In recent years we have seen diseases spread around the globe at an alarming rate, from West Nile virus to SARS to swine flu. Globalization has magnified the potential reach of these diseases, increasing the speed with which they spread and the size of the population that can be affected. Rapid transmission over a large area, rather than the severity of the disease itself, is what transforms an illness into a pandemic.

Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty emphasizes that pandemics can be fought effectively, both through simple health practices and new research. Drawing on his extensive experience in the fields of pathology and immunology, Dr. Doherty will discuss pandemics, how they spread and what we can do to prevent them.

Speaker Peter Doherty is the Michael F. Tamer Chair of Biomedical Research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

For more information about this event, visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/events/2013/disease-in-a-borderless-world.html