Professor Shawn Hitchcock of the Department of Chemistry will headline the Main Street College event at 7 p.m. Monday, April 13, in the ISU Alumni Center on North Main Street.
His presentation, titled “Public Health Concerns in Drugs, Foods, and Vaccines: Where are we now?”, will examine the ever-increasing amount of scientific and technological information delivered to the public through traditional news sources, social media and blogs.
The talk is designed to help the average person make informed decisions on foods they eat and the drugs and vaccines they take. More importantly, Hitchcock hopes the audience will leave the presentation as critical thinkers who question the information they hear in the media regarding these issues. The historical evolution of the government agencies that are responsible for managing our food, drugs, and vaccines will also be covered. By recognizing how these agencies have evolved and the stories that emerge in the news, the larger picture at to why these topics remain hot-button issues can be understood.
Main Street College events are free and designed especially for the public. The series was created by Dean Simpson in 2014 to share the exciting work being done across the College of Arts and Sciences with the public.
