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| And the Band Played On |
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| Date: |
July 22, 2011 |
| Time: |
1:00 - 3:30 p.m. |
| Guest Speaker: |
David Sanchez, PhD |
| Medical Theme: |
AIDS |
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A superior, made-for-cable film, this Home Box Office adaptation of Randy Shilts's chronicle detailing the emergence of AIDS in America and the fight against bureaucracy and society for a cure is a taut, outrageous, and affecting true-life drama. Matthew Modine is featured as a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control at the time when the first reports of a disease plaguing the gay community were heard. Modine and his colleagues embark on an investigation that resembles a compelling detective story as they try to track the source of the disease and discover a cure. Their efforts are thwarted by an ambivalent government and a turf war between French physicians and a celebrated American researcher who seems to place his own glory above the dead and the dying. Featuring heartfelt performances from a stellar cast, this impassioned film stands as an impressive and important document of one of the darkest eras in modern human history, and a tribute to the spirit of those who sought to save lives.
| Starring: |
Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Richard Gere, Nathalie Baye, Anjelica Huston |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Year: |
1993 |
| Run Time: |
140 minutes |
| Rating: |
PG 13 |
About the speaker: Dr. David Sanchez earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California San Francisco after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Texas in Austin. During this time, he began a research career that focuses on how the immune system responds to and tries to defend the body against invading microorganisms. On the flip side of that coin, Dr. Sanchez also began several studies on how microorganisms can adapt to and counter the body’s immune responses. Knowing these two sides of the microscopic battles that produce infection will lead to new therapies and treatments.
Dr. Sanchez is currently an Assistant Profesor at Western University of the Health Sciences, and also a scientific advisor for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nanomedicine Development Center headquartered at UCLA that focuses on creating next generation therapies for cancer and infections that may have developed drug resistance against current therapies. His secondary appointment is as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Los Angeles City College where he teaches microbiology to pre-nursing and allied health students. He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, the American Society for Nanomedicine and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. |
