September 8, 2003

Regenerative Biology Symposium
To Draw Researchers, Policy Experts

The First New England Symposium on Regenerative Biology and Medicine, a public debate on the future of stem cell research and regenerative biology, will take place at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center on Sept. 15 and 16.

The symposium, the inaugural conference of the new Center of Regenerative Biology, will be an occasion for researchers in the growing field of stem cell biology to meet and share ideas with policy experts. It is scheduled to begin after the noon-time dedication ceremonies for the new Advanced Technology Laboratory, in which the Center is housed.

Regenerative biology and medicine explore the potential of repairing the body by developing new tissues and organs.

The symposium, hosted by Xiangzhong (Jerry) Yang, professor and director of the new center, will begin at 2 p.m. on Sept. 15, with a keynote lecture on the state of technology in stem cell research by Jerry Schatten, professor and director of

the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Additional speakers include: Harris Lewin, professor and director of the Institute of Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois-Urbana; Jean-Paul Renard, director of the Developmental Biology & Biotechnology Unit, INRA, France; Robert Wall, of the Biotechnology & Germplasm Laboratory of the USDA; and Yang.

An evening dedication dinner will be held in the South Campus Ballroom at 6 p.m. Charles Jennings, executive editor of the Nature journals, will give the keynote address on "The Nature Journals and the Changing World of Scientific Publishing." The Nature journals include: Nature Biotechnology, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Genetics, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Nature Neuroscience and Nature Structural Biology.

The symposium will resume at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 16 with a keynote address on "The NIH Commitment to Advancing Human Stem Cell Research," by James Battey, director of the Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health. Battey is also chairman of President George W. Bush's Committee on Stem Cell Research.

Immediately after his lecture, the five newly hired faculty members of UConn's Center for Regenerative Biology will present their research. These include Joanne Conover, William Fodor, David Goldhamer, Ted Rasmussen, and X. Cindy Tian.

The symposium will end with a forum on funding opportunities for research in regenerative biology and medicine directed by Battey. It will include two speakers: Mark Mirando, National Project Leader & Program Director for USDA and Gerry Berkowitz, professor of plant science at UConn, and a panel discussion with researchers from the Health Center and the Storrs campus, Marc Lalande, Tim Hla, David Rowe, and Dong-Guk Shin.

For more information, see www.crb.uconn.edu.