Sept. 8 at 3 p.m.- Medical researcher and author, Dr. Joseph B. Zwischenberger, director of the University of Kentucky’s Transplant Center, will deliver a landmark address, “Using Technology to Advance the Medical Profession,” at a Berea College convocation in Phelps Stokes Chapel.
Zwischenberger, a professor and chairman of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s department of surgery, has been an important advocate of technology during the development of the artificial lung, for which he holds two patents. He will share more about his groundbreaking research throughout the development of this new device and about the recent impacts this new technology has made in the medical and scientific communities.
“The device helps patients get oxygen into their blood by transporting blood to a gas exchanger that removes carbon dioxide and oxygenates the blood before returning it to the heart, bypassing the lungs of the patient,” explains Zwischenberger, chairman of the UK Department of Surgery. Because lung disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, the invention of this new device has been recognized as a remarkable medical breakthrough in the treatment of respiratory failure. “It’s meant for patients who are too sick to be maintained on a ventilator and is designed as temporary treatment for severe respiratory failure,” said Zwischenberger.
This event is co-sponsored by the Berea College department of technology and industrial arts and the Berea College department of biology. For more information, contact Randall Roberts, convocations coordinator, at 859-985-3359 or via email at robertsr@berea.edu.
Other upcoming Berea College events include:
- Sept. 15 Convocation: Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra – “Making the History of Jazz Come Alive”
- Sept. 22 Convocation: Dr. Marcus J. Borg – “Telling the Story of Jesus Today”
- Sept. 29 Convocation: Andrea Smith – “Indigenous Women and Social Justice”
See the full convocation schedule at http://legacy.berea.edu/convocations.