Richard J. Smith, M.D., director of the Molecular Otolaryngology and Renal Research Laboratories (MORL) at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, will begin the 2014-2015 Flexner Discovery Lecture Series on Thursday, Sept. 11.
Smith’s lecture, sponsored by the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center, is entitled “Hearing Loss, Personalized Genomic Medicine and You.” It will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.
A member of the Institute of Medicine, Smith is professor of Otolaryngology, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics. He also directs the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics.
The genetic causes of hearing loss are extremely diverse, a fact that until recently has made diagnosis difficult. Advanced genomic and sequencing technologies have enabled the development of “molecular” diagnosis” and a more “personalized” approach to addressing hearing loss.
Here’s the rest of the schedule for this year’s Flexner Discovery Lecture series:
Sept. 25 — Bernard Lo, M.D., professor of Medicine emeritus, University of California, San Francisco, and president of the Greenwall Foundation, which supports bioethics research.
Oct. 2 — Peter Doherty, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate Professor, University of Melbourne, and a member of the Department of Immunology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
Oct. 16 — Michael Longaker, M.D., director of the Program in Regenerative Medicine and Children’s Surgical Research at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Oct. 30 — George Q. Daley, M.D., Ph.D., professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dec. 11 — Suzanne Bakken, R.N., Ph.D., Alumni Professor of Nursing and professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University.
Jan. 8 — Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley; 2014 recipient, Lurie Prize in the Biomedical Sciences from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.
Jan. 22 — Mark Frisse, M.D., MBA, Accenture Professor and vice chair, Business Development, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University.
Feb. 19 — Elena Fuentes-Afflick, M.D., MPH, professor and vice chair of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco; chief of pediatrics, San Francisco General Hospital.
Mar 5 — David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Genetics and Medicine, Harvard Medical School; director, Program in Medical and Population Genetic, Broad Institute.
Mar 19 — Louis Staudt, M.D., Ph.D., co-chief, Lymphoid Malignancies Branch, and director, Center for Cancer Genomics at the National Cancer Institute.
April 2 — Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, M.D., director, University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories; director, Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit.
Apr 23 — Roel Nusse, Ph.D., professor of Developmental Biology, program director, Cancer Stem Cell Research Program, Stanford University School of Medicine.
April 30 — Eric Knudsen, Ph.D., professor and former chair, Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University School of Medicine.
For a complete schedule of the Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.
