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The University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System is hosting the traveling exhibit, "Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons" from Tuesday, November 3, 2009, to Thursday, January 28, 2010, at Falk Library, 200 Scaife Hall, Oakland. The exhibit will be open during regular library hours.

Through contemporary and historical images, the exhibit tells the stories of four pioneering African American surgeons and educators who exemplify excellence in their fields:

  • Alexa I. Canady, MD, pediatric neurosurgeon, Sacred Heart Medical Group, Pensacola, Fla.
  • LaSalle D. Leffall Jr., MD, Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
  • The late Claude H. Organ Jr., MD, chairman, surgical residency program, University of California/Davis-University of California, San Francisco East Bay Surgery Department
  • Rasalyn P. Scott, MD associate professor and vice chair, Department of Surgery and chief, Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles

HSLS will host the following events during the exhibit:

"The African American Surgeon: A Century of Growth," will be presented from 6 to 7 p.m., Thursday, November 19, in Scaife Hall, Lecture Room 5, by Fredrick D. Cason Jr., M.D., surgeon-in-chief, Louis Stokes Veterans' Affairs Medical Center and associate professor of surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. A reception will follow in Falk Library.

A career panel of African American surgeons with connections to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will take place at noon, Friday, January 15, in Scaife Hall, Lecture Room 3. Velma Scantlebury, M.D., transplant surgeon, professor of surgery, assistant dean for community education, director of the division of transplantation, and director, University of South Alabama Regional Transplant Center, will moderate.

During the exhibit, an additional photo and biography display will honor African American surgeons with University of Pittsburgh and UPMC connections.

Opening Doors is a collaborative effort between the National Library of Medicine and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore. The exhibit and events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Falk Library or call 412-648-8866 .

The Health Sciences Library System supports the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and the
UPMC | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

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