When Bacteria Take Over the World: Researchers Discuss the Rise of Superbugs

In his new book, Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic, physician, researcher, and Macaulay ethics professor Matt McCarthy recounts a groundbreaking clinical trial testing a new antibiotic to fight lethal superbugs.

Join us for a discussion with Dr. McCarthy, along with Macaulay professor Elizabeth Reis and John Jay College professor Nathan H. Lents to explore bacteria, antibiotics, and the ethics of research and treatment.

Macaulay Adjunct Professor MATT MCCARTHY is an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell and a staff physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he serves on the Ethics Committee. He is the author of three national bestsellers, Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic, The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly, and Odd Man Out. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Slate, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Deadspin. He reviews nonfiction for USA Today and is editor-in-chief of Current Fungal Infection Reports.

NATHAN H. LENTS  is a scientist, author, and professor at John Jay College. He is noted for his work in cell biology, genetics, and forensic science, as well as his popular science writing and blogging on the evolution of human biology and behavior. His most recent books include Not So Different: Finding Human Nature in Animals (2016, Columbia University Press) and Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes (2018).

ELIZABETH REIS is a professor at the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York where she teaches courses on Medical Ethics, Reproductive Technologies, The Politics of Women’s Health, and Transgender Issues. Reis has published essays in Medical Law Review, The Hastings Center Report, Bioethics Forum, Journal of American History, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, and the New York Times. She is the author of Bodies in Doubt: An American History of Intersex; Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England; and the editor of American Sexual Histories.