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Science symposium illuminates big picture for biomedical innovation

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Randy W. Schekman, professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Editor in Chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, received this year’s Dickson Prize in Medicine at Science 2008, the University of Pittsburgh’s annual exposition of medical research and innovation. Schekman, who is also a Howard Hughes Institute Medical Investigator, was honored for breakthroughs in laboratory techniques that enable scientists to illustrate and define the dynamic functions of cell biology.  

Schekman’s work and that of colleagues on his research team moved the study of cell biology from interpretations based upon the “static” pictures provided by electron microscopy into a realm of description that draws upon innovative applications of biochemistry and genetics. Their work taught biomedical researchers how to represent at the molecular level the formation of cellular structures and exchanges of materials between compartments within cells.

Keynote speaker at the opening of the two-day event last Friday and Saturday, Schekman was one of four bioscience luminaries who spoke to the gathering about large-scale, multi-disciplinary research programs that are enabling scientists to draw closer and closer to real-time, actual-scale representations of biological and mental processes. Other keynoters included Gregory A. Voth, Director of the Center for Biophysical Modeling and Simulation at the University of Utah, Peter Walter, chair of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, and Marcus Raichle, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Psychology at Washington University.

Leading scientists also threw a spotlight on 12 major areas of ongoing biomedical research, while current issues in the application of research to the development of products, enterprises, and clinical practice provided the focus for panel discussions.  In addition to these topical sessions, which featured contributors from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and many local and national organizations, the event also opened a window on a broad range of graduate level medical research presented in poster sessions from the two universities, and a showcase of product-oriented biomedical technologies seeking a path to commercial development.

Source: University of Pittsburgh
Writer: Joseph Plummer

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