As hundreds of thousands of veterans are predicted to return from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they face return to civilian life with unforeseen challenges that for which they are often not prepared for, or are unable to cope with. This set of challenges often leads to issues that include substance abuse, divorce, job loss, homelessness, suicide, and divorce. Schaller’s lecture will explore how PTSD is being used as a defense and how this will impact the courts over time.

Schaller will also discuss solutions for veterans and their families, and how political and military leaders as well as legislators and community leaders can share in the responsibility toward the individuals who serve our country and the solutions that we desperately need to put in place as they return to civilian life.

Advances in imaging technology have led to greater utilization of imaging tools as a diagnostic and preventative resource to look at brain function within and outside of healthcare. Within healthcare settings, advances in technologies such as functional MRI’s (fMRI), PET (positron emission tomography) scans, SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scans and EEG’s (Electroencephalography) have shifted how various types of brain injuries are being diagnosed, defined and understood. Similarly, outside of the healthcare setting, these advances have also provided a gateway for studying how the brain functions while making decisions, including moral decisions.

Alongside a wealth of newly acquired knowledge about brain function and brain mapping, comes a host of ethical and humanistic questions surrounding the clinical and predictive use of such tools within and outside of healthcare.

Sponsored by the Hofstra Bioethics Center and the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

Dr. Thibault’s lecture will look at the historical separation of medicine and public health in academic institutions, and how that separation has lessened the effectiveness of health professionals in improving the health of individual patients and populations. He will discuss the promise and challenges of integrating of population-based perspectives into medical training, and highlight promising models for more integrative training approaches.