Video of Programs (search and sort)

Why Study Rare Diseases?
03/02/2014
Dr. Susan Hayflick

Rare diseases are those that affect fewer than 200,000 Americans at any given time. Nearly 7,000 such diseases are known today, many of them targeting children. Dr. Susan Hayflick has dedicated her research to finding a cure for neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA), a group of rare, genetic neurological disorders. She will discuss the science that many of these diseases share and the social and economic challenges that patients face. Dr. Hayflick is chair of OHSU’s Department of Molecular & Medical Genetics. The Hayflick Lab, in collaboration with national and international partners, is credited with discovering five genes that cause NBIA thus furthering our understanding of neurodegenerative pathogenesis.

Vitamin Supplements: Beneficial or Harmful?
02/23/2014
Dr. Jules M. Elias

The widespread use of vitamins and supplements to enhance health and extend life is now being questioned. Taking supplements, particularly megadoses, may be toxic unless the individual's actual level of a particular vitamin is known. Jules M. Elias discusses the biology of cellular energy production and the consequent production of the free radicals that can cause damage. Dr. Elias is emeritus Professor of Health Sciences at the State University of New York. He is author/co-author of more than 90 publications and several texts, the latest being the 2nd edition of "Immunohistopatholgy: A Practical Approach to Diagnosis.” He now lives in Portland and is an active chamber music clarinetist.

Health Benefits of Nearby Nature
02/16/2014
Teresia Hazen

Teresia M. Hazen discusses how and why gardens and nature are used in health and human service agencies to promote physical and mental health, coping, and well-being. She discusses strategies to help us support our personal health programs and also to encourage health and community well-being. Teresia M. Hazen has been with Legacy Health in Portland since 1991. Legacy promotes gardens in healthcare to enhance supportive environments of care for patients, families, and neighbors.

When Genesis Failed
02/02/2014
William Ames

This is a presentation by William Ames. He writes: “I was a humanist long before I realized that there was any organization like this one. I don't claim to be an expert on any of this, and what I know comes from voracious, eclectic curiosity. Everything I say today is documented, and I encourage you to check it for yourselves. I intend to cover the scientists and their discoveries that forced educated people to abandon belief in the literal truth of the biblical Genesis story.”

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