A special invitation for high school science students and teachers
The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research is pleased to invite high school students who are curious and enthusiastic about science, and their science teachers, to attend a special presentation given by two eminent scientists during a special one day visit to Calgary on October 24, 2005. Both scientists will be gearing their talks to a high school level.
Dr. James Darnell
Dr. James E. Darnell, of the Rockefeller University in Manhattan, is a previous Gairdner Foundation awardee. Dr. Darnell was cited for breakthroughs in the understanding of gene regulation; opening avenues for treatment of anemia and cancer; guiding the careers of more than 125 young scientists; and writing two major textbooks on virology and molecular biology. Dr. Darnell helped scientists understand that genes could work differently in bacteria from the way they work in animals and plants. He later discovered a simple path by which cells of mammals transmit signals from the environment to the nucleus. The process helps cells program their genes to respond to signals from their environment. For example, Dr. Darnell discovered in the 1980's that a liver cell could remain a liver cell only when it stayed in the liver. He found that without constant signals from their normal place in the organ, liver cells lost a crucial molecular component known as messenger RNA that helps give them their identity.
Dr. Darnell also found the clearest example of how the surface of a cell signals genes in its nucleus. The signaling shows how cells directly respond to a type of hormone known as cytokines and to growth factors. The signaling is important in resisting infections and in inducing production of proteins known as STAT's, which play major roles in the origin and survival of cancer cells.
Dr. Craig Mello
Dr. Craig Mello is a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator and one of this year's Gairdner Foundation awardees. Dr. Mello is a pioneer in the field of regulation of gene expression by small RNA molecules, an area recently described as "arguably the most important advance in biology in decades". His studies, focused through elegant experiments with a very powerful model organism, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (a microscopic worm), were and continue to be instrumental in elucidating mechanisms of gene regulation through short double-stranded RNAs, short interfering siRNA. This work has opened the field that has been named as RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) by Mello. RNAi has become an extremely powerful tool for basic studies on gene silencing and has led the way to important practical applications in biotechnology and medicine.
When, where, and How
The presentation will be held Monday October 24, from 10:30 am to 12:20 pm, in the Libin Theatre, Health Sciences Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW. Following the presentation, a light lunch will be provided. Each scientist will talk for 20 minutes followed by questions from the audience. It would be much appreciated if each science teacher/department head at each school would request two or three students to ask questions of the scientists.
How to book
We are hoping to have 300 students from a variety of schools in the greater Calgary area - based on a first come basis. AHFMR will pay for the busing of students and teachers, and we ask that once your booking is confirmed that you arrange the required busing through your school system and invoice us for those costs. We will also be providing a light lunch. The Foundation will also cover the cost of a substitute teacher, where needed, for up to half a day. There is no charge to schools or students: all we ask is the students who attend be truly interested in science and prepared to ask questions.
To book please e-mail Dwayne Brunner, Communications Coordinator, AHFMR at: Dwayne.Brunner@ahfmr.ab.ca or call him at (780) 423-5727. The bookings are first come, first served and the deadline for bookings is October 14, 2005.
Extra web information on the scientists
Website addresses are below for further information about the Gairdner Foundation, AHFMR, and Dr. Mello and Dr. Darnell's work:
The Gairdner Foundation: www.gairdner.org
| Dr. Mello: | http://www.umassmed.edu/faculty/show.cfm?faculty=240 and http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/mello_bio.html |
| Dr. Darnell: | http://www.rockefeller.edu/research/abstract.php?id=112 and http://www.laskerfoundation.org/media/articles/nyt_02.html |
The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research: www.ahfmr.ab.ca