Speaker: J. Glenn Morris, Jr., M.D., M.P.H & T.M.
Director, UF Emerging Pathogens Institute http://epi.ufl.edu/
Phone: 352-273-7526 Email: jgmorris@ufl.edu
Title: Emerging Pathogens: The Role of Public Health
Dr. Morris received his bachelor’s degree from Rice University in
Houston and his medical degree and a master’s in public health and tropical medicine from Tulane University in New Orleans. He maintains an active, National Institutes of Health-funded research program working in the area of molecular genetics and molecular epidemiology.
Dr. Morris began his career at the Centers for Disease Control, where he focused on cholera and other water- and food-borne diseases. He has served on numerous National Academy of Sciences food safety committees and was part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture team that helped rewrite the nation’s food inspection regulations.
Dr. Morris’ recent research has included work with viruses known as bacteriophages that invade bacterial cells and cause bacteria to selfdestruct. Bacteriophages are re-emerging as an alternative to antibiotics for treating infection because specific phages can be used to attack specific bacteria and bacteria are less likely to develop resistance to them.