NEWS

UNC Mini-Medical School offers public glimpse of science behind good medicine

CHAPEL HILL -- A popular community lecture series designed to give lay audiences first-hand experience with the science underlying modern medicine begins March 4 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The UNC Mini-Medical School’s five-part series features renowned researchers from the UNC School of Medicine addressing some of the latest developments in medical science. Participants need not have a background in science or medicine to enroll – just an interest in medicine and a healthy curiosity about the science behind it.

Lectures will be held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays at the university’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. Fee for the entire series is $25.

Following are the topics covered:

· "Basic Neuroscience Frontiers," March 4. Drs. William Snider, Anthony-Samuel LaMantia and Mohanish Deshmukh will discuss "Brain and Spinal Cord Repair," "Genes, Brain Development and Disease" and "How Neurons Die: the Road to Prevention."

· "Neuroscience from Laboratory to Bedside," March 11. Drs. Frank Longo, Richard Mailman and Colin Hall will address "Finding a Treatment for Dementia," "Reversing the Course of Parkinson’s Disease" and the "Effects of HIV on the Nervous System."

· "Beyond the Genome: Proteomics," March 18. Drs. Lee Graves, Christoph Borchers and Carol Otey explore "Proteins: Where the Action Is," "What’s This Protein: Ask Mass Spectrometry" and "Protein Discovery Opens New Doors."

· "Listening to Our Cells," March 25. Drs. Ken Harden, David Siderovski, John Sondek and Channing Der discuss the "Autonomic Nervous System and Drug Development," "Protein Crosstalk and Crystal Structures: the Search for Drug Targets" and "In Search of Cures for Cancer."

· "Autism Forefronts," April 1. Drs. Gary Mesibov and Linmarie Sikich discuss "Autism Overview: Advances in Diagnosis, Treatment and Education" and "Autism Neurobiology and Genetics."

For registration details, go to www.unchealthcare.org.

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School of Medicine contact: Leslie H. Lang, (919) 843-9687 or llang@med.unc.edu