Molecular and Cell Biology 90D, Section 1
Critical Challenges for Modern Health Care (1 unit, P/NP)
Professor Mark Schlissel
Wednesday 3:00-4:00, 106 Dwinelle Hall, CCN: 57877

We will discuss issues of importance to modern health care from a physician's perspective including a) how medical schools choose students; b) how doctors are educated; c) comparisons between health care systems in the U.S. (now and 30 years ago), Europe, and the developing world; d) political and scientific aspects of emerging infectious diseases (swine flu); e) mandating vaccination for infectious diseases (the cervical cancer vaccine controversy); f) economics of health care reform; g) career alternatives for physicians; h) issues in clinical research; i) new drug discovery; j) funding biomedical research. This seminar will require class presentations by students and a modest amount of reading each week. Freshmen considering careers in medicine, public health, or related fields are encouraged to enroll in this seminar.

Dr. Schlissel received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University as a Biochemistry major and was trained in both clinical medicine and basic biology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (M.D. & Ph.D.) and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. He did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute at MIT in the lab of the Nobelist David Baltimore. Dr. Schlissel was a professor at Hopkins Medical School from 1991-1999 before joining the faculty at Berkeley in 1999. He has served as the Vice-Chair of Molecular and Cell Biology, has taught MCB 150 (Molecular Immunology) and Bio1A, and is currently the Dean of Biological Sciences. Dr. Schlissel leads a twelve-person research lab studying the developmental biology of cells in the immune system and the origins of leukemia. Website: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/schlissel/index.html