Science 2008, Pitt's Eighth Annual Science Showcase, To Highlight Contemporary Research And New Technology

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Also Included In: Conferences
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Science 2008, the University of Pittsburgh's eighth annual showcase of science and technology, will focus this year on how contemporary science can adapt the legacy of past achievements to meet future challenges in diverse disciplines for the benefit of generations to come.

The two-day program will be held Oct. 2 and 3 in Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Admission is free and open to the public, but registration is required, either on site at the event or in advance at http://www.science2008.pitt.edu.

"We have a duty to harness the scientific advances entrusted to us by previous generations and to further develop them for our own benefit as well as for those who will follow us. This is our time and our chance to make a difference," said Arthur S. Levine, M.D., senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine. "This annual event always provides a welcome opportunity to explore not only some of the latest, exciting advances in a wide range of scientific disciplines, but also some of the related complexities and issues that these developments present."

Science 2008 will feature keynote lectures by four of the nation's leading scientists; presentations by more than 50 researchers from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University and local industry; a showcase of new technology developed by Pitt researchers that is available for licensing; research poster sessions; a professional development workshop for early-career scientists, and other events.

"One of the truly remarkable aspects of this annual event is its cross-campus appeal to students, researchers and faculty from diverse programs in sciences, engineering, medicine, the other health sciences and computation," said James V. Maher, Ph.D., provost and senior vice chancellor. "In addition, this program is a tremendous opportunity to welcome our colleagues from Carnegie Mellon and other local universities, as well as scientists working in local industry, to come and share ideas and common interests."

The full program of events for Science 2008 can be found online at http://www.science2008.pitt.edu. Highlights include:

Plenary Lectures

- The 2008 Dickson Prize in Medicine Lecture, "Dissecting the Secretion Process: From Basic Mechanism to Human Disease," will be presented at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 2, by Randy W. Schekman, Ph.D., a Lasker award-winning cell and development biologist from the University of California, Berkeley.

- The Provost Lecture will be presented by Gregory A. Voth, Ph.D., distinguished professor of chemistry and director of the Center for Biophysical Modeling and Simulation at the University of Utah, at 4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2. His topic will be "Bridging the Scales: Connecting Computer Simulations of Molecular Phenomena to the Problems of the Real World."

- The 2008 Mellon Lecture by Peter Walter, Ph.D., an expert in biochemistry and biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco, is set for 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 3. "The Unfolded Protein Response: How the Endoplasmic Reticulum Talks to the Nucleus" is the title of his presentation.

- The Klaus Hofmann Lecture will be presented by Marcus E. Raichle, M.D., a well-known neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis, at 4 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3. The title of his lecture is "Two Views of Brain Function."

Spotlight Sessions

Twelve spotlight sessions will feature some of the latest and most interesting science being explored by Pitt and Carnegie Mellon researchers. The topics of these sessions include: Thinking Small: Nanoscience and Nanosafety; Delivering Health Care from a Distance; NO, NO, a Thousand Times NO; Immunology: Keeping up Our Guard; and Stem Cells in Development and in Cancer.

Science at Work Sessions

In collaboration with scientists working in local industry, Science 2008 also will feature Science at Work sessions on the following topics:

- IBM - Enabling Technologies: Transforming Health Care; Current and Future Impact on Patient Safety, Culture and Process

- Innovation Works - Reaping the Value of Interns in a Technology Company Environment

- Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and Renal Solutions - Concept to Commercialization™: a Successful System for Turning Innovation into Enterprise

- Vivisimo - Thinking Outside the (Search) Box: Enterprise Search at the University of Pittsburgh and Vivisimo

- Intel Research - Biomedical Applications of Computer Vision

In addition, there will be a technology showcase, a professional development workshop, poster sessions, a life sciences supplier show and a responsible conduct of research workshop.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is one of the nation's leading medical schools, renowned for its curriculum that emphasizes both the science and humanity of medicine and its remarkable growth in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant support, which has more than doubled since 1998. For fiscal year 2006, the University ranked sixth out of more than 3,000 entities receiving NIH support with respect to the research grants awarded to its faculty. As one of the university's six Schools of the Health Sciences, the School of Medicine is the academic partner to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Their combined mission is to train tomorrow's health care specialists and biomedical scientists, engage in groundbreaking research that will advance understanding of the causes and treatments of disease and participate in the delivery of outstanding patient care.

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine