Symposium in honor of Ralph L. Brinster celebrating 50 years of scientific breakthroughs

Abstract

The Symposium speakers comprised a distinguished group of scientists from North America, Europe and Asia. The Keynote address was presented by Michael Brown, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1985), and a plenary lecture was presented by John Gurdon, who within the next months would receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2012). The first lecture in the series was presented by Richard Palmiter, Ralph’s collaborator for more than 15 years, and he provided an overview of their work together followed by Richard’s subsequent exciting contributions in the area of neurobiology. Seventeen lectures were presented over the two-day Symposium by distinguished scientists, including several of Ralph's former colleagues and students. The topics covered studies on germ cells, the germline, early embryos and their differentiation, as well as exciting and unpublished studies on stem cells and reprogramming. Many of the topics presented arose from foundation experiments in which Ralph participated, and these new developments indicate the dramatic progression of studies in this area. The Symposium program and the complete lectures can be found at the following link: www.vet.upenn.edu/BrinsterSymposium.