Genome editing topic of Burroughs Wellcome lecture
Dr. J. Keith Joung will discuss genome editing and its potential for research and therapeutic applications at noon Oct. 17 in Room C307, ECU Science and Technology building.
Dr. J. Keith Young
Joung is associate chief of pathology for Research at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. His presentation, “Editing Genes to Understand and Treat Disease,” is presented by the ECU Department of Biology as the Burroughs Wellcome Lecture. A question and answer session will follow the presentation.
“Dr. Joung is a leading expert in developing technologies for genome editing, methods that enable the alteration of any gene sequence in living cells and organisms,” said Dr. Yong Zhu, ECU associate professor of biology and coordinator for the Burroughs Wellcome Lecture. “His lab pioneered the development of publicly available methods for engineering zinc finger nucleases, proteins important for practicing genome editing technology.”
Recently, Joung has developed newer technologies that can be practiced easily by any interested researcher and have enormous research and therapeutic applications.
“His group also has begun to explore the use of these targeting strategies to induce enhanced expression or silencing of any desired gene of interest,” said Zhu.
Joung is the Jim & Ann Orr Massachusetts General Hospital Research Scholar and has received several distinguished awards, including the prestigious National Institutes of Heath Director’s Pioneer Award. He serves as an elected member of the American Association of University Pathologists. Joung received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University.
This lecture is supported by the Burroughs Wellcome fund, which allows influential scientists in biology and chemistry to visit campus and present to the public their research in the areas of basic and applied science.
For additional information, contact Zhu at 252-328-6504, or email zhuy@ecu.edu.
Individuals requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should call 252-737-1016 (voice/TTY) at least 48 hours prior to the events.