ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS IN THE NEWS!

As Halloween quickly approaches, members of the Zombie Research Society often find themselves in high demand. And two of our Advisory Board members have recently been featured in national publications discussing the scientific and social aspects of this modern zombie craze! Harvard neuroscientist Steven Schlozman and Kent State associate professor of epidemiology Tara C. Smith lent their expertise to The New York Times and Slate in two brand new online articles.

In The Harvard Doctor Who Accidentally Unleashed a Zombie Invasion author Steven Schlozman discusses his controversial radio interview with Coast To Coast host Ian Punnett including the effect it had on the nation, his career and the inevitable comparisons to the classic Orson Welles radio broadcast War of the Worlds.

Some people who contacted me — and realized that we were fooling around — were furious that I had even toyed with such an idea in a public venue. One person went so far as to suggest that I had violated my Hippocratic oath. I had to answer for my appearance to my peers and to my boss, some of whom felt I acted irresponsibly. As for me, I felt pretty bad — and also somewhat surprised. I was, after all, talking about an exceedingly well known, undeniably frightening but nevertheless entirely fictional pop-culture phenomenon. I didn’t really expect anyone to take me seriously.

Meanwhile, Tara C. Smith analyzes zoonotic diseases and the idea that Disaster Breeds Disaster in her article for Slate magazine. Using real-life cases of infectious outbreaks, the epidemiologist and Zombie Research Society Advisory Board member dissects the recent plague afflicting the characters of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

It might not seem like things could get any worse, but as the group found out in this week’s episode, “Infected,” the zombie pandemic virus isn’t the only killer pathogen out there. We know from all-too-real examples that one disaster often breeds another. In the real world, an ongoing cholera outbreak is plaguing Haiti. After the 2010 earthquake, United Nations troops inadvertently introduced the pathogen, and the country lost much of its health infrastructure during the earthquake.

Both article are currently available right now! Just visit The New York Times online to read The Harvard Doctor Who Accidentally Unleashed a Zombie Invasion and stop by Slate magazine for Disaster Breeds Disaster. While you’re at it, make sure to check out both of our Advisory Board members online for even more great zombie news and articles available from Steven Schlozman and Tara C. Smith via their official websites!