Top names in investigative medicine part of new seminar series

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Seminars in Investigative Medicine, a new monthly research seminar series for the 2017-18 academic year, is now underway at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, featuring a list of speakers that represent a veritable who's who in the field of immunology.

The series kicked off in October and continues with a presentation from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, in auditorium TBL-2 at the medical school's W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus in downtown Kalamazoo. The presentation features Dr. Michael Paul Cancro, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He will speak on "New Subsets, New Checkpoints: Expanding Roles for Tbet+ B Cells in Health and Disease."

Lunch will be provided, and Cancro's presentation is free and open to the public. Continuing medical education credit and MEDU credit for students is available for Cancro's visit to the medical school.

Seminars in Investigative Medicine series

The series serves as a gathering point for a community of investigators at the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine and beyond, says Dr. Tom Rothstein, assistant dean for investigative medicine and director of the Center for Immunobiology.

"This can be the focal point for bringing investigators together," Rothstein says. "I want to get everyone talking and working together to promote new discoveries that help patients. In this context, we want to help promote interactions with our local institutions, including Borgess Health, Bronson Healthcare and the West Michigan Cancer Center."

Cancro

Cancro's lab at Penn is currently focused on the mechanisms of B cell homeostasis and how they impact autoimmunity and aging. His previous work defined the developmental stages spanning immature B cell formation. More recently, his research has focused on the molecular basis for survival and differentiation within these developmental subsets.

Cancro is part of an impressive slate of speakers in the seminar series, with presentations on Wednesdays of each month. Dr. Mark Jay Shlomchik, an endowed professor and chair of the Department of Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh, led off the series in September.

Upcoming presentations

Upcoming speakers in the research series include:

• Dec. 6: Dr. Patrick C. Wilson, professor, Department of Medicine-Section of Rheumatology, at the University of Chicago; member of the Committee on Immunology for the Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research.

• Jan 10: Dr. Barbara Kee, professor, Department of Pathology at the University of Chicago, member of the Committee on Cancer Biology and the Committee on Molecular Medicine/MPMM.

• Feb. 7: Dr. Gregg Silverman, medical doctor and professor, Department of Medicine and Department of Pathology, and co-director of the Musculoskeletal Center of Excellence at New York University.

• March 7: Dr. Garnett Kelsoe, James B. Duke Professor of Immunology at Duke University School of Medicine.

• April 4: Dr. Nicole Baumgarth, doctor of veterinary medicine and professor of pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at University of California-Davis.

• May 16: Dr. Coleen McNamara, medical doctor and the Edward W. and Betty Knight Scripps Professor of Internal Medicine at University of Virginia School of Medicine.

For more information, go to med.wmich.edu/node/396.

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.