Dr. Hans Rosling

Google collaborator and guru of global health data Dr. Hans Rosling will visit NIH as a Fogarty International Center scholar-in-residence on Monday, Feb. 22. Known for his humorous, yet deadly serious presentations, he will give a talk titled “The New Health Gap: Science for Emerging Economies vs. the Bottom Billion” in Masur Auditorium, Bldg. 10 at 11:30 a.m. A reception follows.

Rosling is co-founder of Gapminder, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting a fact-based worldview through increased use and understanding of freely accessible public statistics. Gapminder developed Trendalyzer software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive and enjoyable graphics. Google acquired the software and has expanded the effort.

Also a professor of international health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, Rosling co-founded Médecins Sans Frontières Sweden. While serving as a doctor in Mozambique from 1979 to 1981, he discovered konzo, a new epidemic paralytic disease. He spent the next two decades investigating the cause, which he traced to the consumption of toxic, ill-processed cassava roots combined with hunger and poverty. In addition, he has written a textbook on global health and has initiated university collaborations with Asia and Africa.

The event is sponsored by the Foundation for NIH and will be webcast.