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James E. Clyburn Lecture on April 20 will feature Dr. Robert Satcher Jr., the first orthopedic surgeon in space
March 26, 2012
Dr. Robert Satcher, a graduate of
Denmark-Olar High School, will be the
featured speaker for the fifth
annual
James E. Clyburn Health
Disparities Lecture.
The fifth annual James E. Clyburn Health Disparities Lecture on Friday, April 20, will feature orthopedic oncologist Dr. Robert L. "Bobby" Satcher Jr., a 1982 graduate of Denmark-Olar High School in Denmark, S.C., and the first orthopedic surgeon in space.
The lecture will be held from 10 a.m. – noon in the ballroom of the Marriott Courtyard, located at 630 Assembly St. in Columbia. The Arnold School of Public Health and the Institute for Partnership to Eliminate Health Disparities are sponsors of the program.
The theme of the lecture, which is free and open to the public, is "Moving from Hope to Action: Transforming Research to Eliminate Health Disparities Across Generations."
In an interview with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Satcher said, "I've been interested in space since I was a kid, and I watched all the Apollo landings on the moon."
Born on Sept. 22, 1965, in Hampton, Va., Satcher is a physician, chemical engineer and former astronaut, who is on the orthopedic oncology faculty of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He earned a bachelor's degree and a doctoral degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his medical degree from the Harvard Medical School.
Satcher did his internship, residency, and postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Calfornia, Berkeley, and an orthopedic oncology fellowship at the University of Florida from 2000 - 2001.
He was an assistant professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine's Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Northwestern University before joining NASA. Satcher also held appointments as an attending physician in orthopedic surgery at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he specialized in musculoskeletal oncology. He also held an adjunct appointment in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Northwestern University's School of Engineering.
Satcher was selected by NASA in May 2004 to be an astronaut candidate. In February 2006, he completed NASA's Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, as well as intensive instruction in shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, flight training and water and wilderness survival training. In November 2009, Satcher flew on STS-129 and has logged more than 259 hours in space.
STS-129 was the 31st shuttle flight to the International Space Station. During the mission, Satcher performed two spacewalks for a total of 12 hours and 19 minutes of extra-vehicular activity, called EVA, which represents work done by an astronaut outside of a spacecraft beyond the Earth's appreciable atmosphere.
The lecture is named for U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, who represents S.C.'s 6th Congressional District. Elected to Congress in 1992, Clyburn became co-president of his freshman class and quickly rose through leadership ranks. He was elected chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1999 and became the House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair in 2002. Three years later, he was unanimously elected Chair of the Democratic Caucus. When Democrats regained the House majority in 2006, Congressman Clyburn was chosen by his colleagues to serve as House Majority Whip.
Visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/interview_satcher.html to read an in-depth interview with Satcher that was conducted by NASA before his space flight. He discusses the value of education in his life, his career goals and his decision to become an astronaut.
