The Sixth Annual McGill Global Health Night took place on November 7th, 2012 at the McGill Faculty Club in Montreal. Participants had the opportunity to hear a very interesting live interview between Mr. Larry Krotz, author and journalist, and Dr. Allan Ronald, a University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine professor and leading figure in the discovery of HIV/AIDS in Africa in the 1980s. Following this presentation there was a wine and cheese reception and poster displays by McGill students and student organizations involved in global health activities, allowing for lively discussion and making connections across disciplines, ages and interests. Over 100 students and faculty members participated in this annual event, the largest group to date.
Global Health Night Itinerary:
5:00 pm - Welcome and Introduction
5:30 pm - Guest Presentation by Mr. Larry Krotz and Dr. Allan Ronald
6:15 pm - Announcement of Chan Prize and Photography Competition winners
6:20 pm - Reception and Poster and Photography Displays
7:15 pm - Announcement of Poster Award Winners
7:30 pm - Closing
Speakers:
Mr. Larry K
rotz, through a career as a writer and documentary film maker, has explored the ways our actions affect our world. Widely traveled, he has become well acquainted with Canada’s north, including numerous First Nations communities, and the African countries of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Angola. Krotz has been reporting for a number of publications on HIV/AIDS research and treatment initiatives in east Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe since 1992, as well as directing a documentary film for the NFB about sex workers resistant to the HIV virus (Searching for Hawa's Secret, 1998), and writing two books. Over the years his films, including Searching for Hawa’s Secret, have won awards and been aired on Canadian and American television. For more information please visit his website: www.larrykrotz.ca.
Dr. Allan Ronald graduated with an M.D from the University of Manitoba in 1961. He completed post-graduate training in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland and in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology at the University of Washington. On his return to Winnipeg in 1968, he established an Infectious Disease training and research program and almost 100 individuals have trained in Infectious and/or Medical Microbiology in this program. Dr. Ronald has carried out clinical and laboratory research in patients with urinary infections, sexually transmitted infections and since 1985, patients infected with HIV. In 1978 Dr. Ronald was invited to initiate a collaborative STD research program in Kenya. This program has grown over 33 years and is currently a successful multinational collaborative program that continues to investigate the care and prevention of HIV/AIDS with Kenyan colleagues. In 2000 he joined colleagues from the U.S. and Uganda to found the Academic Alliance for HIV Prevention and Care at Makerere University with the goal to expand opportunities for training Africans in the care of HIV infected individuals. He has lived in Uganda for three years assisting the development of the Infectious Disease Institute. He has mentored a number of junior Ugandan colleagues. His academic achievements have been recognized by numerous awards and accolades, including being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1994.
About the Book:
In 1979 Dr. Allan Ronald, a specialist in infectious diseases from Canada, and Dr. Herbert Nsanze, head of medical microbiology at the University of Nairobi, were introduced to one another by the World Health Organization. Ronald had just completed a successful project that had cured a nasty genital ulcer epidemic in Winnipeg and Nsanze asked him to come to Kenya to help with Kenya’s ‘sexual diseases problem’. That invitation led to a groundbreaking international scientific collaboration that would uncover critical pieces of the complex puzzle that became the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Piecing the Puzzle chronicles the fascinating history of the pioneering Kenyan, Canadian, Belgian and American research team that uncovered HIV/AIDS in Kenya, their scientific breakthroughs and setbacks, and their exceptional thirty year relationship that began a new era of global health collaboration.
