Public Affairs Discussion Group

Health At Any Size

Paul Ernsberger, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Friday December 3, 2010
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall – Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University

There was one argument about health reform that appeared to be agreed by liberals (as in the public health community) and conservatives; supported by heavily credentialed experts in many fields; promoted by Senator McCain in his campaign and now by Michelle Obama in the media: that obesity caused by unhealthy diet is a major cause of health problems and medical expenses. You can hardly pick up a health policy journal without reading about the “obesity epidemic,” and how preventing obesity should be a crusade comparable to reducing tobacco use.

But is it true? Is the “obesity epidemic” overstated (as many causes have been)? Is the link between obesity and poor health causal, and is obesity a choice that can be changed by behavior modification policies? And, if the reality is a mixture, are policies that seek to “incent” people to lose weight likely to have dangerous side effects?

This is our last Friday public affairs discussion of the semester. The Friday public affairs discussions will resume on Friday January 14, 2011. On Fridays a few spaces are available for visitors with mobility concerns. Parking options for visitors from beyond campus include the Severance Hall parking garage on East Boulevard, the small lot on Adelbert Road just uphill from Euclid Ave, and other lots on campus.

More About Our Guest….

Paul Ernsberger graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1978, and in 1984 earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Department of Pharmacology at Northwestern University in Chicago, with a thesis entitled:”Neural mediation of genetic and nutritional effects on blood pressure: Role of adrenergic receptor regulation in kidney, brain, and heart.”

He received his postdoctoral training at the Laboratory of Neurobiology of Cornell University Medical College in New York City, and then continued at Cornell as an Instructor in 1987 and an Assistant Professor in 1988. Subsequently, in 1989, he came to CWRU as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, and advanced to Associate Professor in 1995.

In January 1998, his primary affiliation was changed to the Department of Nutrition.

His honors include National Science Foundation Fellowship(1981), M. Robert Gallop Fellowship of the New York Heart Association (1984), Young Investigator Award from the Eastern Hypertension Society (1987), FIRST award from the National Institutes of Health (1990), DuPont/Merck FASEB Travel Award (1992), Member of the Subcommittee on the Imidazoline Receptor of the Committee on Receptor Nomenclature and Drug Classification, International Union of Pharmacological Sciences (1994), Member of the International Advisory Board to the Third International Symposium on Imidazoline Receptors (1997).

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

January 14: Doug Brattebo, Hiram College: The Obama Presidency (Take 3).

January 21: Elliot Posner, Associate Professor of Political Science: Europe, the EU, and the Euro

January 28: Martha Woodmansee, Professor of English and Law: Intellectual Property and the Commerce in Ideas.

February 4: Marixa Lasso, Associate Professor of History: Bicentennials in Latin America and the history of constitutional government.

February 11: Special Inamori Center Event Moderated by Shannon French

February 18: Diane Anderson, Executive Director, and Iwan Alexander, Faculty Director, Great Lakes Energy Institute: News from the Great Lakes Energy Institute

February 25: Gene Matthews, Director of Facilities Services, CWRU: “Case Recycles,” and How That Works.

March 4: Shirley M. Moore, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing: Even After a Heart Attack – The Challenge of Encouraging Healthy Behavior

March 11: No Session, Spring Break

March 18: Special Inamori Center Event

March 25: Mark Votruba, Associate Professor of Economics: The Social Effects of Economic Dislocation

April 1: Jacqueline Lipton, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Center for Law, Technology and the Arts: Privacy and Online Social Networks.

April 8: Special Inamori Center Event

April 15: Mark Naymik, Reporter, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio’s Budget Battle

April 22: Jon Groetzinger, Visiting Professor of Law and Director, China Legal Programs: Developing the Legal Profession in China.

The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of Crawford Hall. Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made. On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion. Overflow parking is also available in the Severance Hall parking garage on East Boulevard.

Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building. The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch. On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.

For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.

November 29, 2010

Upcoming Events

Exploring the Current Debate over Patenting Life

January 28, 2011, 8:30 a.m. – 2:45 p.m., Moot Court Room, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 11075 East Blvd., Cleveland, Ohio> Sponsored by the Center for Law, Technology & the Arts at the Case Western Reserve School of Law and JOLTI (Journal of Law, Technology & the Internet)

The symposium will address the ongoing legal debate that surrounds patents on potentially therapeutic biomedical technologies, including gene patents. The symposium will consider how other disciplines, including bioethics and economics, might help to inform the development of novel laws addressing the unique issues arising from the debate. The symposium will include a lecture discussing the role patents have played in spurring the innovation of adult stem cell-based therapies, as well as a presentation on genetic testing and the impact patents have had on patient access to new biomedical technologies.

Syposium panel guests will include Craig Allen Nard, Tom J.E. and Bette Lou Walker Professor of Law and Founding Director, Center for Law, Technology, and the Arts, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Bratislov Stankovic, Robert and Barbara Luciano Professor of Law, Loyola University, Chicago School of Law, Joseph Jankowski, PhD, Associate Vice President, Technology Management, Technology Transfer Office, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Arthur I. Caplan, Professor of Biology and Director, Skeletal Research Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Robert Cook-Deegan, MD, Center for Genome Ethics, Law & Policy; Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy; Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, andRebecca S. Eisenberg, Robert and Barbara Luciano Professorof Law, University of Michigan Law School.