Light, Life and Health: Evolution to Laser Surgery is Feb. 6 topic
Dr. Rox Anderson, Harvard Medical School professor of dermatology, will join the Lewes Public Library’s Science and Society lecture series for an online discussion titled “Light, Life and Health: from Evolution to Laser Surgery,” at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6, via Zoom.
Life evolved under the sun, which powers 99% of life on earth, and humans’ long-term relationship with the sun is wonderfully complex, yet balanced in ways that are barely understood. While Anderson recommends wearing sunscreen when heading the beach, he also notes modest sun exposure improves bone health and even blood pressure, to the extent that lack of sufficient sunlight measurably reduces lifespan.
The discussion will explore how humans evolved through their relationship with sunlight and how modern medicine is utilizing light and lasers to help with things such as better wound healing, brain function, athletic performance, tattoo removal and acne treatment, and even to grow hair.
To register for the online event, go to tinyurl.com/LPLScienceSpring24 or call the library at 302-645-2733.
Anderson is a graduate of MIT graduate who went on the earn his medical doctor degree magna cum laude from the joint MIT-Harvard medical program, Health Sciences and Technology. After completing his dermatology residency and an NIH research fellowship at Harvard, he joined the faculty where he is now Harvard Medical School Professor in dermatology, director of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine and adjunct professor of health sciences and technology at MIT. Anderson conceived and developed many of the non-scarring laser treatments now widely used in medical care. He has been awarded over 60 national and international patents and has co-authored over 250 scientific books and papers.
The Lewes Public Library’s Science and Society - Making Sense of the World Around Us lecture series is co-organized and moderated by Colin Norman, former news editor at Science; Fred Dylla, executive director emeritus of the American Institute of Physics and author of “Scientific Journeys”; and Lynda Dylla, former public information officer at the Jefferson Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy.
