April 9 | 5:30 – 6:30pm
Join Dr. Kent Thornburg and OJMCHE’s Director of Education, Beth Lilach, for a presentation and discussion about epigenetics: the study of how cells control gene activity without changing the DNA sequence. Dr. Thornburg will explain the scientific understanding of how trauma is transmitted between generations, then will join Lilach in conversation about the ways epigenetics are felt across diverse communities, especially amongst Holocaust and other genocide survivors.
This program is presented as part of Survival and Intimations of Immortality: The Art of Alice Lok Cahana, Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, and Kitra Cahana.
We will send a link to the zoom webinar 24 hours before the event and monitor any new ticket purchases periodically leading up to the 5:30pm start time.
Kent L. Thornburg, MS, PhD, FAPS, is Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine Emeritus in the School of Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). He recently held professorial appointments in the departments of Physiology & Pharmacology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology and Biomedical Engineering. He was the founding director of the OHSU Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness and the Center for Developmental Health in the Knight Cardiovascular Institute (KCVI) where he recently served as Interim Director. He continues to study how early life stressors set a person’s risk for adult-onset chronic disease. He currently chairs the External Scientific Board that oversees the national NIH program: “Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes” (ECHO). He also serves on the Scientific Board of the national Preeclampsia Foundation and the Council for the World Hypertension League. He and his colleagues are laying the groundwork for understanding the maternal and fetal epigenetic origins and progression of disease that can be passed to future generations.
Beth Lilach, Director of Education at OJMCHE, holds a bachelor’s degree in feminist studies from the University of California-Santa Cruz and a master’s in Holocaust history and Genocide studies from Clark University. Lilach previously worked at the Konar Center for Tolerance and Jewish Studies, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto, and the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center on Long Island. She has been engaged with social justice, feminist, and genocide pedagogy for over thirty years.