The Lown Symposium: The Field of DNA Minor Groove Binders Celebrates the Career of Professor J. William Lown

Abstract

A symposium co-organized by Professor William H. Gmeiner of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Professor Moses Lee of Furman University was held March 30 and 31, 2001 on the campus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The Symposium was attended by many distinguished colleagues, friends and co-workers of Professor Lown who share his enthusiasm and passion for targeting DNA for treatment of human disease. The Symposium honored the formal “retirement” of Professor Lown who continues his active pursuit of scholarly activities and advancement of knowledge in a wide variety of intellectual interests.     

An interview with Dr. Frank Slack on his highly cited paper published in Cell Cycle

Frank Slack received his B.Sc from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, before completing his Ph.D in molecular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine. He started work on microRNAs as a postdoctoral fellow in Gary Ruvkun’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where he co-discovered the second known microRNA, let-7. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. The Slack laboratory studies the roles of microRNAs and their targets in development, disease and aging.     

In memory of Professor Leonor Michaelis in Nagoya: Great contributions to biochemistry in Japan in the first half of the 20th century

Leonor Michaelis spent the years of 1922–1926 as Professor of Biochemistry of the Aichi Medical College (now Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University) in Nagoya, Japan. Michaelis succeeded in gathering many bright young biochemists from all over Japan into his laboratory, and made tremendous contributions to the promotion of biochemistry in Japan. Michaelis was invited to many places in Japan to present lectures over those years. Kunio Yagi, who was Professor of Biochemistry at Nagoya University in the second half of the 20th century, succeeded in crystallizing the “Michaelis” enzyme–substrate complex. Historically, Michelis has had an enormous impact on biochemistry in Japan.