Scripps Research invites audiences to take a ‘front row’ seat to science when CEO opens new lecture series on Jan. 22
JUPITER, FL – Dec. 16, 2019 – Peter Schultz, PhD, a pioneering chemist and president and CEO of Scripps Research, will kick off the institute’s upcoming Front Row Lecture Series on its Florida campus on Wednesday, Jan. 22 with a presentation on how the institute is helping scientific discoveries reach patients with unmet medical needs.
The series, which is free to attend with a reservation, invites audience members to “take a front row seat to history” and learn about the scientific and medical advances arising from Scripps Research—advances that are changing science and human health in areas including cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, ALS, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, addiction, aging and more. The lecture begins at 4 p.m. on Jan. 22. To reserve a seat, register at www.scripps.edu/frontrowfl, email frontrowfl@scripps.edu or call 561-228-2016.
“This is a great opportunity for people interested in science to visit our campus and hear about the life-changing research and graduate education happening right here in their community,” says Doug Bingham, executive vice president at Scripps Research, Florida. “We’re making profound discoveries that have the power to transform people’s lives, and we’re eager to share them.”
Scripps Research is one of the world’s leading nonprofit biomedical research institutes, with campuses in Jupiter, Florida, and La Jolla, California. More than 200 laboratory teams perform deep investigations into fundamental biological science, translational medicine, and drug discovery and development.
Schultz, a pioneer in the fields of chemical and synthetic biology, will speak on “Accelerating Translation of Discoveries into Medicine.” Schultz founded the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr) in 2012, with the goal of accelerating the discovery of new medicines for unmet needs. Now a division of Scripps Research, Calibr oversees a pipeline of innovative new therapies, some already in clinical trials.
The second Front Row Lecture will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 4 pm. Neuroscientist Courtney Miller, PhD, will discuss “The Surprising Science of Memory Erasure.” Miller and her laboratory team are finding ways to selectively interfere with memories that can trigger drug addiction relapse or drive PTSD symptoms. Her trailblazing research has earned funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Innovative chemist Matthew Disney, PhD, is making drugs for diseases long considered “undruggable.” Rather than targeting proteins, as most drugs do, Disney has developed a successful way to target RNAs, the cellular machinery that helps build proteins. He will present his Front Row Lecture on Wednesday, March 18, titled “Advancing Precision Medicine to Stop Cancer, ALS, Muscular Dystrophy and More. “
To close the inaugural Front Row Lecture series, Michael Farzan, PhD, co-chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research, will share his research into the body’s response to viral infections and the efforts of his team to develop a new type of vaccine. His talk, “Next-Generation Vaccines to Stop HIV, Influenza, Zika and Beyond,” will be presented on Wednesday, April 22.
To learn more about Scripps Research and the Front Row Lecture Series, visit www.scripps.edu/frontrowfl.