Which research projects will reveal remedies for the diseases that haunt us today? How are those research studies reported in the press, and how can we make sense of those reports? Behind each medical breakthrough is the quest to understand the essential mechanisms of life and how that knowledge results in new diagnostic tools, new drugs and new treatments for patients.
May 3
Risky Business: Reporting on Research in the Media
Lisa Bero, PhD, professor, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, and Institute for Health Policy Studies, School of Medicine.
Learn how to evaluate the research results you read about in the news and see on TV, and the pros and cons of corporate sponsorship of research studies.
May 10
Embryonic Stem Cells and Their Potential for Treating Diabetes
Michael German, MD, professor, medicine, Hormone Research Institute; clinical director, UCSF Diabetes Center.
Explore the steps human embryonic stem cells take to become pancreatic islet cells which produce insulin, and the goal of clinicians to transplant these cells to treat diabetes.
May 17
Telomeres and Telomerase and Their Implications for Cancer and Diseases of Aging
Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD, Morris Herzstein Professor of Biology and Physiology, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Examine what bits of DNA dubbed telomeres tell us about cell division, and how solving this part of the molecular puzzle may help develop new tools to fight cancer and diseases of aging.
May 24
What Does a Drunken Fruit Fly Tell Us About Addiction?
Ulrike Heberlein, PhD, professor of anatomy, Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction
Discover how drugs of abuse hijack the “reward pathway” in the brain, and how this knowledge may lead to cures for drug abuse.
May 31
The Developing Embryo and Implications for Disease
Didier Stainier, professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics; Member, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Learn what role incorrect development of the heart and other organs can play in such conditions as sudden death in young athletes, cancer and some birth defects, and how current research can contribute to future gene therapy.
June 3
Elective Saturday
Participants will attend electives that feature visits to UCSF clinical and scientific programs and campus research labs.
June 7
Genomics and Infectious Diseases: Hunting the Causes of SARS, Malaria and Prostate Cancer
Joe DeRisi, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at UCSF; MacArthur Award fellow, 2004
In an era of international air travel, there is a heightened need to detect and contain diseases quickly. Learn about the hunt for emerging viruses such as SARS, plus the characterization of the malaria parasite, and how this work can translate into new drugs and vaccines.
