January 11, 2007
Lectures on lung biology, stem cells, UW Medicine kick off 2007
Presentations on lung biology and stem cells and a speech by UW Medicine Chief Executive Officer Paul Ramsey will lead off lectures being presented in the new year.
William C. Parks, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Lung Biology, will give the next Science in Medicine Lecture, Proteolytic Pathways in Immunity, Wednesday, Jan. 17. The lecture takes place from noon to 1 p.m. in the Health Sciences Building, Hogness Auditorium.
Parks established the Center for Lung Biology through the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division in 2004. His research focuses on the function of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), a family of extracellular proteinases, in immunity and repair and on the molecular regulation of extracellular matrix production during vascular development and disease.Parks’ research has established that MMPs function to control cell-cell signaling, particularly in processes related to innate immunity, such as leukocyte recruitment and activation and defense against microorganisms. His presentation will focus on how MMPs can have both beneficial and detrimental effects in inflammatory disease processes.
The lecture will be simulcast at Harborview Medical Center, Research and Training Building, room 121; VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Building 1 room 518; VA American Lake, Building 2, Room 343; and VA HSR&D at Met Park, in downtown Seattle.
Dr. Ihor Rostylslav Lemischka, professor in Princeton University’s Department of Molecular Biology, will present Dissecting Cell Fate Regulation in Stem Cells at noon Monday, Jan. 22, in Turner Auditorium, D-209 in the Health Sciences Building.
Lemischka’s laboratory studies the mechanisms that regulate cell fate decisions in several stem cell systems. He has explored the functional clonal behavior and regulation of hematopoietic stem cells, in vivo and in vitro. Recently Lemischka’s focus expanded to include neural stem cells and embryonic stem cells. He is particularly interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms that control the balance of self-renewal and differentiation decisions.
Lemischka has served on several national and international editorial boards and review panels for such journals as Cell, Science, Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Immunology and Nature Biotechnology. He is on the board of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
The lecture is one of several sponsored through the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Seminar series.
Dr. Paul Ramsey, chief executive officer of UW Medicine, will address the UW Medicine community Monday, Feb. 5, from 5 to 6 p.m. in Hogness Auditorium. A reception will follow in the Health Sciences lobby.
In his address, UW Medicine: 2007 and Beyond, Ramsey, who is also dean of the School of Medicine and executive vice president for medical affairs, will reflect on the 60-year history of the school and talk about current and future challenges and opportunities for UW Medicine.
Live Webcasting will be provided by UWTV at www.uwtv.org.
All lectures are open to faculty, staff and students. No registration required. Contact Vee White at veewhite@u.washington.edu for more information.
