Events

Masur Auditorium, NIH Clinical Center (Bldg. 10)

Join us for the final WALS of the 2016 - 2017 season, "Word processor for the genome: technologies for improving our understanding and treatment of diseases" by Feng Zhang, Ph.D., Core Member and Associate Professor for the Departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering in the Broad Institute of MIT.

From the speaker: Our research focuses on the development and application of novel molecular technologies for studying the nervous system. Given the complexity of the brain, it is important to develop both precise perturbation as well as quantitative readout methodologies so that we can systematically reverse-engineer how the brain is functionally organized. So far my work has focused on the development of optogenetics technologies for controlling neural activity with high temporal, spatial, and cell-type specificity; and, more recently, genome engineering technologies based on CRISPR-Cas systems to allow precise alteration or modulation of the mammalian genome to unravel genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying nervous system function and disease.

The NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series, colloquially known as WALS, is the highest-profile lecture program at the NIH.  Lectures occur on most Wednesdays from September through June from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Masur Auditorium, Building 10 on the NIH Bethesda campus.

Lipsett Amphitheater, NIH Clinical Center (Bldg. 10)

Join us for "Predictive Genomic Medicine: Reversing the Paradigm" by Leslie G. Biesecker, M.D., part of the 2016-2017 DIR Genome Seminar Series. Dr. Biesecker is the Chief & Senior Investigator of the Medical Genomics and Metabolic Genetics Branch in the Division of Intramural Research at the National Human Genome Research Institute. This seminar is free and open to the public.

Dr. Biesecker's research focuses on understanding the relationship of genomic variation to health and disease. Dr. Biesecker's group studies several multiple anomaly syndromes, including Pallister-Hall syndrome, Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome, McKusick-Kaufman syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, oral-facial-digital syndrome, Lenz microphthalmia syndrome, Proteus syndrome and non-syndromic polydactyly. The Human Development Section has been recognized as an international leader in finding novel diagnostic and management approaches to these disorders, many of which are extremely rare. The goals of his research program are to improve the medical care of patients affected by these disorders, provide generalized knowledge about the broad field of genetic disease and better understand basic mechanisms of normal and abnormal human development and physiology.

Lipsett Amphitheater, NIH Clinical Center (Bldg. 10)

William Gahl, M.D., Ph.D., clinical director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, will present a summer lecture titled “The NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program and Network: Diagnosis and Discovery” as part of the 2016-2017 DIR Genome Seminar Series. This seminar is free and open to the public.

The immensely successful and NIH-intramural initiated Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP) is now part of the Undiagnosed Disease Network (UDN), an NIH Common Fund initiative that focuses on the most puzzling medical cases referred to the NIH Clinical Center. It was organized by NHGRI, the NIH Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR) and the NIH Clinical Center. Many medical specialties from other NIH research centers and institutes contribute the expertise needed to conduct the program, including endocrinology, immunology, oncology, dermatology, dentistry, cardiology and genetics, among the dozens of participating senior attending physicians. Its purpose is to bring together clinical and research experts from across the United States to solve the most challenging medical mysteries using advanced technologies. 

Lipsett Amphitheater, NIH Clinical Center (Bldg. 10)

Join us for the 14th Annual Jeffrey M. Trent Lecture. The 2017 Trent Lecture will be “Bringing Genomics to the Pediatric Oncology Clinic: Diagnosis, Treatment Selection and Rational Clinical Trial Design” by Katherine Janeway, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Sr. Physician and Director Solid Tumor Service, Pediatric Oncology, at the Dana-Farber / Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.