Woods Lecture Series Presents Nina Tandon
On September 24, 2013
Tissue engineer Nina Tandon will open the 2013-2014 J. James Woods Lectures in the Sciences and Mathematics with a talk called “Body 3.0″ at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Atherton Union Reilly Room.
All lectures in the series are free and open to the public without tickets. For more information, call (317) 940-9269 .
Tandon believes that the era of engineered tissues—like, for example, a replacement kidney grown in the lab—is just beginning. In this talk, Tandon shows us how we (and our bodies) have lived through most of history (Body 1.0), and then how we evolved into “cyborgs” with implants (such as pacemakers and artificial joints, Body 2.0).
Now, Body 3.0 is all about growing our OWN body parts. For her doctoral thesis, Tandon grew cardiac cells that beat like tiny hearts. In this thrilling and eye-opening talk, she explains the process of growing tissue and transplants, and the future of medical science. With the help of manufacturing and information technology, we are on the verge of being able to grow human tissue—and Tandon is here to walk us through this unbelievably exciting era.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Cooper Union, Tandon spent her early career in telecom (Avaya Labs) and transitioned into biomedical engineering via her Fulbright scholarship in Italy, where she worked on an electronic nose used to “smell” lung cancer. Tandon studied electrical stimulation for cardiac tissue engineering at MIT and Columbia, and now continues her research on electrical stimulation for broader tissue-engineering applications.
Butler Brown Bag Series for Research, Scholarship and Creative Work presents:
“DNA @ 60: What is in Store for You is Mind-Blowing” by Alex Erkine, Pharmaceutical Sciences on Tuesday, September 24, noon-1 p.m., UClub (AU111).
After 60 years of the discovery of the DNA structure, it is now possible to read the entire content of your own DNA for just $5000 in a few weeks. In a year or two, the price is predicted to drop to $1000 and will be routinely done – similar to a blood test, with data stored on a computer. Since this information holds the keys to potential life-threatening medical conditions, as well as to your personal traits (psychological character, mental abilities, ethnic origins, etc.), the question is: do you want to gain this information about yourself, your relatives, or your future spouse? Do you think the insurance companies, your roommate, or the NSA will want it? And if they do get it, what do you think they will do with it?
Join us for a lunchtime conversation on this topic with Alex Erkine, Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Students, staff and faculty are all welcome. No RSVP required. Light refreshments will be provided – feel free to bring your lunch.