Please join the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Women in NEOMED ERG for a Women's History Month Celebration showing of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on Wednesday, March 29 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. in F-118. Snacks and drinks will be provided to those who register in advance.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of an African American woman who died in 1951, aged just 31, of an aggressive cervical cancer. It also tells the story of her legacy: the HeLa cell line, taken from Henrietta’s tumor while she was still alive, cultured in a lab, and discovered to be immortal.
After her death HeLa was mass-produced and sold to laboratories all over the world. It has been used in a vast and varied array of scientific research including research into cancer, the human genome, and the development of the polio vaccine, and it continues to be used to this day.
It also raises questions about ethics, consent and profit in medicine.