Top scientists set for lecture series
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is launching a new lecture series that will bring some of the top scientific minds in the country to campus.
The twice monthly “Discovery Lecture Series” will feature Nobel laureates and investigators who are members of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, or the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
“Our new Discovery Lecture Series is a strong indicator of Vanderbilt's growing stature in the international research community,” said Jeffrey Balser, M.D., Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research.
“We're pleased to offer our researchers the opportunity to interact with some of the world's top scientists. We're even more pleased that these scientists will get to see the caliber of research taking place here at Vanderbilt. Interactions like this are bound to strengthen our position as one of the nation's fastest-growing research institutions.”
Steven Gabbe, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, said that the Discovery Lecture Series joins other lectures and publications that “highlight the most important research being done not only at Vanderbilt, but around the globe.”
“In each case, distinguished investigators have the opportunity to share their expertise with us, and we in turn have an opportunity to educate them about the vast array of cutting-edge research being done here in our School of Medicine,” Gabbe said. “This is invaluable to our students, including our medical students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and to our distinguished faculty.”
The Discovery Lecture Series schedule for this fall:
• Sept. 14 — Sydney Brenner, D.Phil., Distinguished Research Professor, The Salk Institute; 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; National Academy of Sciences member (Capstone lecture of the Max Delbrück Centenary Celebration)
• Sept. 28 — Nancy Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of Psychiatry, University of Iowa; Institute of Medicine member; 2006 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science recipient
• Oct. 19 — Harry Dietz, M.D., Professor of Genetics and Medicine, Johns Hopkins University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Thomas P. Graham Jr. Lecture)
• Oct. 26 — Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Research Drug Discovery, Genentech, Inc.; National Academy of Sciences member (Lamsom Lecture)
• Nov. 6 — Marc Kirschner, Ph.D., Chair of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School; National Academy of Sciences member (Orrin Ingram Distinguished Lecturer, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Cell and Developmental Biology Distinguished Faculty Lecturer)
• Nov. 30 — Kathy Gould, Ph.D., Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
All Discovery Lectures will be at 4 p.m. in 208 Light Hall, with the exception of the Sept. 28 lecture, which will begin at 3 p.m.
For more information on the Discovery Lecture Series, contact Lynne Hutchison at 343-9075.