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Opening Keynote - Wednesday, November 5
 Belle Wheelan, Ph.D.,
currently serves as president of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is the first African American and the first woman to serve in this capacity. Her career spans 32 years and includes the roles of faculty member, chief student services officer, campus provost, college president, and Secretary of Education for Virginia. In several of these roles, she was the first African American and/or woman to serve in those capacities. Dr. Wheelan has received numerous awards and recognition, including four honorary degrees, and was named on the of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.
"What Scientific Research Can Teach Jane and Joe Citizen."
Luncheon Keynote - Saturday, November 8
 Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, Ph.D.
has served as president of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County) since May, 1992. Dr. Hrabowski serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and universities and school systems nationally and sits on several corporate and civic boards. His recent awards include election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education, and the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Dr. Hrabowski has coauthored two books, Beating the Odds and Overcoming the Odds (Oxford University Press), focusing on parenting and high-achieving African American males and females in science.
"Beating the Odds: Preparing Underrepresented Minorities for Research Careers in Biomedical Sciences."
Plenary Scientific Speakers - Thursday, November 6
 Martin Philbert, Ph.D.
is a professor of toxicology, the executive director of the Center for Risk Science and Communication, and the senior associate dean for research at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His research focuses on the development of flexible polymer nanoplatforms for the optical sensing of ions and small molecules and the early detection and treatment of tumors. His other research interests include the mitochondrial mechanisms of chemically induced neuropathic states. Philbert serves on the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and provides consultation to federal agencies on the potential toxicity of nanotechnologies.
"Nanomaterials and Health: the Good the Bad and the Ugly."
 David Page, M.D.,
is the director of the Whitehead Institute, a professor of biology at MIT, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 1992, he founded the Whitehead Task Force on Genetics and Public Policy. He is an editor of Current Opinion in Genetics and Development and associate editor of the Annual Review of Human Genetics and Genomics. His achievements include mapping, cloning, and publishing the complete sequence of the Y chromosome; being elected to the National Academy of Sciences; and receiving awards such as a MacAruther Foundation Fellowship, the Searle Scholars Award, the Amory Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Curt Stern Award from the American Society of Human genetics. Page trained in the laboratory of David Botstein at MIT while earning an M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. Having explored the chromosomal basis of human sex reversal in the 1980s, Page is now researching germ cell sex determination in mammals and the development of the embryonic ovary.
"Choosing Sex: How Germ Cells Take the Road Less Traveled."
Plenary Scientific Speakers - Friday, November 7
Juan Enriquez, MBA,
is on the world's foremost authorities on how extraordinary advances in life sciences are changing the way we live and do business. Enriquez has an important message for political and business leaders about how to compete effectively in the world's "knowledge economy," as the digital and genomic revolutions create the wealth of the future. Juan is the author of the global bestseller, As the Future Catches You, an analysis of the impact of genomics on business and society, and The Untied States of America, which explores why, as technology advances, some countries are successful, while others disappear. He is the chairman and CEO of Biotechonomy LLC, a life sciences research and investment firm. He was the founding director of the Harvard Business School of Life Sciences Project. Fast Company named Enriquez one of their Fast 50 for 2005. He holds a B. A. and M.B.A. degrees from Harvard, with honors.
"As the Future Catches You."
Bonnie Bassler, Ph.D.
is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. Bassler received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California at Davis and a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University. She performed postdoctoral work at the Agouron Institute. She joined Princeton in 1994. The research in her laboratory focuses on the molecular mechanisms that bacteria use for intercellular communication. Bassler is the director of graduate studies and teach undergraduate and graduate courses at Princeton.
"How Bacteria Talk to Each Other."
Concurrent Scientific Speakers - Thursday, November 6
Jill Bargonetti, Ph.D.,
is a cancer researcher and professor at the City University of New York (CUNY), with a joint appointment at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. Bargonetti has researched extensively on the p53 protein, which assists in the suppression of tumor cell growth. Awarded the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by President Bill Clinton in 1997, Bargonetti has received numerous research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She was a member of the National Cancer Policy Board from 2002 until 2005 (a board of the National Academies). Bargonetti holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, both from New York University, and a B.A. from SUNY Purchase.
"Targeting DNA-Adduct Stereochemistry and p53-Mdm2 Complexes for Improved Breast Cancer Cell Death."
