Brown University,
The Center for Computational Molecular Biology, and
The Department of Computer Science
Present a Three-Day Symposium
The Genome and the Computational Sciences:
The Next Paradigms
December 6-8, 2006
3rd floor, CIT
115 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912
This premier event brings together, in the post-genome-sequence phase of genomics,
influential entrepreneurs, leaders, and visionaries from academia and industry who
will build the next paradigms in genomics and biotechnology. This symposium, marking
the inauguration of Brown's Center for Computational Molecular Biology, features
14 Distinguished Lectures. Each lecturer will present provocative, critical, and
visionary talks on the state of the art in their academic and technological domains,
and discuss the emerging paradigm changes made possible by their research and development
work. All sessions will feature lively scientific dialogue and rigorous questioning
by participants and audience members, including a post-lecture "sweatbox", a concept
borrowed with admiration from the famous Embryology Course at the Marine Biological
Laboratory, Woods Hole.
Brown Media Relations:
Brown Symposium Highlights Next Wave in Biology and Business
Day 1, December 6: Genomics, Vaccines, and the Brain
12:00-1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00-1:15 pm: Opening Remarks
Sorin Istrail
Symposium Chair, Director, CCMB, Brown University
Eli Upfal
Chair, Computer Science Department, Brown University
Clyde Briant
Vice President for Research, Brown University
1:15-2:00 pm
Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Physics, Brown University
Professor Cooper received a Nobel Prize for his work on superconductivity. He is
Director of the Institute for Brain and Neural Systems.
2:00-2:30 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
2:30-3:15 pm
Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Illumina
Dr. Barker is CSO of Illumina, a leading company in the HapMap-based genome-wide
disease association studies.
3:15-3:45 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
3:45-4:00 pm: Break
4:00-4:15 pm: Special Plenary Session:
Introduction by Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University
4:15-5:00 pm
President, J. C. Venter Institute
Dr. Craig Venter is a leading scientist of the 21st century for his visionary contributions
in genomic research. In the mid-1980s he developed expressed sequenced tags or ESTs,
which enable rapid gene discovery. In 1992, he founded The Institute for Genomic
Research (TIGR) where, using his new whole genome shotgun sequencing, he and his
team deciphered the genome of the first free living organism, Haemophilus influenzae.
Later, as head of Celera Genomics, he used the technique to decode the human, drosophila,
mouse, and rat genomes. Dr. Venter and his teams continue to blaze new trails in
mammalian, microbial, plant, viral, environmental, and synthetic genomics.
5:00-5:30 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
5:30-6:15 pm
CEO and CSO, Sanaria
Dr. Hoffman, world-renowned for his work on malaria, founded Sanaria to develop
an extremely promising malaria vaccine. He was Senior VP for Biologics at Celera
Genomics, has done extensive fieldwork all over the world on such diseases as typhoid
fever, malaria, lymphatic dwelling filariasis, cholera, and dengue, and is a member
of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
6:15-6:45 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
6:45-7:45 pm: Reception hosted by Provost David Kertzer
Day 2, December 7: Biomolecular Simulations, DNA, and Proteins
8:30-9:00 am: Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:45 am
Professor, Director, Center for the Study of Systems Biology, Georgia Tech
Dr. Skolnick is renowned for his work on protein folding and is one of
the most successful protein-folding predictors at the international CASP protein-folding
competition.
9:45-10:15 am: Sweatbox Q&A Session
10:15-11:00 am
Professor of Molecular Biology, MIT
Dr. King is renowned for his work on genes and proteins of microorganisms,
virus self-assembly and protein misfolding. He was a founder of the Council for
Responsible Genetics and Co-Chair of its Committee on the Military Use of Biological
Research.
11:00-11:30 am: Sweatbox Q&A Session
12:00-1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00-1:15 pm
Special Plenary Session:
Introduction by Clyde Briant, Vice President for Research, Brown University
1:15-2:00 pm
Chief Scientist, D. E. Shaw Research
Dr. Shaw is the chief scientist of D. E. Shaw Research and a senior research fellow
at the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at Columbia University.
He and his research group are currently involved in the design of massively parallel
machine architectures and algorithms for high-speed molecular dynamics simulations,
and in the use of such simulations to study biomolecular systems of interest from
both a scientific and a pharmaceutical perspective.
2:00-2:30 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
2:30-3:15 pm
Director, Deep Computing Institute, IBM
Dr. Kronstadt, Brown '67, is an authority on supercomputing and high-performance
computing. The Deep Computing Institute at IBM includes the BlueGene Supercomputer
Division and the Computational Biology Center.
3:15-3:45 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
4:00-5:00 pm: Introductory Remarks by Rajiv Vohra, Dean of the Faculty - 10th Anniversary
Celebration Undergraduate Computational Biology Program
5:15-6:00 pm
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Ronald R. Taylor Professor of Computer
Science, University of California - San Diego
Dr. Pevzner is a pioneer of computational biology and bioinformatics, a co-founder
of the RECOMB conference, the top annual conference in the area, and author of two
highly influential textbooks.
6:00-6:30 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
Wrap-Up Session
Day 3, December 8: Genetics and Medicine
8:30-9:00 am: Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:15 am: Opening Remarks
Eli Adashi
Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences, Brown University
9:15-10:00 am
Chief, Biology Section National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Yewdell, a world-renowned immunologist, was involved in the first mapping of
the influenza virus with monoclonal antibodies, the initial description of immunodominance
and ER trafficking and the ability of viral proteins to block antigen presentation,
and the 11th influenza A virus.
10:00-10:30 am: Sweatbox Q&A Session
10:30-11:15 am
Director, the Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dr. Smith is a leading scientist in high-performance biomolecular simulations and
neuron scattering. He led the biomolecular simulation group at the French Atomic
Energy Commission and at the University of Heidelberg and is well known for his
work in high-performance computer simulations and neutron scattering experiments
on protein dynamics.
11:15-11:45 am: Sweatbox Q&A Session
12:00-1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00-1:45 pm
Distinguished Professor and Director, Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute,
University of Utah
One of the most influential computer scientists in high-performance visualization
and imaging, Dr. Johnson received a NSF Presidential Faculty Fellow award from President
Clinton and is a Fellow of the AAAS.
1:45-2:15 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
2:30-3:15 pm
Professor, Harvard Medical School and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Dr. Altshuler is one of the top scientists of the international HapMap consortium,
the public-private partnership that created the genome-wide maps of human genetic
diversity that now guide the design and interpretation of genetic association studies.
He is the founding director of the Program in Medical and Population Genetics at
the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT.
3:15-3:45 pm: Sweatbox Q&A Session
