was chosen as the recipient of one of the five national awards for 2000-2001 made by Burroughs Wellcome Fund, an independent private foundation. This foundation supports research and other scientific and educational activities for the advancement of the medical sciences.
The award was the Wellcome Visiting Professorship in
the Microbiological Sciences,
and F.I.U. invited Dr. Michael Zasloff, to be this
year's visiting professor.
Dr. Michael Zasloff discussed the multi-step process associated with
the development of new drugs (01/24/2001).
The F.I.U.'s Comparative Immunology Club had the opportunity
of interacting with
Dr. Zasloff during the five days that he visited our
institution.
Our members met with Dr. Zasloff for an open discussion.
Students had the opportunity to introduce their research projects and ideas
to Dr. Zasloff while he provided constructive criticism. This exercise
was an informal intellectual exchange of scientific ideas that led students
to evaluate their scientific models, protocols, and the background of their
studies.
Dr. Zasloff also gave a presentation to our group where
he explored the wide variability of antimicrobial peptides across both
the plant and animal kingdoms, and examined the possible causes and explanations
to account for such diversity of this innate immunity property.
We thank Dr. Zasloff, Dr. Sylvia Smith, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for providing our Comparative Immunology Club with several days of interesting talks, challenging discussions, and mentoring.
From left to right (standing): Dr. Michael Zasloff, Dr. Victor Apanius,
Dr. Sylvia Smith, Nichole Hinds, Betzy Gonzalez, Dr. Charles Bigger, Chuck
Schaffer, and Manny Herrera. From left to right (bottom): Vicky Salazar
and Ana Escobar.
(January 24th, 2001)
