For Immediate Release: March 28, 2022
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Contact: Patrick Newton, [email protected]
Contact: Rebecca Tennille, [email protected]
President Bill Clinton, Dr. Donna E. Shalala, Dr. Harold Varmus, Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and more to discuss the importance of federal investment in building a healthier future
Nationally recognized experts will convene for the next installment of the Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series
WHAT:
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, the Clinton Foundation and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will host “Investing in a Healthier Future,” the next virtual installment of the Frank & Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series.
President Bill Clinton will convene nationally recognized experts, including Dr. Donna E. Shalala, Dr. Harold Varmus, Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and more, for a discussion about the lasting impact of the Clinton administration’s efforts through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the Human Genome Project (HGP).
The Frank & Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series is presented by the Clinton Foundation, Clinton School of Public Service, and AT&T. The program is free and open to the public.
MORE:
The program will consist of two panels. President Bill Clinton and Kevin Thurm, CEO of the Clinton Foundation, will provide opening remarks. The first panel will offer an inside look at the National Institutes of Health and the Clinton administration’s efforts to invest in medical research, enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability that have yielded lasting impacts on science and medicine, including in the fight against COVID-19.
The panel will be moderated by Dr. Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration, and is expected to include Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH; Dr. John I. Gallin, NIH associate director for clinical research who served as the inaugural chief scientific officer of the NIH Clinical Center; Dr. Gary Nabel, president and chief executive officer of ModeX Therapeutics and the first director of the NIH Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center; and Dr. Harold Varmus, the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at Meyer Cancer Center of Weill Cornell Medicine who served as director of NIH during the Clinton administration.
The second panel will focus on the Human Genome Project, the world’s largest collaborative project in biology that led to the sequencing of the human genome. From inception to completion in 13 years, it produced what President Clinton called, “the most important, most wondrous map ever produced by humankind,” and continues to facilitate significant biomedical advancements.
The panel will be moderated by Dr. Harold Varmus and is expected to include Dr. Wendy Chung, director of clinical genetics at Columbia University; Dr. Francis Collins, acting science advisor to President Joe Biden who was director of the National Human Genome Research Institute during the Clinton administration; and Dr. Charles Rotimi, director of the Trans-NIH Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health. Dr. Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, will offer closing remarks.
WHEN:
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
2 p.m. CDT / 3 p.m. EDT
WHERE:
This Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series is free and open to the public. To RSVP for the virtual program, please visit this link.
About the Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series
The Frank & Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series was established with a gift by the Kumpuris Family in honor of their parents. Dr. Frank Kumpuris, a prominent Little Rock physician and surgeon, served for 10 years on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, and Kula Kumpuris was actively involved in numerous civic, charitable, and community activities. The entire family has a strong commitment to quality higher education.
The Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series is presented by the Clinton School of Public Service, the Clinton Foundation, and AT&T.
About the Clinton Foundation
Building on a lifetime of public service, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. For nearly two decades, those values have energized the work of the Foundation in overcoming complex challenges and improving the lives of people across the United States and around the world.
Learn more at www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org, www.facebook.com/clintoncenter, and @ClintonCenter on Twitter and Instagram.
About the Clinton School of Public Service
Located in downtown Little Rock on the grounds of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park and in the River Market District, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service is the nation’s first to offer a Master of Public Service degree, both in a classic campus setting and online. As part of the school’s unique curriculum, students complete hands-on public service projects, including local work in Arkansas communities and international projects across the world.