[Currents header graphic]

March 8, 1999

Internationally recognized cancer researcher to speak at UCSC

By Kate Plourde
American Cancer Society

UCSC and the American Cancer Society will host a public forum featuring noted cancer researcher and molecular biologist Robert A. Weinberg on Saturday, March 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the UCSC Media Theater, Performing Arts Complex. Dr. Weinberg will be joined by a panel of experts ranging from oncologists
Robert A. Weinberg
to cancer advocates to discuss and answer questions about how cancer begins. The event is open to the public and includes a reception for the speakers and audience. Due to limited seating, reservations are recommended.

Dr. Weinberg, founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is the author of the recently published book One Renegade Cell: How Cancer Begins, for non-scientific audiences. The community presentation is part of the American Cancer Society Schilling Research Conference on "The Environment and Cancer" being held March 19-22 in Santa Cruz.

An internationally recognized authority on the genetic basis of human cancer, Dr. Weinberg codiscovered the first human cancer-causing gene, the ras oncogene, and the first known tumor suppressor gene, the retinoblastoma gene. The main goal of his research is to determine how oncogenes, their normal counterparts, and tumor suppressor genes fit together in the complex circuitry that controls cell growth. Dr. Weinberg is particularly interested in applying this knowledge to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

A panel discussion and questions from the audience will follow the lecture. Panelists include Lisa Bailey, M.D., F.A.C.S., surgical oncologist and past president of the American Cancer Society, California Division, moderator; Chancellor Greenwood, Ph.D.; Andrea Martin, executive director, The Breast Cancer Fund; and Gilbert S. Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president for medical affairs, University of Michigan.

For reservations or disability-related needs, please call (408) 879-1032, ext. 113.


To the Currents home page

To UCSC's home page