All members of the NDSU community are invited to attend the 61st Faculty Lectureship entitled “Two Years on a Pandemic Frontline: Lessons Learned and Reflections for the Academy” by Dr. Paul Carson, Professor of Practice in the NDSU Department of Public Health, on Tuesday, April 19, at 3p.m. in the Memorial Union Anishinaabe Theater and through Zoom (link will be provided later). A reception in the Memorial Union Gallery will follow the lecture.
Dr. Carson’s lecture will review how vaccines have been one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the last century, and how those accomplishments are threatened by health misinformation and a rising tide of vaccine hesitancy. He will explore the historical and psychological roots of vaccine hesitancy, and how the NDSU Center for Immunization Research and Education have worked to address these problems. Finally, he will reflect on some of the lessons learned in public health from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how some of those lessons may have broader applicability to the university community.
Dr. Paul Carson is a physician specializing in the fields of internal medicine and infectious diseases. He is a Professor of Practice in the NDSU Department of Public Health where he teaches in the graduate program on the management of infectious diseases. In 2020 he received the NDSU College of Health Professions Mary J. Berg Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2015, he founded the NDSU Center for Immunization Research and Education which has received over $8 million in funding to address barriers to vaccination and means of increasing vaccine acceptance and uptake. During the pandemic, he has been a regular consultant to the North Dakota Department of Health, and served on Governor Doug Burgum’s task force to address the pandemic response in North Dakota.
Prior to coming to NDSU in 2013, he worked at Sanford Health as a clinician caring for patients with infectious diseases. In addition, he held at various times the roles Chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Director of Clinical Research, Associate Director for the internal medicine residency training program, and the Chief Quality Officer. He is also a Professor in the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences where he still teaches medical students and residents.
The Faculty Lectureship, one of the oldest and most prestigious of the University’s awards, recognizes sustained professional excellence in teaching, scholarly achievement, and service among current faculty at NDSU. The Faculty Lectureship is conferred on an individual who has demonstrated excellence in all three areas.