Pitt’s Science 2014–Sustain It! Is Set for Oct. 1-3

Issue Date: 
September 22, 2014

The 21st-century threats to a secure and sustainable future are many—ecological degradation, emerging infections, political and economic instability, to name a few. But equally formidable are researchers’ curiosity and their drive to make the unknown known. It is that scientific spirit—the quest to make science sustainable—that will be celebrated Oct. 1-3 during the University of Pittsburgh’s Science 2014—Sustain It!

Pitt’s annual showcase of science and technology will offer three full days of presentations by some of Pittsburgh’s leading researchers and keynote lectures by distinguished guest scientists. Also featured will be exhibits, poster sessions, a career development workshop, a new-technology exhibit, and networking opportunities.

The opening reception and technology showcase, open to the campus community and the public, will begin at

5 p.m. Oct. 1, and will feature leading-edge Pitt technologies ready for licensing. All Science 2014 events will be held in Alumni Hall, except a career symposium for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, which will take place at 3 p.m. on Oct. 1 in Pitt’s University Club.

Several spotlight sessions will be held Oct. 2-3, focusing on topics ranging from the science of sustainability, the human genome, and emerging trends in concussion research to blood diseases, 3-D printing and its use in medicine, and stem-cell science developments. Pitt Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson and Jeremy Berg, associate senior vice chancellor for science strategy and planning for the health sciences, will moderate one spotlight discussion—“Sustaining Science Funding” at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 3.

An undergraduate research poster reception, showcasing faculty-mentored research in basic science, medicine, and engineering, will be held at 5 p.m. Oct. 2 in Alumni Hall’s Connolly Ballroom.

The following four plenary sessions will also be featured:

Dickson Prize in Medicine Lecture
11 a.m. Oct. 2
“A Microbial View of Human Development: The Gut Microbiota and Childhood Undernutrition,” presented by Jeffrey I. Gordon, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and director, Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University (St. Louis) School of Medicine.

Provost Lecture
4 p.m. Oct. 2
“The Development of High-Speed DNA Sequencing: Neanderthal, Moore, and You,” presented by Jonathan M. Rothberg, chair, 4 Combinator, a high-technology incubator.

Mellon Lecture
11 a.m. Oct. 3
“Bringing Genetics and Epigenetics to the Fetal-Adult Hemoglobin Switch,” presented by Stuart H. Orkin, the David G. Nathan Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, and investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Klaus Hofmann Lecture
2 p.m. Oct. 3
“X-Chromosome Inactivation as a Model for Epigenetic Regulation by Long Noncoding RNA,” presented by Jeannie T. Lee, professor of genetics and of pathology, Harvard Medical School, and investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The conference is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Visit www.science2014.pitt.edu/