PROVIDENCE, R.I. — June 1, 2007 — The University of Rhode Island’s Feinstein Providence Campus will host a lecture about the history of immunizations and infectious diseases entitled “Microbes and Rhode Islanders: Then and Now.” The lecture will be delivered by Stanley Aronson, dean emeritus at Brown Medical School, and Andrea Rusnock, associate professor of history at URI.

The event will take place on Thursday, June 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. Free and open to the public, the talk will be held on the first floor of the Paff Auditorium on URI’s Providence Campus. Free parking is available at the Rhode Island Convention Center parking garage.

Aronson will address “The History of Infectious Diseases.” He served as one of the first deans of the medical school at Brown University, holding the position for 11 years. A distinguished physician, he also served as chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Brown University. Aronson is also a weekly contributor to the Providence Journal.

Rusnock graduated from Brown University in 1982 and received her Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1990. She is a professor of history at URI as well as its director of graduate studies. Her research interests include science and medicine during the Enlightenment, as well as public health. She will discuss “The History of Immunizations.”

The moderator for the event is Ed Balkovic, an adjunct associate professor of the clinical laboratory science program at URI�s Feinstein College of Continuing Education.

Co-sponsors of the lecture are URI’s Office of the Vice Provost for Urban Affairs, the Graduate Professional Center and the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology.