Public invited to Nov. 11 Science Café in Nebraska City on the problem of pre-term birth

Problems of preterm births will be the topic of the Science Café to be held Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lied Lodge & Conference Center in Nebraska City.

 

The presenter will be Jack Turman, Jr., Ph.D., professor and program director in the division of physical therapy education in the School of Allied Health Professions at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

 

Science Cafe, presented as informal science discussions at local coffeehouses and bars, is a free educational event sponsored by UNMC and other groups to increase the population’s science literacy. The event is hosted by UNMC, Bio Nebraska and the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures.

 

It’s estimated that preterm births, considered to be anything less than 37 weeks gestation, cost society more than $26.2 billion per year. It’s a big problem and lowering the number of preterm births is certainly a major goal among health professionals.

 

Those who attend the Science Café will learn:

·                     How nearly one-third of brain development occurs in the final four weeks of a full-term pregnancy;

·                     How Nebraska’s goal is to reduce its preterm births by 5 percent;

·                     Why the infant mortality rate for blacks in Nebraska is nearly twice as high as the state’s overall infant mortality rate.

 

Dr. Turman received his bachelor of science in physical therapy from Washington University in St. Louis, and his Ph.D. in kinesiology from the University of California Los Angeles. He also did his postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA. For the past 15 years, he was on faculty at the University of Southern California.

 

While at USC, Dr. Turman founded and directed the Center for Premature Infant Health and Development. He is an internationally recognized developmental neurobiologist investigating the development of feeding behaviors. In addition, Dr. Turman has received recognition from the California state government for the development of university-community partnerships that address health disparities in birth outcomes.