Spring 2007 Lecture Series: Evolution and Medicine

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and the Office of Science Education (OSE) are partnering to present a lecture series, Evolution and Medicine. An outstanding group of scientists will present noon-time lectures on evolution as it applies to their area of scientific expertise. The program is open to all NIH employees and to the public.

All lectures take place in Building 45, Natcher Balcony B, from noon to 1 p.m. An informal discussion period will follow. Live webcasts will be available and archived at http://videocast.nih.gov/. American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters will be available upon request. If you require this or other reasonable accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact OSE at least 5 days prior to the event at (E-mail) moorec@mail.nih.gov, (Voice) 301-402-2470, or (TTY) 301-496-9706.

April 4 - Evolution and the Origin of Life

Harold Morowitz of George Mason University will discuss how new knowledge of energy flow pathways can help elucidate the origins of life.

April 11 - Evolution and Cooperation

Joan Strassman of Rice University will integrate the approaches of evolutionary and molecular biology to explain what genes regulate cooperative processes, how biological systems control cheating, and how cells recognize non-clonemates.

April 18 – Evolution and Gender

Joan Roughgarden of Stanford University will use gender theory to discuss the evolution of sexual behavior and show the difficulty of describing biology in binary terms. 

May 2 - Evolution and Disease

Steve Stearns of Yale University will use evolutionary thinking to explain important medical issues, such as the prevalence of diabetes, maternal and infant health, and the development of live attenuated vaccines.