Smith Will Sponsor Forum on Vaccine

As the COVID-19 vaccine begins to become more available in the Pioneer Valley—and more broadly across the United States—Smith College will offer a free community forum about the vaccine at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 17.

The Zoom event—which will feature local experts from Smith and the University of Massachusetts Amherst—is open to the public at no charge; advance registration is required online.

To be moderated by Rob Dorit, professor of biological sciences and department chair, the forum will feature panelists:

• Ann Becker, D.N.P., R.N., clinical associate professor, public health director and co-director of the Public Health Promotion Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Tara Dumont, M.D., college physician and medical director of the Schacht Center for Health and Wellness, Smith College
• Suzanne Gottschang, professor of anthropology and of East Asian studies, Smith College
• [EDITED March 15, 2021, to reflect a change in panelists] Christine White-Ziegler, professor of biological sciences

“The Beginning of the End: Demystifying the COVID-19 Vaccine” will provide a forum for discussion of the science, misconceptions, benefits and outcomes around the COVID-19 vaccine. Among the discussion topics:

• What does the vaccine do?
• How does it work?
• How can we separate fact from fiction?

The event will also offer information about local vaccination sites, eligibility guidelines and latest updates.

Participants also are encouraged to submit questions when registering, so that panelists may answer them during the forum.

About the Panelists

Ann Becker has led the UMass Amherst mass vaccination campaigns for more than 15 years; these response events include H1N1 influenza in 2010, meningitis B in 2017 and now the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Becker, a clinical associate professor of nursing, developed a clinical program in the College of Nursing where more than 250 students are annually educated in vaccine administration and mass dispensing, as well as health promotion and risk communication related to the benefits of vaccinations for individual and community health.

Rob Dorit is primarily interested in antibiotic resistance and the development of novel narrow-spectrum antibiotics. More recently, he has expanded his focus to include public health, including understanding the drivers of antibiotic use and their relationship to levels of antibiotic resistance, as well as the interaction between viral and bacterial disease outbreaks.

Tara Dumont is board certified in internal medicine. She completed her medical and residency training at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. Dumont has practiced medicine in Botswana, Africa, and has undergraduate degrees from Princeton University in molecular biology and public and international affairs. Her clinical interests are women’s health, behavioral health, transgender care and preventative medicine.

Suzanne Z. Gottschang is a medical anthropologist working in the United States and China. Her primary research examines the intersection of gender, reproductive technologies, public health, science and policy. Current research projects include a collaboration on science, technology and modernity in East Asia; biotechnologies of infant formula; and the science of the horse-human relationship. In addition to holding a doctorate in anthropology, she has a master of public health in global and maternal and child health.

[EDITED March 15, 2021, to reflect a change in panelists] Christine White-Ziegler is a microbiologist who is interested in the molecular interactions between the microbe and host that drive both infection and immunity.  Her research lab investigates this in the context of bacteria that cause human urinary and diarrheal infections to better understand these processes and facilitate the identification of targets for new antimicrobial drugs.  Her teaching in immunology, microbiology, and emerging infectious diseases parallel her research interests, including a recent seminar that examined COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and the immune response to the disease.

This event is sponsored by the Smith College Vaccine Working Group and the COVID-19 Incident Response Team (CIRT).