The History of the Health Sciences Lecture Series at Greenblatt Library continued on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Dr. A. Bleakley Chandler, Chairperson Emeritus of the Department of Pathology, gave a presentation about Dr. Edgar R. Pund and his colleagues and their research regarding the nature and detection of early cervical cancer. The presentation was held in the Historical Collections and Archives (AB-225) of the Robert B. Greenblatt, M.D. Library on the GRU Health Sciences Campus.
Pund graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1918 and began his teaching career at MCG as an instructor in embryology and histology in 1921. He joined the pathology faculty in 1924 and became chair of the pathology department in 1931. He served as MCG’s second president from 1953-1958.
Dr. George Papanicolau, inventor of the Pap smear test, gave credit to Pund as one of the reasons why the Pap smear was finally accepted as a method of cervical screening. The research work of Pund and his pathology colleagues at MCG had shown that pre-invasive carcinoma of the cervix could remain localized for as long as ten years in younger women. It is this research that Chandler discussed in his lecture.
The Lecture Series is free and open to the public. Attendees are welcome to bring their own lunch. Please contact Renée Sharrock at rsharrock@gru.edu or 706-721-3444 for more information about the Lecture Series.
