Part of $6 million federal grant awarded
to two URI pharmacy professors
KINGSTON, R.I. — November 12, 2002 — Biomedical experts from across North America will be speaking at the University of Rhode Island to discuss research in pharmacy, molecular science, fertility and psychiatry, among others, as part of a $6 million grant the University received last year.
Awarded by the National Institutes of Health, the grant seeks to develop a statewide network of biomedical researchers. The network was established by URI professors, Zahir A. Shaikh and Nasser H. Zawia, and consists of faculty members from URI, Rhode Island College, the Brown Medical School, Roger Williams University, Salve Regina University, and Bryant and Providence Colleges.
The lecture series is an outgrowth of the grant that gives scientists from the state’s colleges the chance to hear from nationally known researchers in biomedical sciences. The series, which is free and open to the public, will continue into 2004. All seminars are at 4 p.m. Refreshments and informal receptions begin at 3:30 p.m. before each seminar.
The schedule of speakers and their topics are as follows:
o Tuesday, Nov. 12, 4 p.m., Memorial Union Atrium II, URI Campus- Phillip Cole, professor and director of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, “Chemical Approaches to Understanding Protein Phosphorylation.”
o Thursday, Nov. 21, 4 p.m., Providence College- Ri-Cheng Chian, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, McGill University, “Maturation In Vitro of Immature Human Eggs for Clinical Use.”
o Wednesday, Dec. 4, 4 p.m., Memorial Union, Room 318, URI Campus- David Lawrence, Wadsworth Center, Department of Environmental and Clinical Immunology, “Stress-induced Suppression of Host Resistance: Regulated by Neural-Endocrine-Immune Factors or Good Old-Fashioned Chemistry.”
o Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003, 4 p.m., Memorial Union Atrium II, URI Campus- Karen Stevens, associate professor of psychiatry, University of Colorado, “Schizophrenia, Auditory Gating and Nicotine: Why Schizophrenics Smoke.”
o Wednesday, April 9, 4 p.m., Memorial Union Atrium II, URI Campus- Gary H. Perdew, professor of veterinary science, Penn State University, “Mechanism of Dioxin Toxicity: Is Dioxin a Human Health Concern?”
o Wednesday, April 30, 4 p.m., Memorial Union Atrium II, URI Campus- Joseph Reese, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, Penn State University, “Regulation of DNA Damage-inducible Genes by TBP-associated Factors, General Transcription Factors and Chromatin Modifying Machines.”
o Wednesday, May 7, 4 p.m., URI Campus- Richard Seegal, New York State
Department of Health. Topic to be announced.
As part of the grant, URI will also be hosting the Bioinformatics Seminar Series. The schedule of speakers and their topics are as follows:
o Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003- Joanne Yeh, assistant professor of medical science and chemistry, Brown University, “New Algorithmic Approaches to Predicting BBB Bioavailability and Rational Application of Structural Information.”
o Spring Semester- J. Peter Gogarten, professor of molecular and cell biology, University of Connecticut. Topic to be announced.
o Spring Semester- Charles Stabin, chair of the department of biology, University of Kentucky. Topic to be announced.