"If the right combination of circumstances occurs -- first, you're unfortunate enough to be infected with a bacterial strain that can bind to the cells lining your stomach and, second, the bacterium contains molecules on its surface that resemble some of those on your stomach cells -- the destiny of the infection may be skewed toward autoantibody production, loss of acid-producing cells and possibly neoplasia," said lead researcher Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D., the Alumni Professor and head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology.

Researchers in Gordon's lab described their findings in a recent issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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This chair was established through a gift to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation from Jacqueline G. and William E. Maritz, chief executive officer of Maritz Inc. and a longtime community leader. They wished to honor the work of Joel D. Cooper, M.D., the Evarts A. Graham Professor of Surgery and head of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the medical school, who is an internationally recognized pioneer in lung surgery, and Shabbir H. Safdar, M.D., professor of medicine, a longtime area physician who specializes in hematology and oncology.

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Skin biology subject of grant

A group of researchers led by William C. Parks, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and of cell biology and physiology, has received a five-year $5 million program project grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases.

The grant will cover four research projects all related to a central theme: understanding the biology of the skin. These researchers will study the basic mechanisms controlling skin development, normal epidermal biology and responses to injury.

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Richard Tsien to give Bishop lecture

Richard W. Tsien, Ph.D., will deliver the 43rd annual George H. Bishop Lecture in Experimental Neurology at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, at the School of Medicine. Tsien is the George D. Smith Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He also has directed the Silvio Conte-National Institute of Mental Health Center for Neuroscience Research at Stanford since 1991.

The lecture, "Surprising Calcium Signaling on Both Sides of Hippocampal Synapses," will take place in Erlanger Auditorium at 4565 McKinley Ave.

Tsien is best known for his research on voltage-gated calcuim channels, vital signaling proteins that link neuronal excitation to cellular responses such as neurotransmitter release, metabolism, gene expression, altered excitability and neurotoxicity.

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