Free Lecture at Trent University on Skin Colour and Public Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Implications for skin cancer risk and vitamin D deficiency to be addressed in an evolutionary context

Tuesday, March 22, 2011, Peterborough

The Trent University Department of Anthropology’s Kenneth Kidd Lecture on the “Evolution of Skin Pigmentation and Implications for Public Health” will be presented on Thursday, March 24, 2011 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Peter Gzowski College, Room 115.

The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Esteban Parra, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto in Mississauga, who will summarize the current understanding of the evolution and the genetic basis of skin pigmentation variation, and will describe the implications for public health (skin cancer risk, vitamin D deficiency). The lecture will also present the results of a recent study evaluating vitamin D status in a sample of healthy young adults of diverse ancestry living in Toronto.
 
The Kenneth Kidd Lecture series is named for the late Kenneth E. Kidd, first chair of Trent's Anthropology Department. Lectures in this series are given by visiting guests, Trent faculty, research fellows and graduate students in Anthropology. All members of Trent and the Peterborough community are welcome and admission is free.

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For more information, please contact: Dr. Esteban Parra, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 905-828-3889, esteban.parra@utoronto.ca or Dr. Roger Lohmann, Department of Anthropology, Trent University, (905) 910-9605, rogerlohmann@trentu.ca