Record: Infectious diseases specialist Nagami to speak Oct. 5

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September 30, 2005
Vol. 30, No. 8

Michael J. Welch
A chance meeting sent him on his way to WUSTL, where he's stayed nearly 40 years

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September 30, 2005 > Infectious diseases specialist Nagami to speak Oct. 5

Infectious diseases specialist Nagami to speak Oct. 5

By Nadee Gunasena

Infectious diseases specialist Pamela Nagami will deliver the Olin Fellows Lecture for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. Oct. 5 in Graham Chapel. Her lecture is titled "Science Is Important, But It Isn't Everything."

Nagami, a medical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, has devoted her career to researching the deadly wonders of the natural world.

From mundane insect bites that evolve into "flesh-eating strep" to HIV infections, she describes the often-frightening truth about even the most seemingly harmless bite or bump. Some of these stories are included in her most recent book, Bitten: True Medical Stories of Bites and Stings.

Panel discussion from 2-4 p.m.

In addition to the lecture, Nagami will participate in a panel discussion from 2-4 p.m. in the Women's Building Formal Lounge.

Panelists include Robin Levis, Ph.D., from the Food and Drug Administration; Shanti Parikh, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences; Heidi Sandige, M.D./A.M., Olin Fellows alumna; and Gregory Storch, M.D., professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine.

The panel discussion, which will be followed by a reception, is sponsored by the Mr. and Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship for Women.

Bitten is Nagami's second book on the subject, preceded by Maneater: And Other True Stories of a Life in Infectious Diseases (released in paperback as The Woman With a Worm in Her Head.) In both books, she chronicles bizarre and compelling case studies of bacterial and viral infections as well as the human dramas they inflict upon both the patients and the medical staff involved.

Nagami acts as a medical detective, tracking a patient's activities and surrounding environment years before hospitalization, gathering clues to uncover the source of the infection.

Both books received critical acclaim for presenting medical knowledge in an easily accessible form.

Nagami earned a doctorate from Yale University in 1976. She is a clinical associate professor of medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine and a staff physician in internal medicine and infectious diseases with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

Assembly Series lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, go online to assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call 935-4620.

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