Carlos F. Barbas III

Keynote Lecture

Dr. Barbas came to The Scripps Research Institute in 1991.  He currently holds appointments in the Departments of Molecular Biology and Chemistry and at The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology.  Dr. Barbas received his PhD in organic Chemistry from Texas A & M University under the direction of Chi-Huey Wong.  His contributions at the interface of organic chemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology and medicine have named him inventor on over 30 patents, as well honors including The Scholar Award of the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award.

Using a blend of chemistry, enzymology and molecular biology, Barbas's group does research on catalytic antibodies, trying to evolve proteins to fuction as efficient catalysts.  In addition, Barbas's organic chemistry background lends itself to his research in the organocatalysis of small molecules and has allowed him to be one of the most renown experts on phage display.  Finally, Barbas's lab focuses on the evolution of DNA into protein-like DNA enzymes, the creation of anti-HIV therapeutics, and molecular recognition with zinc-finger proteins.

Dr. Hertz is in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Holtzapple is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.  He received his B.S. in chemical engineering at Cornell University and his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.  From 1981-1985, while in the U.S. Army, he performed research on water desalination and microclimate cooling, a method for cooling soldiers encapsulated in chemical protective clothing.  Last year, Mark was honored with the Spirit of Innovation Award for Ingenuity for his invention of the StarRotor Engine.

His research interests include fuels and chemicals from biomass, food and feed processing, water desalination, air conditioning, high-efficiency engines, jet engines, and vertical-lift aircraft. 

Ronald Siegel came to the University of Minnesota in 1998, as a professor in the Pharmaceutics Department, and quickly gained a co-appointment as a professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department.  In addition, Professor Siegel is now the Head of the Department of Pharmaceutics.  He earned his B.S. in Mathematics in 1975 from the University of Oregon-Eugene, and received his ScD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 1984.

Siegel's research focuses on biomedical devices and drug delivery systems.  Through studies involving polymer microgels, microfluidics and implantable devices, Siegel aims to engineer systems that can lead to the spatiotemporal control of drug release.  In particular, Siegel's research has implications for treating diabetes aiding in nerve regeneration.

Scott Silverman has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign since 2000.  He received his PhD from Cal Tech in 1997 under Dennis A. Dougherty.  He then continued his research with T.R. Cech at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Silverman's research is a mix of organic chemistry and chemical biology applied to study nucleic acids.  In particular, his group studies the thermodynamics and kinetics of RNA, as well as investigates its catalytic role as a ribozyme.  Silverman also studies DNA in unconventional roles, such as DNA enzymes or DNA structural scaffolds.

Natalia Tretyakova came to the University of Minnesota in 2000 and currently holds Assistant Professor appointments in both the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and the Cancer Center.  She recieved her B.S. in Chemistry from Moscow University, and her PhD from the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Dr. Tretyakova also did postdoctoral research in the Division of Engineering and Environmental Health at MIT.

The driving force for Dr. Tretyakova's research is the prevention and treatment of cancer.  Her lab strives to elucidate the biological mechanisms of chemical carcinogens and to understand molecular mechanisms of bifunctional antitumor drugs.  In particular, Tretyakova's lab applies mass spectrometry to examine DNA-DNA and DNA-protein crosslinking chemistry, DNA damage and DNA oxidation.

At Biogen, Dr. Whitty's research has included the elucidation of enzyme mechanisms and enzyme-inhibitor interactions, as well as mechanistic investigations of integrins, costimulatory molecules, and a number of cytokine and growth factor receptors.  Most recently, Whitty is studying how the interactions between receptor components in the cell membrane govern the ability of cells to sense and respond to their extracellular environment.