The Science Lecture Series at Otterbein University was established in 1987 under the leadership of Dr. Philip Barnhart, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Dr. Jerry Jenkins, Chair of the Department of Chemistry. The George W. and Mildred K. White Science Seminar Fund sponsors the annual scientific seminars. Through these seminars, national leaders in science and technology share their insights about the future of scientific endeavor.
2026 Science Lecture: Bacteriophages: Our best response to a crisis in microbial antibiotic resistance?
Speaker: Graham Hatfull, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh
Public Lecture: Wednesday, August 26, 6 p.m.
Location: Riley Auditorium, Battelle Fine Arts Center
About the Lecture:
Extensive use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections has facilitated the widespread development of antibiotic-resistant microbes. How will we respond to this emerging health care threat? One potential response is the therapeutic use of bacteriophages – viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Dr. Hatfull will discuss the prospects and potential of phage therapies for responding to the antibiotic microbe crisis.
About the Speaker:
Graham F. Hatfull, Ph.D., is professor of biological sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his doctorate degree in molecular biology from Edinburgh University in 1981 and did postdoctoral work at Yale University and at the Medical Research Council at Cambridge University. He joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1988 and served as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences from 2003 to 2011. His research focuses on the molecular genetics of the mycobacteria and their bacteriophages, and their use for educational advancement and clinical interventions. Hatfull has published over 300 articles, book chapters, and reviews, and has co-edited four books. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor since 2002.
Graham Hatfull, Ph.D.
About the George W. & Mildred K. White Science Lecture Series at Otterbein
Established in 1987, the George W. and Mildred K. White Science Lecture Series at Otterbein University sponsors annual scientific seminars that bring national leaders in science and technology to campus to share their insights about the future of scientific endeavor. Past speakers have included Dr. Robert Grubbs, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Dr. Tina Henkin, 2006 winner of the National Academies of Science Pfizer Prize; Dr. Steven Pinker, Harvard professor and renowned experimental psychologist; Dr. Andrea Ghez, an international expert in observational astrophysics; Dr. Sean B. Carroll, a leading voice of evolutionary science in the U.S.; animal behaviorist Dr. Steve Nowicki; and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Dr. William D. Phillips.