Pitt’s ‘Science 2012—Translation’ Set for Oct. 3-5 at Alumni Hall

Science2012—Translation, Pitt’s 12th annual showcase of the region’s latest research in science, engineering, medicine, and computation, will be held Oct. 3-5 at Alumni Hall. In addition to highlighting the region’s most promising biomedical research, Science2012 will focus on how science translates into the “every day” through technological devices, medical innovations, policy, manufacturing, energy, and arts and humanities. In this spirit, Science2012 will bring together scientists and creative thinkers from disparate fields to help fill the gap between idea and application.

All Science2012 events and lectures are free and open to the public, but registration is required. 

One of the event’s highlights, the Dickson Prize in Medicine Lecture, will be delivered at 11 a.m. Oct. 4 by Brian J. Druker, director of the Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute, and the JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In a talk titled, “Imatinib As a Paradigm of Molecularly Targeted Cancer Therapies,” Druker will discuss the prescription drug Imatinib, which is used to treat certain types of leukemia—a cancer that begins in white blood cells—and other cancers of the blood cells. Druker has revolutionized the treatment of cancer with his development of Gleevec, the first drug to target the genetic defects of chronic myelogenous leukemia. 

The names and presentations of other renowned researchers delivering plenary lectures at Science2012 follow.

• Provost Lecture, 4 p.m. Oct. 4: “Sustainable Energy Innovators: Moving Toward a Low-Carbon Future,” presented by Miranda A. Schreurs, professor of comparative politics and director of the Environmental Policy Research Centre at Freie Universitat in Berlin. Schreurs’ key interests include environmental governance; climate change policy and politics; energy policy; and German, European, American, and East Asian environmental policy; 

• Mellon Lecture, 11 a.m., Oct. 5: “Riboswitches: Biology’s Ancient Regulators,” presented by Ronald R. Breaker, Henry Ford II Professor and Chair of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator; and 

• Klaus Hofmann Lecture, 4 p.m., Oct. 5: “Optogenetics: Development and Application,” presented by Karl Deisseroth, associate professor of bioengineering and associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, as well as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute early career scientist.
Twelve spotlight sessions are planned for Oct. 4 and 5, focusing on such topics as “Targeted Cancer Therapies,” “Nano (Enough Said)”, “Molecular and Engineering Responses to Trauma,” and “To Screen or Not to Screen.”

An undergraduate research poster reception will be held at 5 p.m. Oct. 4, with students from across the University exhibiting faculty-mentored research posters in basic science, medicine, and engineering.A full schedule of Science 2011 events and registration details are available at www.science2012.pitt.edu.