By Melinda Rogers, University of Utah Communications Specialist

The West African Ebola epidemic caused thousands of deaths, many of them avoidable. What if a health response had been better coordinated?

The Ebola epidemic has become a pivotal moment for the World Health Organization, spurring its need for fundamental reform. That issue is at the center of the upcoming William H. Leary Lecture at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law on March 10.

The public lecture, which takes place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Sutherland Moot Courtroom at the law school, examines examine the lessons learned from Ebola, as well as the appropriate roles for international organizations such as the WHO, World Bank, and United Nations Security Council.

The lecture will be delivered by Professor Lawrence H. Gostin of Georgetown University. Gostin directs the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is also a professor of medicine at Georgetown University; professor of public health at the Johns Hopkins University; and director of the Centers for Law and the Public’s Health at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown universities.

To register for the event, fill out the registration form here.

Free parking is available at Rice-Eccles Stadium, and the law school is an easy walk from nearby public transportation stations. Take TRAX university line to the stadium stop and walk a half block north. For other public transit options use UTA’s Trip Planner or click the “public transit” option under “get directions” on Google Maps. The law school is on the red route for the university’s free campus shuttles (Carlson Hall stop).