Specialists in drug discovery and developme...( The Evolution of the Role of Stem...),Health

• The Evolution of the Role of Stem Cells in Drug Discovery -- John Edward Hambor, Ph.D., CEO, Cognate BioServices, will address how the role of stem cells has changed and advanced over the past years in the drug discovery arena. Dr. Hambor and colleagues will explain the current use of animal models in drug discovery and how the shift to stem cell models utilizing human brain, liver or umbilical cord cells may alter animal research. These new models can increase the safety of drugs on the market while decreasing current toxicity problems on human organs such as the heart and liver, which are currently undetected in animal models.

• What Does the 20th Century Hold for the Health of American Children" -- Can diseases such as Alzheimers, obesity and diabetes be prevented before birth" According to Jonathan D. Gitlin, M.D., the Helene B. Roberson Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Genetics at the Washington University School of Medicine, researching whether diseases that strike adults are already genetically encoded in individuals while still in the womb, may enable physicians to one day address and prevent diseases in infancy. Dr. Gitlin will discuss how the identification of human genome sequencing now offers researchers the opportunity to change the direction of science and medical care by looking into more ways to prevent diseases from conception by understanding each persons individual genetic make up. And, he will explore the potential for drug discovery and small molecule alteration for the prevention of diseases that could be genetically imprinted in individuals before birth.

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