My name is Thomas Michel, and I am a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and a physician-scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
And I am the son of a refugee from Nazi-occupied Europe and the grandson of refugees from czarist Russia.
I want to welcome our students and faculty and staff from Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and from the many colleges in the Longwood area.
To the doctors, patients, nurses and friends from the many Harvard-affiliated hospitals and institutes, and to our broader Boston community who have joined us here this morning, I extend a warm welcome to you all. Thank you for being here.
I am a professor, and I am much more comfortable in front of a classroom than a rally. But in these troubled times, don’t we all have to step outside our comfort zones??
But since I am a professor, I want to tell you the learning objectives of this rally, which are to address two questions: who is marching for science, and why?
Who is marching?
First of all, this is a march for science, not a march by scientists. It doesn’t matter whether you are a surgeon or a soprano, a chemist or a carpenter, a student or a senior citizen: We march together to affirm the importance of science and science-based policies for the good of our towns, our cities, our states and for our beloved country and our only planet.
Why are we marching?
Because science is good for your health.
Adapted from a speech delivered by Thomas Michel, HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, at the HMS March for Science rally on April 22, 2017.
