Tulane Opens Doors to Discovery

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Newswise — A group of young doctors founded a school of medicine in New Orleans 170 years ago to address cholera, yellow fever and other deadly infectious diseases that riddled the port city. Tulane University Health Sciences Center honors their dream of high quality medical education, public health and research with the "Doors to Discovery" program. Featuring 15 nationally renowned speakers in health policy and research, the program is September 30 - October 2.

During "Doors to Discovery," two Nobel Spotlight lectures will be free and open to the public, featuring Andrew Schally and Louis Ignarro, who conducted their Nobel-winning research while on the Tulane University faculty. Schally, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1977, will discuss his research into the interaction between cancer and hormones on Thursday, September 30. On the following afternoon, 1998 Nobel Prize winner Ignarro will discuss his research into nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.

The full, three-day "Doors to Discovery" program requires a registration fee. The first day focuses on future directions in medical research through advances in understanding the human genome and the role of proteins in causing or preventing illness. Day one of the program features Francis Collins, who headed the mapping of the human genome, and Darwin Prockop, director of the Tulane Center for Gene Therapy, along with Lance Liotta of the National Cancer Institute and pharmaceutical executive Steve Paul.

The second day kicks off with a symposium discussion of modern diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, hypertension, depression and other illnesses that threaten health today. Speakers will include Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health; Paul Whelton, senior vice president for health sciences at Tulane; and renowned mental health researcher and professor Stan Watson.

On the third day, attendees will discuss the global epidemics of the future, including infectious diseases, biodefense and obesity. Speakers on Saturday include Jaime Sepulveda, director of the Mexican National Institutes of Health, infectious disease specialist John La Montagne and nutritionist Barry Popkin. Also on Saturday, participants can join Tulane University School of Medicine alumnus Donald Palmisano, immediate past president of the American Medical Association, for a discussion of the future of health care policy.

Tulane University has the 15th oldest medical school in the United States and the first medical school in Louisiana. The health sciences center is now a leader in research into gene therapy and regenerative medicine, neuroscience and infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS.

For more information on the Doors to Discovery program, go to: http://alumni.hsc.tulane.edu/170th