Burton Wilcke ’69 to Deliver Inaugural Hartwick College Burns Lecture
Dr. Burton Wilcke ’69, consultant with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories, will deliver the College’s first E. Robert Burns ’61 Endowed Biology Lecture. Wilcke’s presentation, “Global Health Challenges: The Role of Laboratory Science,” will be held Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Celebration Room of Shineman Chapel House, on the College campus. The event is free and open to the public.
“Laboratory systems are essential in communicable disease surveillance, prevention, and control,” Wilke said. “They confirm clinical diagnoses, provide information about reporting, and monitor the progress of controlling diseases such as HIV/AIDS, food-borne illnesses, SARS, and Ebola virus. Communicable disease surveillance and control are a part of the global ‘One Health’ approach.”
Wilcke has just completed editing a new publication, “Control of Communicable Diseases Manual; Laboratory Practice,” which will be available later this year.
He also consults for three other international organizations on the WHO’s Global Laboratory Leadership Program, which fosters and mentors current and emerging laboratory leaders to build, strengthen and sustain national laboratory systems.
After earning his B.A. in biology from Hartwick, Wilcke went on to obtain a master of science in bacteriology and public health from Wagner College, and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Temple University School of Medicine.
E. Robert Burns ’61 established this endowed biology lecture in 2013 to bring a prominent speaker to the Hartwick campus to share ideas about emerging topics pertinent to the field of biology.
The Lecture will also be webcast, and can be viewed live at the E. Robert Burns Lecture webpage. It will later be archived at the College’s YouTube page.
For more information, contact Development Assistant Joanna Cacciola ’07 at 607-431-4013 or cacciolaj@hartwick.edu.