Robert L. Sinsheimer Distinguished Lecture in Biology

The Sinsheimer Distinguished Lectureship in Biology was established in 1992 by Chancellor emeritus Robert L. Sinsheimer and his wife, Karen. This lectureship is part of Dr. Sinsheimer's continuing relationship with UCSC. Dr. Sinsheimer, a pioneer of molecular biology, was the fourth Chancellor of UCSC, ushering it through a critical decade of growth. Dr. Sinsheimer also hosted "the Santa Cruz Workshop," a meeting of internationally prominent scientists to consider the feasibility and desirability of sequencing the human genome.

This year we are pleased to announce that Dr. Joan Brugge will deliver the Sinsheimer Lecture. Dr. Joan Brugge obtained her Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Colorado, Boulder where her seminal work identifying the cellular homolog of src, the transforming gene of Rous sarcoma virus, launched her remarkable career. Currently, the chairman of the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Brugge has combined her academic research interests with significant accomplishments in the private sector, spending five years as the Scientific Director and Vice President for Research of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals. Throughout these professional appointments, Dr. Brugge's research focus has never wavered from understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for tumor development. Her research accomplishments are numerous, including the recent discovery of a novel process, a phenomenon the Brugge lab has called entosis or cell death by invasion, in which a cell is literally enveloped by a neighboring cell. Such new discoveries promise fresh ways forward in the search for strategies to kill cancer cells.