Nobel Laureate Chalfie set for Discovery Lecture
Nobel Prize-winning neurobiologist Martin Chalfie, Ph.D., will deliver the next Discovery Lecture — “Touch Sensitivity in C. elegans: An Adventure in Nontranslational Research” — at 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 28, in 208 Light Hall.
Martin Chalfie, Ph.D.
Chalfie is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University and chair of the department. In 2008, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura, Ph.D., and Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D., for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP), a green glowing protein used broadly to study cell biology and gene expression. Recently, GFP has been used to create green glowing pet fish and mice.
Using tools like GFP in the roundworm C. elegans, Chalfie's lab investigates nerve cell development and function. Focusing on a set of six neurons that are the sensory receptors for “gentle touch,” his research addresses how neuron cell fate is determined, the molecular mechanisms that underlie senses (e.g., touch, hearing and balance), and aspects of neurodegeneration and aging.
Chalfie was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004.
The lecture is sponsored by the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology.
For a complete schedule of the Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.