The Wayne State University School of Medicine, in partnership with the Wayne State University Physician Group, will host a community forum on bioterrorismon Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. at the WSU Oakland Center, 33737 W. 12 Mile Road (just west of Farmington Road).

The public is invited to attend this free educational panel discussion, which will feature Wayne State University physicians and scientists as well as government public officials. The discussion, which will include a question-and-answer session, will focus on steps that have been taken to prepare for biological terrorism, information about how illnesses induced by bioterrorism can be recognized and treated as well as cool-headed tips for handling the fear that has been accompanied by news reports of criminal dispersion of anthrax.

Panel participants will include Michigan Sen. John Schwarz, a practicing physician and a member of the Senate Health Policy Committee; public health officials; and several WSU professors from a variety of medical backgrounds, including emergency medicine, immunology and microbiology, occupational and environmental health, psychiatry and infectious disease. The moderator will be Dr. Tara Washington, WSU assistant professor of radiation oncology and co-host of WJR's "The Medical Hour," which is sponsored by the Wayne State University Physician Group.

With more than 1,000 medical students, WSU is among the nation's largest medical schools. Together with the Detroit Medical Center, the school is a leader in patient care and medical research in a number of areas including cancer, genetics, women's and children's health, and the neurosciences.

(For more information, the general public may call 1-877-WSU-DOCS. Media should call Jennifer Day at 313-577-1058.)