"Answering Questions Parents Have About Vaccines" Presented by Dr. Paul A. Offit

Open to Department of Pediatrics Residents, Fellows, and Faculty

TOPIC: Answering Questions Parents Have About Vaccines

SPEAKER: Dr. Paul A. Offit, M.D.
Director, Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania)

Dr. Offit, the world’s leading expert in vaccination and the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, has accepted an invitation to speak to our Department while he is in town promoting a documentary that he co-wrote entitled “Hilleman: A Perilous Quest to Save the World’s Children”. 

LOCATION: Montreal Children's Hospital, Room B.08.3019 (getting to the hospital)

OBJECTIVES: By the end of the session, learners will be better able to describe issues relating to vaccine safety, monitoring, licensing, and perception.

McGill University will host the first Canadian screening of the film on April 18th, 7-9 pm (tickets are free). To register for the film screening, click here.

Brief description of the film:
The greatest scientist of the 20th century, and no one knows his name.  This documentary tells the inspiring story of Dr. Maurice Hilleman, a man with a singular, unwavering focus: to eliminate the diseases of children.  From his poverty-stricken youth on the plains of Montana, he came to prevent pandemic flu, invent the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, and develop the first-ever vaccine against human cancer.  Responsible for more than half of the vaccines children receive today, he is credited with saving more than eight million lives every year.  Now through exclusive interviews with Dr. Hilleman and his peers, rare archival footage, and 3-D animation, this film puts a human face to vaccine science, revealing the character that drove this bold, complex, and heroic man. Details of the film are available here: www.HillemanFilm.com

The film also has an educational component, where 10 modules of 3D animation are used to explain viruses, vaccination, etc. This tool is designed for teachers and educators to use in their classes. All the videos are available on Vimeo.