AMNH and President Carter to Preview New Exhibition, 1/12

The challenges of eliminating devastating diseases are vast, but successful strategies can bring about enormous social and economic benefits. Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, a new exhibition about scientific and social innovations that are ridding the world of ancient afflictions, will open at the American Museum of Natural History on January 13, 2015 in collaboration with The Carter Center.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, co-founder of The Carter Center, will announce the provisional number of Guinea worm cases counted in 2014 at the preview. Other speakers at the press conference include Museum President Ellen Futter, Museum Curator Mark Siddall, and Donald Hopkins, The Carter Center vice president for health programs.

The exhibition uses stunning photography, videography, and artifacts to highlight several global efforts that have been able to contain, eliminate, or eradicate disease. Chief among these is the 30-year campaign that may soon eradicate Guinea worm disease, positioning it to become only the second human disease ever eradicated, after smallpox. The exhibition also highlights programs to eradicate polio and prospects for more localized elimination of river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria.

Countdown to Zero is curated by Mark Siddall, curator in the Museum's Division of Invertebrate Zoology, in collaboration with Donald Hopkins, disease eradication expert and The Carter Center vice president for health programs.

Please enter through the Weston Pavilion Entrance at 79th Street and Columbus Avenue. Attending members of the press will be required to show identification and undergo a security check.