NARRAGANSETT -- August 28, 2003 -- If the sea harbors a cure for cancer, David C. Rowley is primed to track it down. If ocean organisms host an antidote to disease-causing viruses, Rowley is geared up to cultivate them, culture them, and tease out their potential for modern medical applications.

Rowley, biomedical sciences assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island, discusses the prospects of new drugs from the sea in a public lecture Wednesday, September 17, at the URI Bay Campus in Narragansett. The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Coastal Institute Auditorium.

Poseidon’s Medicine Cabinet: New Drugs From the Sea explores the biomedical promise of the oceans and explains some of the obstacles that impede fulfillment of that promise. Rowley lays out the difficulties of getting marine-based medicines to market, citing factors that so far have stymied extraction, cultivation, or synthesis of marketable quantities of pharmaceutical agents. He also looks to the future with discussion of new directions for identifying and developing resources that have potential for medical uses.

Rowley’s talk continues the annual Community Summer Lecture Series sponsored by Rhode Island Sea Grant, URI Cooperative Extension, and the URI Nutrition and Food Sciences program. Each year the series explores a different aspect of Narragansett Bay, with this year’s series focusing on modern missions for ancient marine resources.

The lecture is free, but seating is limited, so reservations are required. For reservations, directions, or more information, call the Sea Grant Communications Office at (401) 874-6842, or visit our Web site at http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/.