The second annual David M. Kipnis lecture will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, in Moore Auditorium, 4580 Scott Ave. Nobel Prize winner Eric F. Wieschaus, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology at Princeton University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, will be the speaker.
Wieschaus will discuss "From Molecular Patterns to Morphogenesis: The Lessons From Drosophila."
He has played a central role in ushering in the modern era of developmental biology. In his pioneering work on the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, in collaboration with Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Ph.D., Wieschaus used classical genetic screens to identify most of the zygotically-active genes required to assemble the young fly embryo. The genes identified during the course of these screens represent many of the most essential factors required for the early development of all multicellular organisms from flies to humans. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Nobel in Medicine and Physiology in 1995.
The annual Kipnis lecture was established by the Department of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology to honor David Kipnis, M.D., Distinguished University Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine from 1972 to 1992.
The lecture is to be delivered by an individual whose work on basic questions related to the control of cell growth, differentiation and communication has important implications for understanding the origins of human disease.
Kipnis is known internationally for his pioneering research on diabetes. He has received numerous awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences, the George M. Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians and the Ernest Oppenheimer Award from the Endocrine Society.
