A lecture on the theory and practice of public health surveillance will take place on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in Masters Hall's Mara auditorium, Room 110 at Gettysburg College.

Dr. Andre Weltman, M.D., M.Sc., who works in the Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, will discuss "Information for Action: Public Health Surveillance from the State Health Department Perspective." Surveillance is the backbone of modern epidemiology and public health at the level of local, state, and federal health departments – collecting data on disease occurrence in order to detect and stop outbreaks while they occur, and perhaps learn something to prevent future outbreaks. For example, detecting an ongoing foodborne outbreak may allow for the recall of implicated food from the marketplace to prevent additional illness, as well as identify a practice or product that the food industry or the consumer needs to alter in the future.

Dr. Weltman is board-certified in the field of public health and general preventive medicine. His medical training was in New York City, after which he spent two years assigned to the New York State Department of Health as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1995 he came to the Pennsylvania Department of Health where he works on a broad range of infectious diseases, including foodborne outbreaks, Legionnaire's Disease, rabies, and meningitis.

This seminar program is supported by a grant to Gettysburg College from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Precollege and Undergraduate Science Education program.

Founded in 1832, Gettysburg College is a highly selective four-year residential college of liberal arts and scienceswith a strong academic tradition. Alumni include Rhodes Scholars, a Nobel laureate, and other distinguished scholars. The college, which enrolls 2,600 undergraduate students, is located on a 200-acre campus adjacent to the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania.

Contact: Nikki Rhoads, senior assistant director of communications, 717.337.6803