provided to Santiva Chronicle
The Committee of the Islands will hold a forum on issues of crucial importance to Islanders 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov.14, in the Sanibel Community House. The 90-minute “COTI Conversations,” the organization’s first for this season, is open to COTI members and individuals wishing to become members of the organization.
Two guest experts, Dr. Howard Simon and Dr. Walter Bradley, will lead the discussion. The topic for the Conversation is: “Using Science to Shape Public Policies: Preventing Harmful Algae Blooms.” Simon and Bradley will deliver their presentation first, after which they will moderate the Conversation with attendees.
Dr. Simon retired in November 2018 as the longest serving state director for the American Civil Liberties Union in the organization’s 100-year history. Howard created Clean Okeechobee Waters Foundation to work with biomedical scientists and physicians who have linked toxins produced by Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) to neurological illnesses, including ALS and Alzheimer’s disease. He is an advocate for policies, especially action by the Florida Legislature, to address the public health threat from HABs.
Simon earned a Ph.D. in legal and political philosophy from the University of Minnesota. He taught at the University of Minnesota and DePauw University as a member of the Department of Philosophy and Religion. Among other post-retirement projects, he is proud to be a Board member of Calusa Waterkeeper. Howard and his wife Beth Wilson have retired to Sanibel.
Dr. Bradley has an international reputation for his contributions to the fields of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, peripheral neuropathies, inflammatory myopathies and muscular dystrophy. He has received grant monies exceeding $10 million from the National Institutes of Health, foundations and pharmaceutical companies.
Awarded the D.M. degree from Oxford University, Bradley was appointed Foundation Professor of Experimental Neurology in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He served as Vice Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Tufts-New England Medical Center, Chairman of the Department of Neurology in the University of Vermont, and Chairman of the Department of Neurology of the University of Miami.
Bradley is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and Board Certified in Neurology and Psychiatry. He is a member and former Counselor of the American Neurological Association and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.
“COTI Conversations” is open to COTI members. Memberships are available at the door for individuals interested in attending the forum who are not yet members of the organization. Refreshments will be served.
The next “COTI Conversations” will be held in March at the Community House.
For more information on “COTI Conversations” or on the activities of the Committee of the Islands, contact COTI President Chris Andrews 239-292-9109 or visit the COTI website, http://www.coti.org/.
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