Gretchen Birbeck, M.D. is the invited speaker.  She is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Neurology and Ophthalmology and the Dept. of Epidemiology and is the director of MSU’s International Neurologic and Psychiatric Epidemiology Program, which fosters research and training programs to improve understanding of why neurologic disorders frequently occur at a higher frequency in the developing world. Current INPEP studies include neurologic damage among cerebral malaria survivors in Malawi , the social and economic impact of epilepsy-associated stigma in Zambia . Dr. Birbeck is also directs the Chikankata Epilepsy and Febrile Seizure Study, and the Blantyre Malaria Project Epelepsy Study.

Dr. Birbeck is one of only three neurologists known to be practicing in Zambia , a small nation in central southern Africa .  Dr. Birbeck spends January through March in Africa in providing clinical care, teaching, and carrying out research. Her studies show that 10% of Zambian patients suffer neurological problems. Dr. Birbeck’s  research focuses on neuroepidemiology. Epilepsy and other seizure disorders constitute a major health problem in this region.  In addition to the Zambia study she is investigating cerebral malaria in Malawi and HIV treatment issues in rural areas of Zambia .Dr. Gretchen Birbeck received her M.D. from the University of Chicago and M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of California ,  Los Angeles and has a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTMH) from Liverpool ( England ) School of Tropical Medicine .  She did her internship and residency training at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Birbeck was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at UC, Los Angeles , a Lancet International Fellow, and a Charles E. Culpepper Medical Scholar.