The half-day symposium, which begins at 1 p.m., features outstanding scientists and their research projects at the medical school. The symposium is designed for faculty, graduate students and fellows, but the entire University community is welcome. This year's speakers will discuss synapse formation in mice, Alzheimer's disease, lysosomes and tropical diseases. Their scholarship is at the cutting edge internationally. Schwartz co-organized the symposium with David C. Van Essen, Ph.D., the Edison Professor of Neurobiology and head of the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology.
Synapses are connections that transmit information between nerve cells and their targets.
Sanes is especially interested in how a growing nerve fiber connects with the correct part of the correct target cell. Using the junction between nerve and muscle as a model, he has discovered several signaling molecules and other synaptic components. His laboratory also generated the first realistic mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a neuromuscular disorder. Goate is internationally known for her discovery of the first genetic mutation linked to an inherited form of the disorder. The specific abnormality identified by Goate was connected to inherited cases of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, which affects members of particular families before the age of 60.