EVENT DETAILS

Conversations on Writing and Public Life: Writing Zoobiquity with Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers

Join the Department of History and the Literary Journalism Program for a discussion on
writing in the public sphere featuring New York Times bestselling authors Barbara
Natterson Horowitz (UCLA School of Medicine) and science journalist Kathryn Bowers,
moderated by Kavita Philip (UCI History) and with an introduction by
UC Irvine Dean of Humanities George van Den Abbeele. Free and open to the public.
Light refreshments will be served and a book sale and signing will follow the talk. For
more information or for disability accommodations, contact Patricia Pierson at
piersonp@uci.edu or (949) 824-6876.

Do Pandas suffer from eating disorders? Can Beluga whales develop breast
cancer? Do koalas suffer from STDs?

These questions, situated in the nexus between veterinary science, human medicine,
and evolutionary & molecular biology, are explored in the New York Times bestseller
Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection between Human and Animal Health,
written by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers. In a compellingly narrated
series of stories, Natterson-Horowitz, a cardiologist and psychiatrist who consults at the
L.A. Zoo, and Bowers, a science journalist, investigate the surprising connections
between humans and animals and the ways that some human behaviors may be
reinterpreted through the lens of evolutionary biology. The result is what they call
Zoobiquity , or the ever-present connection between the animal and human worlds.

ABOUT ZOOBIQUITY:

“Full of fascinating stories…” —Atul Gawande, M.D.
“Fascinating reading…” —Temple Grandin, Ph.D.
“Provocative…” —Carl Zimmer, author and science writer
“After finishing, you’re guaranteed to never look at your dog, cat, or any other animal the
same way again.” —Publisher’s Weekly

New York Times BESTSELLER
Los Angeles Times BESTSELLER
International BESTSELLER
A Discover Magazine BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
AAAS/Science Book Award Finalist
An O., The Oprah Magazine, Summer Reading Pick

We may think our problems are uniquely human. But animals and humans get the same
diseases. How might we better understand human health and illness if we harnessed
knowledge from veterinarians, the doctors that take care of other animals? Zoobiquity
explores how jaguar breast cancer, dolphin diabetes, flamingo heart attacks, canine
PTSD—and more—are transforming human medicine.


BARBARA NATTERSON-HOROWITZ, M.D.

For over twenty years, cardiologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz has treated human
patients at the UCLA Medical Center, developed imaging techniques and lectured to
thousands of medical students, residents, fellows, colleagues, and community
members. Currently, she is a cardiac consultant for the Los Angeles Zoo and a member
of the Zoo’s Medical Advisory Board as well as Director of Imaging at the UCLA Cardiac
Arrhythmia Center. Her outstanding rapport with students has won her numerous
teaching awards and made her a popular professor at the David Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA where she lectures about cardiovascular physiology, cardiovascular
pharmacology, echocardiography, and bioengineering. Her writing has appeared in
many scientific and medical publications.

Barbara is a member of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) Working
Group entitled, “Infusing Evolutionary Thinking into Medical Education.” With Daniel
Blumstein, Chair of the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, she
created and curated Evolutionary Medicine Month at UCLA (summary here, in the
Evolution and Medicine Review).

Barbara earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University and
received her medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco.

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children and two dogs.

KATHRYN BOWERS

Kathryn Bowers has written and edited fiction and nonfiction books and articles and
taught writing at UCLA. She began her career in journalism as a staff editor of the
Atlantic Monthly and worked for James Fallows, the Washington Editor of the Atlantic,
and for CNN-International in London. Kathryn later served as an assistant press attaché
at the United States Embassy in Moscow, where she received a State Department
Meritorious Honor Award for her service.

Kathryn holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and lives in Los Angeles
with her husband, Andy Bowers, their daughter, and the family dog. She tweets as
@kathrynsbowers and @zoobiquity.