BSI Stem Cell Research Lectures

The University of Colorado at Boulder’s Biological Science Initiative is sponsoring four stem-cell lectures July 11 through July 13 on campus as part of a K-12 teacher education workshop.

The lectures are free and open to the public.

The first talk, by Assistant Professor Marilyn Coors of the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center titled “Stem Cell Research and Ethical Issues,” will be at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 11, in the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Building, room A2B70. Coors will talk about ethical questions raised by stem cell research and frameworks used when approaching ethical questions in science and medicine.

Also on July 11, CU-Boulder Professor Brad Olwin of the MCD biology department will give a talk at 3:30 p.m. in the Muenzinger Psychology Building, room E050, titled “Muscle Satellite Cells, Regeneration and Aging.” Olwin will address the role of specialized stem cells known as satellite cells that may remain inactivated until required for tissue repair and maintenance. He also will discuss the genetic molecular triggers that regulate them.

A third talk by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, titled “Planaria and Regeneration,” will be held on July 12 at 9 a.m. in the Ramaley Biology Building, room C250. Alvarado, also a professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine, will talk about his research on the regenerative properties of tiny flatworms known as planaria and why they are a useful model for studying stem cells.

The fourth talk, by UCDHSC’s Dr. Curt Freed, titled “Stem Cells and the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, will be held July 13 at 9 a.m. in the MCD Biology Building, room A2B70. Dr. Freed, director of the Neural Transplant Program for Parkinson’s Disease in Denver, performed the first transplant of fetal dopamine cells into a Parkinson’s patient in the United States in 1988. Dr. Freed will talk about his experiences using stem cells to treat Parkinson’s Disease patients, many of whom have shown encouraging symptom relief following treatments.

Paid parking for the talks is available at Euclid Autopark directly east of the University Memorial Center.

CU-Boulder’s Biological Sciences Initiative offers multiple programs for students and teachers of the biological sciences. With funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute based in Chevy Chase, Md., BSI offers many programs for K-12 teachers as well as paid research opportunities for CU-Boulder undergraduates.