In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Lecture and Q&A Recording

Join Deborah Lipstadt, PhD and Walt Orenstein, MD as they discuss facts, denial, the Holocaust, misinformation and contemporary medicine. No less than the power of evidence, testimony, experience and authority are at stake. Weaving together their respective expertise on the Holocaust and vaccines, Dr. Lipstadt and Dr. Orenstein will illumine how and why that historical watershed continues to be significant for today’s physical and social health.

Moderated by Jonathan K. Crane, Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought

Speakers Deborah Lipstadt, PhD Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University

One of the nation's foremost experts on Holocaust denial and modern anti-Semitism, Lipstadt's 2005 book, "History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving," is the story of her libel trial in London against Irving, who sued her for calling him a Holocaust denier and right wing extremist. The now-famous libel trial occurred when Irving sued Lipstadt over her 1993 book, "Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory," the first full-length study of the history of those who attempt to deny the Holocaust. The case grew into a six-year legal battle in which Lipstadt prevailed.
 
She has received numerous teaching awards including Emory's student government association's award for being the teacher most likely to motivate students to learn about new and unfamiliar topics and the Emory Williams award, for her courses on modern Jewish and Holocaust studies. Given to Emory's outstanding teachers, the award is based on nominations by alumni of the professor who has had the greatest impact on them.

Walt Orenstein, MD Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, Global Health, and Pediatrics at Emory University

From 2008 through 2011, Orenstein was Deputy Director for Immunization Programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. His primary focus at the foundation had been on polio eradication, measles control, and improving routine immunization programs. Prior to 2004, Orenstein worked for 26 years in the Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1988-2004, he was the Director of the United States Immunization Program. He is a former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service. Orenstein successfully developed, promoted, facilitated and expanded new vaccination strategies to enhance disease prevention. Orenstein has authored and co-authored numerous books, journals and reviews. He co-edited Plotkin’s Vaccines, 7th edition in 2018 – the leading textbook in the field. He is a past Chair of the WHO’s Poliomyelitis Technical Consultative Group and served as the Chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) from 2012 to 2016. He is also currently a member of the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization Polio as well as Measles and Rubella Working Groups. Between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2018, Orenstein was the President of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

Orenstein’s research focus has been on assessment of vaccine effectiveness in observational studies, methods to overcome vaccine hesitancy, ways to enhance uptake of recommended vaccines, and ways to facilitate polio eradication and sustain that eradication. In addition, Orenstein is the Principal Investigator for an NIH funded Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance, with a focus on better understanding pathogenesis, immune responses to vaccines and infection, and viral surveillance in animal populations.