Pirates, Popes, & Pox: History and Biology of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

a Discovery Core Experience

This course may be taken as either a BCORE 115 (Social Sciences) or as a BCORE 116 (Natural Sciences) course.

About This Course

This class will focus on the history and biology of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In addition to exploring past outbreaks and medical history, we will also discuss how social and cultural issues have influenced the transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of STIs in the past and present.

Is this a science or a humanities course?

This course will include an introduction to the epidemiology and biology of these diseases, as well as a discussion of how issues like gender, race, sexual networks, serial monogamy, family planning, substance use, socioeconomic status, and adverse childhood experiences impact the spread of sexually transmitted infections and overall reproductive health.

Dr. Stefanie Iverson Cabral (she/her/hers)

School of Nursing & Health Studies

About Dr. Iverson Cabral

Stefanie Iverson Cabral has worked as a research scientist in an infectious disease laboratory associated with Harborview, UW Medicine since 2012. Her work in microbiological research was a continuation of her post-doctoral fellowship (2009-2012) and graduate studies (2002-2008) which were supported (in part) by funding from the UW AIDS/STD Training Grants. While conducting research, she explored her teaching interests with positions at Everett Community College, Seattle Pacific University, and Trinity Lutheran College. She has been with the University of Washington, Bothell since 2015 where she focuses on courses in microbiology, infectious disease, and global health.

Education

  • University of Washington, Department of Global Health, Seattle, WA
    • PhD, Pathobiology. Dissertation: Genetic Variation in Mycoplasma genitalium: Antigenic Diversity and Persistence of Infection within a Genomically Challenged Pathogen
  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
    • BS, Microbiology

Contact

Dr. Sunita Iyer (she/her/hers)

School of Nursing & Health Studies

About Dr. Iyer

I have been an undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level educator since 2008 and joined the School of Nursing & Health Studies at UW Bothell in 2016. Teaching is something I really do love to do, learn about, and experiment with, and I love to weave my clinical brain into my classrooms and teaching.  My background and primary professional interest is in perinatal and pediatric health, having started in Boston, MA and working in the public health sector. I spent 15 years as the founding Clinical Director of an integrative clinic in Kenmore, WA that still serves as a teaching clinic for students in a variety of medical and healthcare training programs, as well as a site for an accredited 2-year residency program. These days, I am fully engaged in teaching, being a parent and other-cool-adult to middle schoolers, and being really physically active.  I look forward to seeing you in class!

Education

  • Bastyr University Kenmore, WA, Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine; Certificate of Midwifery
  • University of Chicago Chicago, IL, BA with Honors, Anthropology and Ethnolinguistics

Contact