Given every two years, this is the twenty first lecture in the Weipers lecture series. It was instigated in 1976 to commemorate the role that Sir William Weipers played in the establishment and development of Glasgow University Veterinary School.

He is universally regarded as the father of the modern school. He led the then Glasgow Veterinary College into the University sector in 1949 and subsequently became its first Dean when the School was awarded Faculty status in 1968. After his death in 1990, the lectures continued as the Sir William Weipers Memorial Lectures.

In his lecture this year, Sir John Arbuthnott will describe the threat to the Public Health from infectious disease - from the earliest waves of disease that affected Glasgow as an emerging industrial city to the global picture of today where the greatest burden affects the least developed nations.

Despite the great progress made with successful vaccines and antibiotics, new diseases continue to emerge and to challenge our ability to provide effective controls. Many factors contribute to the present situation. Most recently, SARS has highlighted the need to have highly effective and co-ordinated Public Health control measures. These must operate locally, nationally and internationally. Sir John argues that there has never been a period of such heightened public concern; microbes are now at the forefront of world news.

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

The Weipers Lecture will take place at 17.30 on Friday 6th June in Lecture Theatre No 1, The Boyd Orr Building, University of Glasgow

PROFESSOR SIR JOHN ARBUTHNOTT: Biographical Information

John Arbuthnott (BSc, PhD, ScD, FRCPath, FIBiol, FmedSci, FRSE) is a microbiologist of 40 years standing. He has held University teaching positions at the Universities of Glasgow (Lecturer and Senior Lecturer); Trinity College Dublin (Professor of Microbiology); Nottingham (Professor of Medical Microbiology). He has just completed a period of 9 years as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. He has Honorary Degrees from several national and international Universities.

His main research area is mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and his publications deal with bacterial toxins, animal models, molecular analysis of virulence determinants and public health microbiology.

He has played a prominent role in Learned Societies in Editorial and in Office bearing positions. Currently, he is Chair of the Interim Executive Committee of the Life Sciences Federation, which will become the Voice of British Biology and will include the main Learned Societies across the spectrum of Biology.

In public life, he has been responsible for a new formula for allocation of health resources for the NHS in Scotland "Fair Shares for All", served on the Richmond Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food and was Chair of Scottish Food Advisory Committee and a Board Member of the Food Standards Agency until November 2002.

He is Secretary/Treasurer of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and Chairs the External Advisory Board of the Wolfson Institute for Health Medicine and the Environment at the University of Durham.

He is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Pan Therix and became Chairman of Greater Glasgow NHS Board in November, 2002.

For further details, please contact Ailsa Macmillan, Project Officer (Vet School), University of Glasgow on 0141 330 2808 or the Press Office on 0141 330 3535 / 3683.

First published: 3 June 2003