politics, Capacity, Corruption and War
Andre Jacques Neusy, M.D., New York University and Bjorg Palsdottir, MPA
Facilitator: Richard J. Deckelbaum, M.D.
Student Discussion Leader: Jordan Jacobs and Patrick Fleming
Readings: Millennium Development Goals Report 2006
New York, United Nations, 2006. Available online as a PDF at:
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGReport2006.pdf
and
Why Some Countries Fail the Thrive, in The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our
Time, Sachs, Jeffrey, Penguin Press, 2005, pps. 51-73.
and
Millennium Development Goals: Reality and Prospects, Sachs, Jeffrey, transcript of speech for
The Bangladesh Economic Association Conference, Dhaka, 2004. Available online at http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/about/director/documents/dhaka062904.pdf
and
The Politics of the Millennium Development Goals: Contributing to Strategies for Ending Poverty?
Part One: The Politics of MDGs and Poverty Eradication, Tomlinson, Brian, Canadian Council for
International Cooperation, Ottawa, Canada, May 2005. Available online at
http://www.realityofaid.org/themeshow.php?id=14
and
Conflict Fact Sheet, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome,
http://www.ifad.org/pub/factsheet/conflict/conflict_e.pdf
and
In the Wake of War, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome,
http://www.ifad.org/inthewakeofwar/index.htm and documentary film available at
http://www.ifad.org/inthewakeofwar/trailer/
Location: Hammer Health Sciences Building, Room 316
For more information, contact:
Richard J. Deckelbaum, M.D. Institute of Human Nutrition, rjd20@columbia.edu
(212) 305-4808
Dickson D. Despommier, Ph.D. School of Public Health, ddd1@columbia.edu
(212) 781-6670.
Pamela Cooper, M.A., Institute of Human Nutrition, pc203@columbia.edu
(212) 305-9587
