In addition to inaugurating the new series, Sachs’ talk will represent the 139th Cutter Lecture on Preventive Medicine, a renowned series in its own right sponsored by the Department of Epidemiology. The lecture is named after John Clarence Cutter, an HMS alumnus who died in 1909. He had bequeathed funds to establish the lectureship.

A live webcast of the event will be available at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/cutterlecture.

The "Dean’s Special Distinguished Lecture Series" was developed to draw scientific leaders to the school to address research of interest to multiple fields or departments.

"There is a tremendous need for interdisciplinary thinking, and fulfilling that need can be contributed to by lectures, seminars and events that bring distinguished people here," said Dean Barry Bloom. "Based on the success of the Future of Public Health series, we know that our faculty, students and staff are interested in hearing top-flight researchers discuss ideas of significant scientific importance."

Future Scheduled Speakers in the "Dean’s Special Distinguished Lecture Series"

• Leonard Guarente, Novartis Professor of Biology at MIT, who investigates the basis for premature aging as well as longevity. His group found that a "longevity gene" called sir2 in yeast and worms promoted survival in the face of scarcity by diverting the organisms into a kind of hibernation. (January 15, 2004)

• Eric Lander, Professor of Biology at MIT. Under his leadership, the Whitehead Center for Genome Research has been responsible for developing many of the key tools of modern mammalian genomics. (January 29, 2004)

• Samuel Thier, former President and CEO of Partners HealthCare, one of America’s first and leading hospital networks. He will speak on health care policy and the upcoming elections. (April 1, 2004)

• Max Essex, John LaPorte Given Professor of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and chair of the Harvard AIDS Institute. Under Essex’s leadership, the Harvard AIDS Institute has established AIDS prevention programs in some of the hardest hit regions of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa. (April 8, 2004)