UAF to host third annual Biomedical Research Conference

Submitted by Marvin Schulte
Phone: (907) 474-5237
04/10/07

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host the third annual University of Alaska Biomedical Research Conference Thursday and Friday April 12-13, 2007 in the UA Museum of the North.

The two-day conference will showcase biomedical and related research from throughout Alaska. The conference opens with Gerald Mohatt, director of UAF’s Center for Alaska Native Health Research and Carol Lewis, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. Keynote speakers the second day include Jasper Rine, director of the Center for Computational Biology at the University of California Berkeley, and Troy Zarcone, research professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The two-day agenda includes:

Thursday, April 12
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.--Presentations on environmental health, cell biology and biochemistry
4:30-6 p.m.--Poster presentations

Friday, April 13
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.--Presentations on infectious disease, toxicology and neuroscience

Larry Duffy, associate dean of UAF’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics, will be honored with this year’s Sven Ebbesson Award for Excellence in Neuroscience. Duffy holds a joint appointment with the UAF Institute of Arctic Biology. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his work on Alzheimer’s disease. As the principal investigator for the Specialized Neuroscience Research Program, Duffy has secured nearly $14 million in National Institutes of Health research grants. Duffy, an alumnus of the University of Alaska, has taught chemistry and biochemistry at UAF since 1987.

The award is named for UAF Professor Emeritus Sven Ebbesson, a pioneer of neuroscience and health research in Alaska.

The UA biochemistry and molecular biology program sponsors the conference each year to encourage scientific discussion and enhanced collaboration throughout the state. The conference began in 2005 and, since then, has expanded to include researchers in all biomedical programs at the University of Alaska.

CONTACT: Marvin Schulte, UAF chemistry department, at (907) 474-5237 or via e-mail at ffmks@uaf.edu. Marmian Grimes, UAF public information officer, at (907) 474-7902 or via e-mail at marmian.grimes@uaf.edu.