RICHARDSON, Texas (April 29, 2003) - Dr. David Lakey, medical director of The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler's Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control, will speak about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and its potential impact on daily life Thursday, May 15, at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Karl Hoblitzelle Hall (HH 2.402) on the campus of The University of Texas at Dallas. Lakey's presentation, entitled "SARS: Nature-made Bioterrorism," will be free and open to the public.

To date, the United States has had more than 240 cases of SARS, seven in Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization has reported more than 4,800 cases worldwide and more than 290 deaths from the disease in 26 countries.

Dr. Lakey is board certified in pediatrics, internal medicine, infectious disease and pediatric infectious disease. He has seen firsthand the devastation that infectious diseases can cause in an underdeveloped country. During his medical training, he went on two mission trips to a hospital in rural Kenya, and he's also gone on mission trips to Belize in Central America. Lakey did his residency in internal medicine and pediatric medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., from 1990 to 1994, and he completed a fellowship in adult and pediatric infectious disease there in 1998.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 13,000 students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university's Web site at http://www.utdallas.edu.