SASS Foundation Visiting Professorship, December 3
On Thursday, December 3, The SASS Foundation for Medical Research and Weill Cornell Medical College, along with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, presented a scientific symposium from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Uris Auditorium, 1300 York Avenue.
Dr. Ralph M. Steinman of Rockefeller University was the keynote speaker as the 2009 SASS Foundation Visiting Professor. Dr. Steinman presented his research on the use of dendritic cells to understand the development of immune-based diseases and the design of new therapies and vaccines. Dendritic cells, which were originally codiscovered by Dr. Steinman with Zanvil A. Cohn at Rockefeller, are pivotal to the adaptive and innate branches of the immune system. Dr. Steinman received his undergraduate degree from McGill University and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. After internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, he joined Rockefeller in 1970 as a postdoc in the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology where he rose to the rank of professor in 1988. In 1995 he was named the Henry G. Kunkel Professor, and in 1998 he was appointed director of the Christopher H. Browne Center for Immunology and Immune Diseases. Among other awards, Dr. Steinman was the recipient of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research in 2009 and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2007.
The December 3 program highlighted the research of two SASS Foundation supported fellows. Dr. Francine Garrett-Bakelman, the SASS Foundation Judah Folkman Fellow at Weill Cornell Medical College, a mentee of Dr. Ari Melnick, presented her research on epigenetics of myeloid disorders and therapeutic targeting strategies for cancer. Dr. Garrett-Bakelman received her B.Sc. degree in Biochemistry from California State University at Fullerton, and her M.Sc., M.D. and Ph.D. in Cell Biology degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency training at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Dr. Shilpi Paul, the SASS Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and mentee of Dr. Alea Mills, presented her research on a gene called CHD5 which was discovered by Dr. Mills and colleagues two years ago. Dr. Paul received her Ph.D. in the Program of Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2007 from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
The SASS Foundation for Medical Research, Inc., promotes a better understanding of cancer and blood related diseases, educates medical professionals, patients and the community-at-large on the most advanced detection procedures, therapies and treatments available. The SASS Foundation aggressively funds state of the art medical research to bring us closer to finding a cure. The SASS Foundation - A Continued Commitment to Research, Patient Care and Education. The SASS Foundation generously supports the SASS Foundation Judah Folkman Fellowship at Weill Cornell Medical College and the SASS Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, not-for-profit research and education institution at the forefront of efforts in molecular biology and genetics to generate knowledge that will yield better diagnostics and treatments for cancer, neurological diseases and other major causes of human suffering.
Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research in areas such as stem cells, genetics and gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular medicine, transplantation medicine, infectious disease, obesity, cancer, psychiatry and public health - and continue to delve ever deeper into the molecular basis of disease and social determinants of health in an effort to unlock the mysteries of the human body in health and sickness.