Nationally known speakers are ready to provoke and challenge Conference Attendees with issues relevant to both our professional and personal lives.

Keynote Speaker

Judith Messerle, AHIP, Countway Librarian, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

MCMLA 2002's Opening and Closing Keynote Speaker is nationally recognized among medical librarians and health professionals as a leader in medical librarianship. At one time a member of the MCMLA chapter, Judith Messerle is a MLA Fellow, MLA Past President (l986/87) and the 2000 Janet Doe Lecturer. During her presidency Messerle contributed to the development of the association's constitution, MLA's Strategic Plan and since 1989 has served on the Task Force on Knowledge and Skills, which led to the publication, Platform for Change, MLA's educational policy statement. Also a past president of the Association of Academic Health Science Library Directors (AAHSLD), she is former chair of the Joint MLA/AAHSLD Legislative Task Force. An accomplished author, Messerle has published numerous articles and co-edited MLA's Hospital Library Management, which earned her MLA's Ida and George Eliot Prize in 1984. In 2001, Judith Messerle was named to Who's Who in America and Harvard Medical School awarded her the Dean's Award for Support and Advancement of Women Staff.

Ms. Messerle will open the MCMLA 2002 Annual Meeting with the Keynote Address, "Winds of Change," which will look at the Health Science Library's changing context. Messerle's address will underscore the importance of understanding and reflecting the needs of our parent institutions. In her Keynote closing, "The Yellow Brick Road," Judith Messerle will provide challenging strategies to move Health Science Libraries to the next level of service.

Feature Speakers

Jerry P. Jaax, DVM, Associate Vice Provost for Research Compliance and University Veterinarian, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. Nancy K. Jaax, DVM, ACVP, Interim Director, National Agricultural Biosecurity Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.

"Understanding the Bioterrorist Threat: Why Should We Be Worried." The bioterrorist threat will be explained, from its genesis during the Cold War to nonstate and state sponsored actions. Emphasis will be placed upon the vulnerability of our agricultural infrastructure and economy. The second part of the Jaax's presentation, "Into the Hot Zone: The Reston Ebola Incident," will detail the events surrounding the only introduction of Ebola virus into the United States. This served as a valuable case study for emerging disease response and issues. Richard Reston's N.Y. Times bestseller, The Hot Zone is based on this event.

Jerry Jaax, retired Colonel, U.S. Army Veterinary Corp, received his DVM from Kansas State University in 1972. Dr. Jaax entered the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps where he received numerous assignments and appointments in the specialty of Laboratory Animal Medicine. In 1996, he was named the Director of the Biological Arms Control Treaty Office at Fort Detrick, MD and was responsible for implementation and compliance of the U.S. Army with all international Biological Warfare treaties and agreements. Dr. Jaax has extensive experience in high-hazard biological and chemical warfare defense. He lectures throughout the United States and assists with special projects associated with Homeland Security initiatives.

Nancy Jaax, retired Colonel, U.S. Army Veterinary Corp., received her DVM from Kansas State University in 1973. Upon graduation she joined the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and had numerous assignments in the US and Germany. She attained board certification in the specialty of Veterinary Pathology in 1983 and focused her subsequent research efforts on the elucidation of the pathogenesis of chemical and biological warfare agents. Much of her research and numerous publications have focused on the pathogenesis of high hazard viruses, primarily Ebola and Marburg.