ATTENTION: News and health editors

19 October 2001
Contact: Sarah Yang, Media Relations
(510) 643-7741
scy@pa.urel.berkeley.edu

WHAT:
"Update on Bioterrorism: Challenges to Public Health," a seminar by University of California, Berkeley Professor Arthur Reingold, MD, addressing the key issues public health officials face from bioterrorism threats. Topics of discussion include:

* Whether the public health infrastructure is equipped to recognize and handle outbreaks caused by biological attacks.
* The complexities involved in setting up an adequate public health response system.
* The challenges that lie ahead for public health officials.

WHEN:
12-1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22.

WHERE:
Sibley Auditorium at the Bechtel Engineering Center, UC Berkeley. Bechtel is near the North Gate entrance to the campus.

WHO:
Arthur Reingold, MD, professor and head of the Division of Epidemiology at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, has been named a technical expert for the Subcommittee on the Protection of Public Health. The subcommittee is part of the State Strategic Committee on Terrorism established by Gov. Gray Davis in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Reingold is also co-director of the California Emerging Infections Program. He has served on the U.S. Armed Forces Epidemiology Board, and before joining UC Berkeley, he served as assistant chief of the Special Pathogens Branch of the Bacterial Diseases Division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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