Campuswide Book Club Discussion

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The Book Club will gather on Monday, May 7^th from 12:15pm to 1:45pm in MEB Lecture Room 4 for a ÔÇ£brown bagÔÇØ discussion of the book and its relevance for the work we all do. A distinguished panel featuring Drs. Corey Hebert, Cassandra Youmans, and John Estrada will lead this important discussion.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor, black tobacco farmer whose cellsÔÇötaken without her knowledge in 1951ÔÇöbecame one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. HenriettaÔÇÖs cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family canÔÇÖt afford health insurance.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Broadway Paperbacks 2011), by Rebecca Skloot, is an enjoyable read that delves into issues of health care disparities and medical ethics. An award winning piece of non-fiction, this book was featured on over 60 criticsÔÇÖ best of the year lists and was awarded the 2010 Wellcome Trust Book Prize, the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceÔÇÖs Award for Excellence in Science Writing, the 2011 Audie Award for Best Nonfiction Audiobook, and a Medical JournalistsÔÇÖ Association Open Book Award.