2020-2021 Lecture Season

The C.F. Reynolds Medical History Society is pleased to announce its 37th lecture season (2020-2021):


September 29, 2020 ~ "The Daring Young Surgeons Who Pioneered Heart Surgery," David Cooper, MD PhD (Xenotransplantation Program/Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham)

This lecture was rescheduled from April 7, 2020, due to COVID-19. We are so thankful that Dr. Cooper can join us, remotely, to kick off the academic year. Watch here!



November 10, 2020 ~ Sylvan E. Stool Memorial Lecture ~ "The Politics of Disease Control: Sleeping Sickness in Eastern Africa, 1890-1920," Mari Kathryn Webel, PhD (History, University of Pittsburgh)

We regret being unable to host our annual banquet after this talk due to the pandemic.

Professor Webel is celebrating the release of a new book: The Politics of Disease Control: Sleeping Sickness in Eastern Africa, 1890-1920 (New African Histories Series, Ohio University Press, 2019).

January 26, 2021 ~ "It's Not All Black and White: A History of Race in Medicine," Dr. Kristen Ann Ehrenberger, MD PhD (Medicine, University of Pittsburgh)

We will conduct our Annual Business Meeting just before Dr. Ehrenberger's lecture.

February 23, 2021 ~ "Pittsburgh and the Making of Modern Health Care," Andrew Simpson, PhD (History, Duquesne University) This is the Zoom link; email for the password.

At noon on the same day, Professor Simpson will deliver Grand Rounds for the University of Pittsburgh Department of Internal Medicine, "Linking the Past and the Future: Using Medical History to Understand Current Issues in Health Care." Information about that talk can be obtained on their website or by joining our mailing list.

Professor Simpson is also celebrating a new book: The Medical Metropolis: Health Care and Economic Transformation in Pittsburgh and Houston (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019).


April 6, 2021 ~ Annual Ravitch Lecture ~ "A Sordid Episode in the History of Medical Ethics: The Gosnell Abortion-Murder Trial," Andrew Herlich, DMD, MD (Emeritus, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh) This is the Zoom link; email for the password.

You may want to make time to watch Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer (2018), the crowdfunded film starring Earl Billings and Michael Beach. Dr. Herlich testified at the trial and is the current President of the Reynolds Society.


NEW THIS YEAR: Our usual venue, Scaife Hall, is undergoing renovations. Due to physical distancing recommendations, we will host this year's lectures online via Zoom. The lectures will start at 6pm Eastern Time and last for 45-50 minutes, with a short period of questions and answers afterward. You do not need a special account or application to join the live stream, which will continue to be free. The events will be recorded. To find the link, check back on this page, any of our social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook), or become a member to be added to the mailing list. Annual dues are $10 for trainees and $25 for everyone else and can be paid online (see column at right) or via postal mail to Adam Davis (send an email to cfreynoldsmhs@gmail.com for the address).