Inauguration day will begin with a symposium marking what is being described as one of the most hopeful and exciting times in biomedical discovery, with advanced technologies yielding deep and productive insight into human health and disease.
The symposium will be led by Dr. Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate and director of the National Cancer Institute.
He will be joined in a discussion by a panel of U-M faculty members, moderated by Dr. David Ginsburg, professor of internal medicine, human genetics, pediatrics and communicable diseases in the Medical School; research professor at the Life Sciences Institute; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
The symposium comes at a time of profound challenge, with decreasing funding for science and a public that is skeptical of the relative value of continued investment in research. Varmus will frame and catalyze a discussion about this critical crossroads and how universities can help to pave the way forward.
Varmus is one of the nation’s most respected and knowledgeable voices in science policy, and together with U-M faculty leaders from a variety of disciplines he will explore the implications for faculty research, undergraduate and graduate education, and future university organization and investment.
The symposium will run 8:30-10 a.m. in the Blau Auditorium at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. The session is open to the public.
The U-M faculty panel will consist of:
• Gonçalo Abecasis, professor of biostatistics, School of Public Health.
• Huda Akil, professor of neurosciences and psychiatry, Medical School; co-director and research professor, the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute.
• Anna Mapp, professor of chemistry, LSA; research professor, Life Sciences Institute; and director of the graduate program in chemical biology.
• Douglas C. Noll, professor of biomedical engineering, College of Engineering; professor of radiology, Medical School; co-director of the Functional MRI Laboratory.
