A Virtual Conversation with
Dr. Paul Offit, Author of 

You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation

Tuesday, November 9, at 7 pm EST on Zoom

Science Writers in New York is pleased to present Paul Offit, MD, (@DrPaulOffit), a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He will talk with SWINY co-chair David Levine (@dlloydlevine) about his new book You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation (BASIC Books, September 2021). And he will answer your questions about the COVID-19 vaccines as well.

Dr. Offit’s book has been hailed by both The New York Times and Nature as riveting and filled with fascinating tales. The Nature reviewer wrote:

“His latest book—You Bet Your Life—couldn’t be more timely. Using the stories of key patients, he weaves a narrative of incredible transformations in medical care that were not easy or safe linear progressions. Charting some of the ‘greatest advances,’ Offit focuses on the long history of mistakes, negligence, paternalism, lack of oversight and the many casualties along the way, including individuals and public confidence.

“The book breaks down key developments into three parts, traversing a wide range of medical breakthroughs—from heart transplants and anesthesia (‘Risk’) to antibiotics and X-rays (‘Oversight’) and, finally, chemotherapy and gene therapy (‘Serendipity’).”

About Dr. Paul Offit

Paul A. Offit, MD, is director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Offit is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of virology and immunology and was a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is a member of the Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, and a founding advisory board member of the Autism Science Foundation and the Foundation for Vaccine Research, a member of the Institute of Medicine and co-editor of the foremost vaccine text, Vaccines.

Dr. Offit has published more than 150 papers in medical and scientific journals in the areas of rotavirus-specific immune responses and vaccine safety. He is also the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq®, recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC. For this achievement, Dr. Offit received the Luigi Mastroianni and William Osler Awards from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Charles Mérieux Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and was honored by Bill and Melinda Gates during the launch of their Foundation’s Living Proof Project for global health.

Have a question for Dr. Offit you would like answered? Submit it here!

When:
Tuesday, November 9
7 to 8 pm EST on Zoom

Register:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FQwAzTxkT7CFoQWqtylGxQ