The Evidence Symposium is an ongoing series sponsored by The Center and made possible by the collaboration of The Methodist Hospital, the University of Houston , and the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology. The Symposium is dedicated to understanding the role of evidence in health, health care, and individual autonomy.
Speakers present their new and ongoing research projects, which develop innovative ways of conceptualizing, measuring, and analyzing evidence and decision making.

2009 Series

On February 26 Dr. Eric Rasmussen, the President and CEO of InSTEDD, spoke on technology's role in early disease detection and disaster preparedness worldwide. The title of his talk was "Information Flow in Failed States: Outbreak Epidemiology on the Mekong." InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases, and Disasters) is an international nonprofit organization founded by Google.

2008 Series

On October 23 the Center hosted Nancy W. Dickey, MD, the president of the Texas A&M Health Science Center and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs for the Texas A&M System.

The holder of five honorary doctoral degrees, Dr. Dickey recently was elected chair-elect of the Association of Academic Health Centers and a member of the Institute of Medicine, a component of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. A former dean and current professor of family and community medicine in the College of Medicine, she is past president of the American Medical Association and founding program director of the Family Practice Residency of the Brazos Valley. Dr. Dickey is editor-in-chief of the patient education segment of Medem, an Internet-based patient-physician interface, and editor of The Journal of Patient Safety.

The title of her delightful talk was "Can the Nostalgic Concept of Professionalism Exist in a PDA Century?"
On February 21, the Center hosted Maggie Mahar, PhD, whose presentation, "Patient-Centered Medicine: Shared Decision-Making" attracted a standing-room-only audience. Dr. Mahar is a financial journalist and health policy researcher who wrote the best-seller, Money-Driven Medicine.

2007 Series

On May 22, Alvin Tarlov, MD, MACP, Executive Director Emeritus of the Texas Institute for Society and Health, presented on medical professionalism. The final speaker of the year was David Mechanic, PhD, a founding father of medical sociology and Director and Rene Dubos Professor, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research at Rutgers University. His talk was held on October 4.

On January 18, 2007, the Center was honored to host visual artist and theorist John Paul Caponigro. Caponigro gave his perspectives on evidence, representation, and belief to an enthusiastic audience of medical professionals, academics, and community members.

2006 Series

The 2006 series opened on June 13, with a talk by Barry Schwartz, PhD, author of The Paradox of Choice (chosen by Forbes and Business Week as one of the top ten books on strategy and business of 2005) and professor of social theory at Swarthmore College, who spoke on choice, ambiguity, and evidence in clinical decision making.
On September 14, Yakov Ben-Haim and Clifford Dacso demonstrated the use of info-gap decisioning in prostate cancer, clinical guidelines, and an overall analysis of population-based decision-making.

The Series' Inaugural Year

The 2005 Symposium Series featured talks by Drs. Susan Haack, Kenneth Shine, and Yakov Ben-Haim.