"Chagas: A Hidden Affliction"

Date & Time Mar 19 2024 4:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Speaker(s)
Panel
Audience Open to the Public

Film Screening & Panel Discussion

Panelists: Ricardo Preve, Caryn Bern, Jennifer K. Peterson, Mary Vonckx

Chagas is a disease that affects ~20 million people worldwide and kills nearly 50,000 per year, and yet is practically unknown to the general public. This event will feature a short film about Chagas, followed by a discussion among panelists who have explored the disease through documentary film, the biological sciences, and public health research and interventions.

About the Panelists:

Ricardo Preve is an Argentine filmmaker(link is external)photographer(link is externa, and activist. Among other documentaries and fictional movies, Preve wrote and produced the documentary “Chagas, Un Mal Escondido” with the support of Doctors Without Borders. Preve has made a name for himself as a Chagas disease activist, raising awareness about the deadly disease in coordination with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative(link is external) (DNDi) organization. http://www.prevefilms.com/documentales(link is external)

Caryn Bern is a Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the UCSF School of Medicine. She works on Chagas disease in Peru and Bolivia. Her latest research work is on Genetic Diversity as a Determinant of Viral Adaptation and Pathogenesis and Disrupting Vector-Borne Disease Transmission in Complex Urban Environments(link is external). She is also currently working on training internationals scholars and clinicians in Bolivia. http://profiles.ucsf.edu/caryn.bern(link is external)

Jennifer K. Peterson is a Post-doctoral Researcher in the Dobson Group(link is external) in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. Her research is centered around the ecology of vector-borne diseases, and using ecological perspectives to find new solutions for disease prevention and control with a specialization in Chagas disease. As a graduate student at Princeton, she participated in several Spanish classes in the Spanish and Portuguese Department. http://jennipeterson.com/(link is external)

Mary Vonckx is a Grants Officer for the U.S. office of the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Since joining MSF in 2006, she has also taken field assignments in Bolivia and Haiti. In Bolivia, where Chagas prevalence is higher than in any other country, Mary managed an MSF campaign that traveled across the country raising awareness of Chagas disease and patients’ right to access diagnosis and treatment. Mary is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

For more information please visit: http://chw.princeton.edu/events/chagas-hidden-affliction