Two University of Louisville faculty members are on the program of the 178th American Association for the Advancement of Science  (AAAS) Annual Meeting, one of the largest and most prestigious gatherings of scientists from around the world. The meeting will feature thousands of top scientists, engineers, educators, policymakers and science journalists from some 50 nations and a full spectrum of disciplines.

The meeting will be held Feb. 16-20 in the Vancouver Convention Centre in Canada.

Ronald M. Atlas, Ph.D., professor with joint appointments in biology and public health, and co-director, Center for Health Hazards Preparedness, will serve as discussant, chairing a panel discussion, “The One Health Vision: From Institutional Support to Local Practice,” from 1:30-4:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 17. One Health aims at bringing together animal, human and environmental health scientists and practitioners. A past president of the American Society for Microbiology, Atlas currently leads the One Health effort for the ASM with the main emphasis on zoonotic diseases, those diseases that affect both humans and non-human animals. “The One Health Vision” session at AAAS will highlight real world examples of One Health in action with presentations on projects that are occurring in Canada and in the developing world. This will show how veterinarians, physicians and scientists are coming together to jointly tackle infectious diseases around the globe.

Brad K. Rodu, D.D.S., the Endowed Chair in Tobacco Harm Reduction Research, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, will present “Transforming Tobacco Use: The Potential of Tobacco Harm Reduction,” from 3-4:30 p.m. Pacific, Saturday, Feb. 18. His presentation is taken from his extensive research in tobacco harm reduction that shows the growing scientific foundation for a transformation of tobacco use from combustible to smoke-free forms. Tobacco use became a global health problem in the 20th century with the nearly universal adoption of the cigarette, a highly efficient but highly toxic nicotine delivery system. Tobacco-related death can be reduced far more rapidly than nicotine use by focusing on the fact that people smoke for the nicotine but die from the smoke. Tobacco harm reduction educates smokers to replace cigarettes with smoke-free substitutes that have been proven to be safer. Rodu’s research shows that applying harm reduction principles to public health policies on nicotine is more than a rational and humane policy; it has the potential to fundamentally changing the forecast of a billion cigarette-caused deaths this century.