Health & Medicine

Criminologist Richard Wright. He teaches at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He'll discuss the statistics released last month by the Justice Department showing that the crime rate has been falling steadily since 1991. He'll also discuss the link between the crime rate and the decline in crack use which he has studied. Wright is the co-author of the book, "Armed Robbers in Action: Stickups and Street Culture" (1997, Northeastern University Press).

Dr. Hoosen Coovadia is a Pediatrician in Durban, South Africa. In his practice, 40 percent of the kids he treats are HIV positive. He'll discuss the rise of HIV in South Africa and other parts of Africa where he has traveled. Coovadia will serve as the Chairman of the next World Aids Conference in the year 2000. He heads the Pediatrics and Child Health Department at the University of Natal Medical School.

President Carter has written 13 books since leaving office. His latest is "The Virtues of Aging" (Ballantine). In his retirement, Carter founded The Carter Center and launched The Atlanta Project a communitywide effort to attack the social problems associated with poverty.

Dr. Mehmet Oz is the author of "Healing from the Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of Complementary Medicine." (Dutton) He is a cardiovascular surgeon at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He combines leading western medicine with ancient methods of self healing. The result is faster recovery for patients. He believes our physical health is linked to our spirituality, psychological make-up and emotional well being.

Dickey has written a new memoir about his relationship with his father, the late poet and novelist James Dickey. It's called "Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son" (Simon & Schuster). Dickey writes that his father was "a great poet, a famous novelist, a powerful intellect, and a son of a bitch I hated." But Dickey writes that he also loved his alcoholic, abusive father. And as an adult, he picked up his relationship with his father again, after a 20 year absence.

Dr. Jonathan Mann, the founding director of the World Health Organization's Global Program on AIDS, died this week in the Swiss Air plane crash. Last year, Terry Gross interviewed him about the state of AIDS across the globe, as well as the speculations at that time about a possible AIDS vaccine. He was the Dean of the School of Public Health at Allegheny University of Health Sciences in Philadelphia. This interview was originally aired 12/1/97

Biologist Robert Sapolsky. He's one of the first researchers to chart the effects of chronic stress on the brain in the animal kingdom and in humans. He adds a touch of humor to his findings, as well. His new book is called "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: An Updated Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping." (W.H. Freeman and Co.) It's a revised version of his 1994 publication.

While writer Fred Haefele's re-evaluated his life's priorities during middle-age, he put together an Indian motorcycle from parts. His memoir is called "Rebuilding the Indian."

Emily Colas has written her first book, a memoir, "Just Checking: Scenes from the life of an obsessive-compulsive." (Penguin-Pocket books). She writes about her many worries and fears about germs, and food poisoning, and her compulsion to trace the design of a star in her head, while having conversations with people. Colas eventually was treated for the disorder.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the newest movie version of "Lolita."

Former inmate Leotis Jones. He participated in the experiments and later led the fight to end the testing program by testifying at the U.S. Senate hearings that resulted in the banning of such experiments.

Dermatologist Bernard Ackerman, Professor of Dermatology and Path Director of the Institute for Dermatophathology at Jefferson College. He participated in the testing done at Holmesburg Prison.

Dermatologist Richards Tannen and current Vice Dean for Research and Research Training at the University of Pennsylvania Health System discusses their current research and testing guidelines.

Allen Hornblum is an expert in criminal justice and is the author of the book, "Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison" (Routledge). The book is about the use of prisoners as guinea pigs in the 1950s thru the mid 1970s at the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia. The prisoners were used to test products like facial creams, skin moisturizers, perfumes, detergents and anti-rash treatments. But they were also the subjects of experiments using more hazardous substances. The experiments were carried out by doctors at the University of Pennsylvania.

TV Critic David Bianculli previews the new PBS series "Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home". Journalist Bill Moyers takes an unprecedented look at addiction and recovery in America with the five-part series Moyers On Addiction: Close To Home, premiering March 29, 1998, at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS. (Check local listings.)

Rodger McFarlane is co-author "The Complete Bedside Companion: No-Nonsense Advice on Caring for the Seriously Ill". It is published by Simon and Schuster. McFarlane is former Executive Director of two of America's most successful and influential AIDS service groups, Gay Men's Health Crisis and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Rodger has personally cared for many sick and dying family members and friends over the past 25 years. McFarlane co-wrote this book with Philip Bashe.

Dr. David Eisenberg is Director of the Beth Israel Center for Alternative Medicine Research. He is also a member of the National Institute of Health's Alternative Medicine Program Advisory Council. He'll discuss the Center's research on the use of alternative therapies, such as chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, and homeopathy.

Jeff Getty is an animal-human transplant recipient who advocates continued research in this field. Getty, who has AIDS, recieved bone marrow from a baboon in an effort to jump-start his immune system. Getty vehemently opposes proposed moratorium on animal-human transplant research.