MEDIA CONTACT: Megan Fellman at 847-491-3115 or fellman@northwestern.edu

April 19, 2005

Nobel Laureate to Speak at Symposium

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Nobel Laureate Aaron Ciechanover will deliver the keynote address at a free public symposium, “Proteomics and Informatics,” Friday, April 22, sponsored by the Chicago Biomedical Consortium, an initiative of Chicago-area universities that fosters collaborative research and new partnerships in the biomedical sciences.

The symposium will be held from 12:45 to 4:30 p.m. in the McCormick Auditorium at Northwestern University’s Norris Center, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston campus.

The consortium, which is led by scientists at Northwestern, the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratories and the University of Illinois at Chicago, recently acquired a Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer (FTMS), the world’s most powerful tool for studying the structures of proteins and other biomolecules. The special symposium will focus on how researchers can take advantage of the new technology and related analytic techniques when addressing the basic questions of proteomics (the study of proteins and their functions).

Ciechanover, who, together with two others, received the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of a key way cells destroy unwanted proteins, will speak from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. on “Proteomics and the Future of Medicine.” Ciechanover, Distinguished Professor at the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences at the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), Haifa, is a visiting professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Following Ciechanover’s address, Richard Carthew, professor of biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology at Northwestern, will speak on “Proteomics and RNA Mediated Regulation of Gene Expression.” At 3 p.m. there will be a panel discussion titled “How the CBC Will Change Your Proteomics/Informatics Life.”

A 4:30 p.m. reception will conclude the day’s events.

Although the symposium is free, registration is required and can be completed at www.chicagobiomedicalconsortium.org. For more information, call (847) 467-2126.