by Leigh MacMillan
Ronald Evans, PhD, renowned for his discoveries of nuclear hormone receptors and how they work, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, March 7.
His lecture, which is also the Irwin Eskind Lecture in Biomedical Science, will begin at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall.
Evans, director of the Gene Expression Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, will discuss “Resetting Metabolism and Treating Diabetes by Targeting Factors from Fat and the Gut.”
Nuclear hormone receptors, which respond to steroid and thyroid hormones, vitamins A and D, and other molecules, help control sugar, salt, calcium and fat metabolism. The receptors Evans discovered are primary targets in the treatment of certain cancers, osteoporosis and asthma. Evans’ discoveries also led to a class of drugs called exercise mimetics, which may help combat obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Evans is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received numerous awards including the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the Harvey Prize in Human Health, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the Wolf Prize in Medicine and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize.
Evans’ lecture is sponsored by the Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center. For a complete schedule of the Flexner Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.
