TORONTO, October 26, 2010 − Dr. Gregg Semenza of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering will speak about the importance of oxygen and its effects on human development and disease, when he delivers the 2010 Canada Gairdner Lecture at York University on Wednesday.
Semenza, a recipient of the 2010 Canada Gairdner International Award, is the C. Michael Armstrong Professor at Johns Hopkins, with appointments in pediatrics, medicine, oncology, radiation oncology, biological chemistry, and with the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine.
His presentation, “Life with Oxygen,” will look at how oxygen is used by the human body and what happens when there isn’t enough. The lungs present a large surface area for the capture of oxygen by red blood cells, which are pumped by the heart through blood vessels to all cells of the body. The development and subsequent operation of the circulatory and respiratory systems is controlled by hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), which is a protein that is activated in response to reduced oxygen availability (hypoxia). It was Semenza's laboratory which identified 1 (HIF-1).
The purification of HIF-1 and isolation of its coding sequences in 1995 opened the field of oxygen biology to molecular analysis and has revealed major roles for HIF-1 in many developmental, physiological and pathological processes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. HIF-1 activates the expression of genes that are required to increase oxygen delivery, for example, by stimulating the production of new blood vessels.
WHAT: 2010 Canada Gairdner Lecture – Dr. Gregg Semenza
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1:30-2:30 pm
WHERE: York University Senate chamber, Ross N940, Keele campus
MAP: See #28 on Keele campus map, http://www.yorku.ca/yorkweb/maps/keele.htm
The Gairdner Foundation recognizes the world’s leading medical research scientists through the Canada Gairdner International Awards, among the most prestigious awards in biomedical science. University Professor Emeritus Ron Pearlman of York’s Department of Biology will host the event.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
-30-
Media Contact:
Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22101 / wallsj@yorku.ca
