Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Bullitt Club Lecture on History of Oral Contraception

The last meeting of the Bullitt History of Medicine Club for 2009-10 will be Thursday, April 22, 2010 at the UNC Health Sciences Library in the 5th Floor Conference Room (527). Please join us from 12-1pm for light refreshments and lecture. Meetings are free and open to the public.

Dr. Carol Otey, Associate Professor of Cell and and Molecular Biology at UNC, will be presenting a lecture entitled, "Oral Contraception: From Ancient Plant Extracts to the Birth of the Pill."

The evolution of contraceptive practices from ancient times to the present will be discussed, within the context of the legal and social forces at work in human populations during different historical periods. The emphasis will be on plant-based contraception, including ancient herbal medicines, the development of rubber-based barrier methods (starting from raw plant sap), and the genesis of birth control pills in plant-based organic compounds.

Dr. Otey earned degrees in cell biology at Trinity University (BS) and UCLA (PhD), before pursuing post-doctoral work at UNC. She worked as Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia from 1993-1998, and joined the UNC faculty in 1998.

For further information about the Bullitt Club, including mp3 recordings of past lectures, please visit the organization's web site.

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