Distinguished Lecturer Series
Since its inception in 1962, the Society of Fellows has hosted a Distinguished Lecturer Series to enable junior scientists to interact with outstanding researchers in their fields. The lecture series remains a key mission of the SoF today.
| Past Lecturers | Year |
|---|---|
| Jodi Nunnari, PhD, Chair of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis. “Mitochondrial Behavior.” | 2019 |
| David Baker, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Washington. “The Coming of Age of De Novo Protein Design.” | 2018 |
| Muthiah Manoharan, PhD, Senior Vice President, Innovation Chemistry, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. “Making Drugs out of siRNAs.” | 2017 |
| Lewis E. Kay, PhD, Professor of Molecular Genetics, Chemistry, and Biochemistry, University of Toronto. "The Role of Protein Dynamics in Protein Function and Misfunction." | 2016 |
| James J. Collins, PhD, Professor of Bioengineering, MIT. "Life Redesigned: The Emergence of Synthetic Biology." | 2015 |
| Jack Szostak, PhD, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. Professor of Genetics and Chemistry, Harvard University. "The Origin of Cellular Life." | 2014 |
| Richmond Sarpong, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley. "Strategies and Tactics Inspired by Complex Alkaloids." | 2013 |
| Bruce Beutler, MD, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, of the Director of the Center for Genetics of Host Defense at UT Southwestern Medical Center. "Genetic Analysis of Immunity in Mice." | 2012 |
| Martin Chalfie, PhD, 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chair of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, "Neuronal Differentiation and Mechanosensory Transduction in C. elegans." | 2010 |
| Peter Agre, PhD, 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, University Professor and Director, Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. “Aquaporin Water Channels: From Atomic Structure to Malaria.” | 2009 |
| Joseph Goldstein, MD, Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1985. “How Cells Sense Cholesterol.” | 2008 |
| Andrew Fire, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Genetics, Stanford. 2006 Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine. “Genome architecture and germline genetic activity in a 'simple' eukaryote.” | 2007 |
| Sydney Brenner, DPhil, Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Crick-Jacobs Center, Distinguished Research Professor of the Salk Institute, and 2002 Nobel Laureate. “Simple Thoughts About Complex Genomes.” | 2007 |
| Claire Fraser-Liggett, PhD, President and Director, Investigator, The Institute for Genomic Research. “Microbial Genomics: Insights Into Pathogen Biology and Evolution.” | 2006 |
| Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, Emeritus Professor of the University of Pennsylvania and Executive Advisor to Sanofi Pasteur. “The Past, Present and Future of Vaccinology.” | 2006 |
| Sir Paul Nurse, PhD, Nobel Laureate and President of Rockefeller University. “Genomic Approaches to Understanding the Cell Cycle.” | 2006 |
| Charles M. Deber, PhD, FRSC, Senior Scientist, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Professor, University of Toronto. “Folding and misfolding of proteins in membranes.” | 2005 |
| Paul Reider, PhD, Vice President of Chemistry Research, Amgen. | 2005 |
| Ernst Th. Rietschel, PhD, Director, Department of Immunochemistry and Biochemical Microbiology, Research Center Borstel. | 2005 |
| Jon Cohen, Writer, Author of Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, Science Magazine. “The World According to AIDS: Postcards from the edge of attempting to treat and prevent the spread of HIV.” | 2004 |
| Tom Muir, PhD, Head of the Laboratory of Synthetic Protein Chemistry, Rockefeller University. “The Chemical Biology of Protein Splicing.” | 2004 |
| Sir Aaron Klug, PhD, Group leader MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. | 2003 |
| Stephen Kent, PhD, Professor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics. University of Chicago. | 2003 |
| Alfred Wittinghofer, Prof. Dr., Director, Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology, Germany. “GTP-binding proteins: News and Views on a Conserved Switching Module.” | 2002 |
| Leslie Orgel, PhD, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA. “Before the RNA world.” | 2002 |
| Kary Mullis, PhD, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1993, La Jolla, CA. “Science: The Realm of the Senses.” | 2002 |
| Paul Greengard, PhD, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2000, Professor, Rockefeller University, New York, NY. “The neurobiology of slow synaptic transmission.” | 2001 |
| J. Craig Venter, PhD, President and Chief Science Officer, Celera Genomics, Rockville, MD. “Sequencing the Human Genome.” | 2001 |
| James Watson, PhD, Nobel Laureate 1962, President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY. “DNA Thoughts.” | 2001 |
| Ray Freeman, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, UK. “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Quantum Computing.” | 2000 |
| Salvador Moncada, PhD, Professor, The Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London. “Nitric oxide: discovery, physiology and pathophysiology.” | 2000 |
| Mary-Claire King, PhD, Professor of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle. “Genetic Analysis of Breast and Ovarian Cancer.” | 1999 |
| Rita Colwell, PhD, Director, National Science Foundation. “Expanding Frontiers of Knowledge.” | 1999 |
| Robert Gallo, MD, Director, Institute of Human Virology and Division of Basic Science, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. “HIV pathogenesis and some biological means for its control.” | 1999 |
| Ian Clark-Lewis, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. “Chemokine receptor interactions: A case of the tail wagging the dog.” | 1999 |
| Leroy Hood, MD/PhD, Chairman and Gates Professor of Molecular Biotechnology and Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle. “Genomics, Proteomics and Systems Biology.” | 1999 |
| Judah Folkman, MD, Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital, Boston, and Professor of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Harvard Medical School. “New Directions in Angiogenesis Research.” | 1999 |
| Bjarne Osterud, PhD, Chairman and Professor of Biochemistry, University of Tromso, Norway. | 1998 |
| David Baltimore, PhD, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1975 and President and Professor of Developmental Biology and Genetics, California Institute of Technology. | 1998 |
| William Schrader, PhD, VP of Endocrine Research, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, La Jolla. | 1998 |
| Lee Smolin, PhD, Professor of Physics, Penn State University. | 1998 |
| Francisco Ayala, PhD, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine. | 1998 |
| William Rastetter, PhD, CEO of IDEC Pharmaceuticals, La Jolla. | 1998 |
| Steven Fesik, PhD, Abbott Laboratories. | 1998 |
| Barbara Imperiali, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology. | 1998 |
| Kendall Houk, PhD, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles. | 1998 |
| Peter A. Kollman, PhD, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, UCSF. | 1997 |
| Jeffrey Kirsch, PhD, Executive Director of the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center. | 1997 |
| Jacqueline Barton, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology. | 1997 |
| C.J. Peters, MD, Special Pathogens Branch, Center for Disease Control. “Emerging Viruses: What has emerged and what we can expect to emerge.” | 1997 |
| Kevin Lafferty, PhD, Director, Professor of Medical Research, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University. | 1997 |
| Carl Djerassi, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University. | 1996 |
| James Wells, PhD, Genentech. | 1996 |
| William DeGrado, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania. | 1996 |
| Polly Matzinger, PhD, Director of Immunology, National Institutes of Health. | 1996 |
| Marc Abrahams, Editor, Annals of Improbable Research. | 1996 |
| Tom Cech, PhD, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1989, Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado at Boulder. | 1996 |
| Neal Lane, PhD, Director of the National Science Foundation. | 1996 |
| Jon Clardy, PhD, Professor of Chemistry, Cornell University. | 1996 |