Monday, September, 29, 2003

Sneak Preview of Stanford's New James H. Clark Center and Bio-X Program

Interdisciplinary research centers are springing up all over the country to capitalize on the possibilities presented by our growing understanding of DNA. These centers include QB3 in California, Janelia Farm in Virginia and ones at Princeton, Duke and the University of Michigan.

At Stanford, Oct. 24 will be the grand opening of the James H. Clark Center, the building embodying the soul of Stanford's Bio-X Program, which aims to bridge chasms between scientific, engineering and medical disciplines. The Clark Center's researchers moved in over the summer. You'll have the chance to tour the Clark Center before its public opening and hear from Bio-X researchers Matt Scott, a professor of developmental biology and genetics and director of the Bio-X program, and Steve Chu, a physicist and Nobel Prize winner.

Scott, appointed last January to chair Bio-X, will continue his active research program as an investigator supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He also will continue teaching in the Stanford School of Medicine, where - in addition to his two professorships - he serves on the faculty of the Neurosciences and Cancer Biology programs.

Scott holds bachelor's and doctoral degrees from MIT and taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder, before coming to Stanford in 1990. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is recognized for his 1983 co-discovery of the homeobox - a DNA sequence that marks an important subset of genes in all animals. Homeobox genes coordinate the activities of other genes as animal development proceeds. His laboratory also identified the genetic cause of the most common human cancer, basal cell carcinoma, and of medulloblastoma - a cancer of the brain - and is now working on the precursor cells that form parts of the brain.

Steven Chu, the Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, has been at Stanford since 1987. He was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William D. Phillips "for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light."

Since receiving that prize, Chu has continued his studies of laser cooling and trapping of atoms and their applications. He also has expanding his research scope to include polymer physics and biophysics at the single-molecule level. As virtually all knowledge of chemical and biochemical processes has been deduced from experiments on bulk samples of molecules, looking at individual molecules - such as those involved in DNA replication, RNA transcription and protein folding - may elucidate their complex behavior. Chu served as chair of the Physics Department from 1990 to 1993 and from 1999 to September 2001 and is a member of the Bio-X executive committee.

WHERE: James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, 318 Campus Drive

WHEN: Monday, Sept. 29, 2003

COST: $25 per person; $15 for students. NCSWA is picking up the tab to provide complimentary wine, beer, and juices during the social hour.

Please make out a check to NCSWA and mail it to:

Robert Sanders
1512 Holly St.
Berkeley, CA 94703

We need to give the caterer a head count by Sept. 17, so make sure your check will arrive before then.

MENU: The meal is a buffet accompanied by rolls and butter and served with Peet's Coffee and Tea service.

Cucumber and Onion Salad in a Zesty Dill and Rice Wine Vinegar F
resh Mozzarella and Tomato Salad with Fresh Basil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Seasonal Mix of Lettuces with Diced Tomato, Avocado, Roasted Beets and Lemon-Roasted Garlic Dressing

Lemon and Oregano Roasted Chicken with Oregano, Garlic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Grilled Sea Bass on Simmered Eggplant and Tomato

Baked Potato Gnocchi in Lemon Thyme Sauce
Roasted Seasonal Squash

Coffee Crème Brulee
Homemade Almond Orange Cookies

SCHEDULE:
Drinks and researcher-led tours of the Bio-X labs: 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Dinner: 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Talks: 8:30-9:30 p.m.

For more about Bio-X:

• http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2003/august6/bioxtour-86.html
• http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/august21/mattscottbioview821.html
• http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/november6/bioxawards-116.html
• http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/march20/bioxsymposium-320.html

DETAILED DIRECTIONS AND MAPS TO STANFORD:
http://www.stanford.edu/home/visitors/directions.html

Long story short:
From 101, take University Ave. West. After El Camino, University Ave. becomes Palm Drive. Make a right on Campus Drive West. The Clark Center is up half a mile on the right. The closest parking lot is just past it; parking is free after 4 p.m.

From 280, take Alpine Road East and make a right on Junipero Serra Blvd. And then a left on Campus Drive West. The Clark Center is up three-quarters of a mile on the left. The closest parking lot is just before the Clark Center; parking is free after 4 p.m.

CARPOOLING: For those interested in carpooling to the dinner, Karen Street again will play transportation matchmaker, matching up those of you wanting a ride with those who are driving.

Contact her at karen_street@sbcglobal.net. She will mail out information as she receives it. Many thanks to all those who have offered rides in the past, enabling people to attend.