In Brief

Science 2003: Improving the Human Condition

The University of Pittsburgh’s third annual showcase of science and technology will highlight this year significant local research in biotechnology, the health sciences, engineering, and other scientific disciplines as well as the impact of this research on regional economic development.

Science2003: Improving the Human Condition is scheduled for Sept. 24-26 on campus. The program is being targeted to scientists, health professionals, and anyone with an interest in science. Admission will be free.

Three endowed lectures featuring several of America’s premier scientists will be an integral part of Science2003.

• Susan L. Lindquist, director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, will present the 2002-2003 Dickson Prize in Medicine Lecture. Lindquist is a pioneer in cellular stress response and the conformation of proteins that underlie this response.

• The 2003 Mellon Lecture will be given by Andrew Z. Fire, an embryologist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Fire, credited with the discovery of RNA interference, will share insights from his research.

• Jeffrey M. Friedman, the Marilyn M. Simpson Professor at the Rockefeller University, will present the 2003 Klaus Hofmann Lecture on his discovery of leptin and its implications for understanding obesity.

More information about Science2003 will be posted online at www.science2003.pitt.edu as it becomes available. • SJB

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CDC Funds Bioterrorism Research at Pitt, Carnegie Mellon

The BioMedical Security Institute (BMSI), a joint initiative of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) and Carnegie Mellon University, has received a $755,563 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for research on bioterrorism preparedness and response.

“Since the events of September 11, the relevance of bioterrorism research has become startlingly apparent, and the work being conducted here in Pittsburgh is of great importance to the national effort,” said BMSI Director Samuel Watson of Pitt’s GSPH.

Additional funds have come from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The Pitt research funded through these grants includes: textual information and natural language processing; clinical event monitoring; trusted broker for information systems, Ravi Sharma, professor of demography in public health in GSPH; mental health aspects of bioterrorism, Andrew Baum, professor of psychiatry and psychology in Pitt’s School of Medicine; and syndromic detection of anthrax, Lee Harrison, associate professor of epidemiology in GSPH and Pitt’s School of Medicine.

BMSI was established in 2000 with a mission to advance the nation’s capability to detect, analyze, prevent, and respond to natural events and acts of terrorism involving biological agents.

To respond to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DOHS) education and research needs, the University of Pittsburgh has joined with Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Carnegie Mellon University to form the Keystone Homeland Security University Research Alliance.

The initiative was announced at a kickoff summit meeting April 28 at University Park, Pa., featuring Charles McQueary, undersecretary for science and technology at DOHS, as the speaker.

“Researchers at the University possess proven track records in disciplines ranging from electronic and national security to disaster and health management,” said George Klinzing, vice provost for research at Pitt. “The University of Pittsburgh is integrating these diverse fields into a holistic approach to national preparedness.”

Through the alliance, the universities will collaborate and apply their research resources in areas in which they hold particular expertise—in biology and biomedicine, political analysis and public policy, information management, information security, engineering, and agricultural sciences—to the important challenges faced by the DOHS.