 Beth Boyd, Ph.D.,
is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians. Since completing her Ph.D. in 1992, she has taught in the clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of South Dakota. She is involved in a number of projects seeking to train culturally competent clinical psychologists and to develop culturally responsive mental health services for Native American communities. As a faculty member is the USD Disaster Mental Health Institute, she has responded on crisis response team development, effects of trauma, youth suicide and community building. She is the current president of the Society for Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues of the American Psychological Association.
"Disaster Mental Health Response in Diverse Communities."
Victoria D'Souza, Ph.D.,
graduated from the Michael Summers lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2002 and continued to work on retroviral genome packaging as a postdoctoral associate. She joined the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department at Harvard University as an assistant professor in 2006. She is a recipient of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Scholar Award.
"Biochemical and Structural Studies of Retroviral Replication."
Rafael Fissore, Ph.D.,
is an associate professor of veterinary and animal sciences and an associate professor of developmental biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Fissore received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts and postdoctoral training from Harvard Medical School. He received the College of Forestry and Natural Resources Research Award in 2008. Fissore and his lab are interested in understanding how sperm induces activation of, and triggers development in, mammalian eggs. He researching the regulation of Ca
2+ release through the receptor IP3R, and his lab recently identified a new inhibitor of the IPR3R-1, KN-93, and is characterizing its mechanism of action.
"Of Pigs, Mice, and Men: How the Egg Gets Activated."
Francisco Gonzalez-Lima, Ph.D.,
holds the first endowed chair named after a Hispanic professor in the United States, the George I. Sanchez Centennial Professorship at the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated with honors from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, with a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in psychology. He received his Ph.D. in anatomy and neurobiology from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, which honored him with a Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has been an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow and a visiting scientist in Germany, England, and Canada. His research has been funded continuously for 25 years and has led to over 250 publications.
"Brain Mechanisms of Fear Extinction: Implications for Memory Facilitation and PTSD."
Pamela Gunter-Smith, Ph.D.,
joined Drew University as provost and academic vice president on July 1, 2006. Previously, she was Porter Professor of Physiology at Spelman College. A widely-published scientist, she was an American Council on Education Fellow with President Donna Shalala at the University of Miami and has had a long association with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as a panelist and committee chair. Before moving to Spelman in 1992, she held appointments at the National Naval Medical Center, the George Washington University Medical School, and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
"Regulation of Transepithelial Ion Transport by Purinergic Receptor Activation."
 Trachette Jackson, Ph.D.,
is a James S. McDonnell 21st Century Science Fellow and a professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan. She is also a founding codirector of the Mathematical Biology Research Group and the Supplying Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics Education and Research Group Experiences (SUBMERGE) program. She has expertise in using mathematical and computational approaches to address biological problems, and the current thrust of her research combines mathematical modeling, numerical simulation, and in vivo tumor vascularization experiments to gain a deeper understanding of angiogenesis, tumor growth, and vascular structure. Jackson has been honored with several awards relating both to her interdisciplinary research and educational activities.
"Modeling Tumor-Induced Angiogenesis and Vascular Tumor Growth."
Louis Peña, Ph.D.,
holds the position of scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and is an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering and neuroscience at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Originally from Los Angeles, Peña graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Organismal and Evolutionary Biology and then obtained a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in Anatomy and Cell Biology. After postdoctoral positions at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Peña pursued a variety of federal and private-industry-supported projects in his lab in the medical department of BNL. Peña holds several patents and is a consultant for BioSET, a Maryland biotech company focused on coatings and orthopedics.
"Bioengineering Applications of Receptor-Targeting Peptides."
Kenneth Takeuchi, Ph.D.,
is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York (SUNY), University of Buffalo Campus. Takeuchi hold a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His honors include an ACS Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in Chemical Sciences, a UB McNair Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, four Milton Plesur Awards for Excellence in Teaching, a SUNY at Buffalo Most Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award, a Chemical Manufacturers Association National Catalyst Award, a Friend of the Equal Opportunity Program Award, and a SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Takeuchi lab researches the preparation and utility of inorganic materials and the production of magnetite and related iron-containing spinels.
"Progress Towards the Bionic Human: the Role of Chemistry in Implantable Medical Devices."
Paul Turner, Ph.D.
is an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and a faculty member in the Yale School of Medicine Microbiology Graduate Program. He earned his Ph.D. at Michigan State University in 1995 and did his postdoctoral work at the University of Maryland., the University of Valencia (Spain), and the National Institutes of Health. He has served as a mentor in the Science, Technology, and Research Scholars Program at Yale University and the American Society for Microbiology's Committee on Minority Education and is the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Yale.
"The Evolution of Emerging Disease Viruses."
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