PHILADELPHIA – Utpal Sandesara, who is pursuing a medical degree and doctorate in social anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, will present archival research and first-hand accounts of India’s 1979 Machhu Dam disaster at the Penn Bookstore at 36th and Walnut streets Friday, June 17, at 5 p.m.

Sandesara, the son of a Machhu flood survivor, is co-author of "No One Had a Tongue to Speak: The Untold Story of One of History's Deadliest Floods."  

As a Harvard Frederick Sheldon Prize Fellow, he worked as a researcher for Peru's Ministry of Health, preparing a report on the integration of prenatal care with testing and treatment of HIV and syphilis in the national health system.

While pursuing degrees in Harvard University's social studies program, Sandesara and his co-author, Tom Wooten, traveled to India, where they did the field research that is the foundation of this book.

The talk is free and open to the public.