HERSHEY, Pa. — Peter Hudson, director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and Willaman Professor of Biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State, will present this year’s fall Dean’s Lecture at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, in the Junker Auditorium at the Penn State College of Medicine. A reception will follow the lecture, which is titled, “Just When You Thought You Were Safe — the Ecology of Emerging Infections.”

As director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Hudson champions a collaborative approach to research that stretches beyond biology and biochemistry to embrace disciplines including engineering, medicine and computer science. This interdisciplinary approach is key to addressing pressing issues such as the emergence of new diseases, feeding the hungry and delivering precision medicine. He has published more than 300 scientific papers and four books on the ecology of infectious disease.