[Bioundgrd] Fwd: 2003-2004 EMBS-BMES Distinguished Lecture Series--October 8

[Janice Chang]

>
>Dear colleagues and friends,
>
>The Boston chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
>         (IEEE)-Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS)
>                                  &
>               the MIT Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
>                           proudly present:
>
>        *** The 2003-2004 EMBS-BMES Distinguished Lecture Series ***
>
>We invite you to join us for our new monthly lecture series in which 
>we explore
>recent developments and stimulating topics in the expanding field of 
>biomedical
>engineering.  In the fall, speakers from both academia and industry 
>will introduce such
>subjects as genes, genomics, proteomics, and systems biology.
>
>Our second lecture will be:
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Biological Engineering Adult Stem Cell Production
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>James Sherley, Ph.D.
>Associate Professor
>Biological Engineering Division
>Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>
>Wednesday, October 8th, 2003
>7PM (Refreshments at 6:30PM)
>MIT Building 1, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Room 1-190
>	(For directions to MIT, please visit http://whereis.mit.edu)
>
>* This event is free and open to the public.*
>
>************************************************************************
>
>ABSTRACT:
>
>Because of their function in tissue renewal, regeneration, and 
>repair, adult stem cells have potential use for several biomedical 
>applications, including cell replacement therapy, gene therapy, and 
>tissue engineering.  However, so far, development of such 
>applications for adult stem cells has been precluded, because their 
>routine expansion in culture has proven an intractable problem.  The 
>challenge of this major problem in stem biology and tissue 
>engineering is compounded, because without a method to expand adult 
>stem cells to sufficient number for scientific investigation, there 
>has been little progress in acquiring knowledge of their molecular 
>functions that might inform efforts to expand them.  We have taken a 
>biological engineering approach to the problem of adult stem cell 
>expansion that is based on studies with genetically-engineered 
>cultured cells that model specific adult stem cell properties. 
>Mathematical modeling of the division kinetics of these model cell 
>lines led to development of a mathematical description of adult stem 
>cell division in culture that revealed a critical cell kinetics 
>barrier to adult stem cell expansion.  Biochemical and molecular 
>analyses with the same engineered model cells revealed cellular 
>pathways that control adult stem cell division kinetics and 
>naturally-occurring compounds that could be used to regulate these 
>pathways to achieve expansion of adult stem cells in culture.  This 
>new approach to expanding adult stem cells in culture will be 
>presented along with the latest developments in our program for 
>biological engineering adult stem cell production.
>
>
>SPEAKER BACKGROUND:
>
>James L. Sherley is Associate Professor of Biological Engineering in 
>the Biological Engineering Division at MIT.  He is also an 
>affiliated faculty member in three MIT Centers, the Center for 
>Environmental Health Sciences, the Biotechnology Process Engineering 
>Center, and the Center for Cancer Research.  In addition, Prof. 
>Sherley holds an adjunct appointment as Associate Professor in the 
>Department of Biochemistry at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, 
>Tennessee.  Prof. Sherley initiated formal training in cancer 
>research with a B. A. degree in biology from Harvard College in 
>1980.  He then matriculated to the Johns Hopkins University School 
>of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland and in 1988 graduated with joint 
>M.D./Ph.D. degrees, with an emphasis in biochemistry and molecular 
>and cellular biology from the Department of Molecular Biology and 
>Genetics. Thereafter, as a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of 
>Molecular Biology at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, 
>Prof. Sherley developed model cell systems to investigate the 
>cellular function of the p53 cancer gene.  He left Princeton after 3 
>years of study to establish his own research program in 1991 as a 
>principal investigator in the Division of Medical Science at the Fox 
>Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In 1998, he 
>joined the MIT Biological Engineering faculty as an assistant 
>professor and established a new research program in adult stem cell 
>biological engineering.  Prof. Sherley also has research interests 
>in environmental toxicology, in particular with regards to 
>evaluating presumed cause-effect relationships between environmental 
>contaminants and observed changes in population health metrics.
>
>************************************************************************
>
>If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We look
>forward to seeing you!
>
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Mandy Yeung					Alexis DeSieno
>VP of Special Programs			President
>BMES,MIT Chapter				BMES, MIT Chapter
>mandyy at mit.edu				alexisd at mit.edu