Great Works Symposium: Steven J. Peitzman, "The Artificial Kidney in the United States: A Three-Part Invention"

This talk will be based on Dr. Peitzman’s extensive research in the history of nephrology, which culminated recently in the publication of his second book, entitled Dropsy, Dialysis, Transplant: A Short History of Failing Kidneys (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). In this lecture, Dr. Peitzman will examine the history of the artificial kidney, or hemodialysis machine, which was transformed from a very imperfect device by a special government program and a novel commercial enterprise into an entirely new form of medical care. Dr. Peitzman will explore how in the "chronic dialysis unit," doctors, nurses, patients, disease, government, and business meet each other every day of the year.

Steven J. Peitzman, M.D., is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine and Professor of Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine. He did his post-graduate training in internal medicine and nephrology at Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital and the V. A. Medical Center in Philadelphia. He is a nephrologist and currently does mainly outpatient nephrology, with special interest in renal stone disease and refractory hypertension. He also does general medicine at a student-run free night clinic.

The Winter 2008 Great Works Symposium, entitled “The Mechanical Body: Building Humans, Challenging Humanity,” features interdisciplinary lectures by distinguished scholars on the history, meanings, and implications of medical technologies and human-machine interfaces.

3:30-4:50 p.m.,

Drexel University, Curtis Hall, Room 340

32nd and Chestnut Streets