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Dr. Amy Acton and LeVar Burton discuss ethics in public health for Cleveland symposium

Dr. Amy Acton and LeVar Burton will be in Northeast Ohio for an Inamori Center symposium.
Markus Wissmann
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Former Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton and actor and activist LeVar Burton will be in Northeast Ohio for an Inamori Center symposium from Case Western Reserve University.

Late last month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, known for being the infectious disease expert that guided the U.S. through the pandemic, was hospitalized with West Nile virus, which is a mosquito-borne illness that impacts several hundred people a year in this country.

The former chief medical advisor is at home recovering, but the incident forced him to miss an event honoring his life's work in Cleveland.

Case Western Reserve University's Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence was scheduled to bestow the 2024 prize on Dr. Fauci at a public ceremony this week.

While the ceremony might be cancelled, the center is proceeding with its scheduled symposium, which will examine the intersection of ethics and public health.

That event features a panel of well-respected guests, who are household names to many of us.

LeVar Burton has connected with generations of Americans through his roles on "Roots," and "Star Trek: The Next Generation," as well as his work on the popular PBS program, "Reading Rainbow." He's a podcast host, a director and a recipient of the 2019 Inamori Ethics Prize,

Dr. Amy Acton is a physician who served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also worked with the Columbus Foundation, and RAPID 5, a nonprofit dedicated to park access in Franklin County.

And we're also joined by Dr. Shannon French, the Director of the Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence, and a professor of philosophy as Case Western Reserve University.

Guests:
- Amy Acton, M.D., Former Director, Ohio Department of Public Health
- LeVar Burton, Actor, Director, Activist
- Shannon French, Ph.D., Director, Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence, Case Western Reserve University

Drew Maziasz is a coordinating producer for the "Sound of Ideas" and also serves as the show’s technical producer.