On October 18, the BioFrontiers Institute will honor Julie Louise Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., with the 2016 Charlie Butcher Award. An accomplished physician and researcher, Dr. Gerberding was the first woman to be appointed Director of the Centers for Disease Control.
In this position, she led the agency through more than 40 emergency responses to public health crises, including anthrax bioterrorism, SARS, food-borne disease outbreaks and natural disasters. She also advised governments around the world on urgent issues such as pandemic preparedness, AIDS, obesity, tobacco and cancer.
The AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s placed Gerberding on the front lines of HIV care at the University of California, San Francisco where she pioneered research in the prevention of occupational HIV transmission. She joined CDC in 1998 as director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion where she led patient safety programs and national efforts to combat infections and antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings.
Dr. Gerberding now serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer, Strategic Communications, Global Public Policy, and Population Health at Merck & Co., Inc.
The 2016 Charlie Butcher Award
What: Dr. Julie Gerberding, “Fighting microbial terrorists: From Anthrax to Zika”
When: Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Butcher Auditorium, Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building (3415 Colorado Avenue, Boulder, CO)
Admission: Free
The annual Charlie Butcher Award was established in 2002 to recognize leading scientists from around the world who are dedicated to interdisciplinary science and to making a significant impact on human welfare and health.
The Charlie Butcher Award is given yearly to recognize leading scientists from around the world who have made significant contributions to bioscience and biotechnology. As part of the award, the BioFrontiers Institute is hosting a free public lecture. Nobel laureate Dr. Thomas Cech will introduce the lecture.
The following are past recipients of the Charlie Butcher Award:
2015 – Jennifer Doudna, University of California, Berkeley
2014 – Richard Axel, Columbia University
2013 – Jack Szostak, Harvard University
2012 – Elizabeth Blackburn, University of California, San Francisco
2011 – Roger Tsien, University of California, San Diego
2010 – Paul Nurse, Francis Crick Institute
2009 – Eric N. Olson, UT Southwestern Medical Center
2007 – Stuart Schreiber, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
2005 – David Botstein, Princeton University
At the University of Colorado BioFrontiers Institute, researchers from the life sciences, physical sciences, computer science and engineering are working together to uncover new knowledge at the frontiers of science and partnering with industry to make their discoveries relevant. Find us online at http://biofrontiers.colorado.edu.