Global Development Seminar with Rodolfo Dirzo and Desiree LaBeaud

About the Speakers:

Rodolfo Dirzo, Faculty Affiliate at the King Center on Global Development

Rodolfo Dirzo is the Bing Professor in environmental science and a senior fellow at the Woods Institute For The Environment. He teaches ecology, natural history, and conservation science at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Stanford.

Professor Dirzo’s scientific work examines the study of species interactions in tropical ecosystems from Latin America and Africa. His recent research highlights the decline of animal life and how this process affects ecosystems. His lab includes undergrads, graduate students, postdocs and visiting scholars from US, Latin America and Spain. He also conducts science education programs with underserved children in the Bay Area and Mexico and has co authored the new framework for K-12 science education.

Desiree LaBeaud, Faculty Affiliate at the King Center on Global Development

Desiree LaBeaud is a physician scientist, epidemiologist, and professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. She received her MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin and trained at the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital during her pediatric residency and pediatric infectious disease fellowship program. She earned her master’s degree in Clinical Research and Epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. LaBeaud studies the epidemiology and ecology of domestic and international arboviruses and emerging infections, with an interest in the vector, host, and environmental factors that affect transmission dynamics and spectrum of disease. Her research is community-engaged and seeks to define and then disrupt the underlying structural determinants of health. She studies the human health impacts of climate change including research focused on innovative solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis. Her current field sites include Kenya, Grenada, and Brazil. She currently heads a clinical research lab focused on better understanding the risk factors and long-term health consequences of arboviral infections and the most effective means of prevention. She has also recently launched a nonprofit, the Health and Environmental Research Institute - Kenya, which is an initiative focused on Kenya to inspire community education, new research, policy change and grass roots activism in environmental health issues.