A scientific symposium focusing on genetics and immunology is planned Oct. 9, as part of the 50th anniversary observances at the James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine.

The symposium, from 9 a.m. to noon in David L. Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall, is open free of charge to the public. Scheduled speakers are:

• Peter Doherty, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Immunology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., on "Cell-mediated Immunity in Viral Infections." The only veterinarian to win a Nobel Prize (medicine or physiology, 1996, shared with Rolf M. Zinkernagel), Doherty revolutionized the field of immunology by explaining the mechanism of T-cell recognition in cell-mediated immunity.
• Claire Fraser, Ph.D., president and director of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Rockville, Md., on "Microbial Genome Sequencing: Insights Into Physiology and Evolution." Also a professor of pharmacology at George Washington University School of Medicine, Fraser was one of the first investigators to utilize molecular biology in the study of protein-coupled receptors. More recently, Fraser led teams in whole-genome sequence analysis of such microbial genomes as Borrelia burgdorfei and two species of Chlamydia .
• Jorge Galán, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor and chairman of microbial pathogenesis, Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Yale University, on "Mimicking Cellular Proteins or Limited Cell Damage: Alternative Strategies for the Subversion of Cellular Functions by Bacterial Pathogens." Currently a member of the Bacteriology and Mycology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, Galán was trained in veterinary medicine at Argentina's University of La Plata and earned a Ph.D. at Cornell. "The topics of this 50th anniversary symposium were chosen to highlight the two core research areas at Baker Institute, genetics and development and infectious diseases and immunology," explained Douglas F. Antczak, V.M.D., Ph.D., director of the institute, which is a unit of the College of Veterinary Medicine. "The speakers, who are acknowledged leaders in their fields, each bring a unique and timely perspective to the research challenges we face today in genetics and immunology. We expect that their presentations will be of interest to many in the life-sciences community and that stimulating synergies will emerge from this symposium."

Established in 1950 as the Veterinary Virus Research Institute and renamed for the founding director after Dr. Baker's death in 1975, the institute has as its mission to improve the health of animals through basic and applied research. Eleven faculty members and approximately 100 students and support staff occupy 15 off-campus buildings, including the main laboratories on Synder Hill and the McConville Barn, which borders the Newman Arboretum.

Baker Institute faculty-scientists with expertise in infectious diseases and immunology study viral, bacterial and parasitic agents; the mechanisms of disease transmission and spread; pathogenesis; and the host-defense responses of the immune system. Medical genetics specialists at Baker Institute develop practical tests for detecting carriers of defective genes, strategies for control of genetic diseases and methods for gene therapy. The genetics and development group also investigates the genetic basis and pathogenesis of a variety of diseases, including osteoarthritis and inherited eye diseases of dogs as well as reproductive conditions of dogs and horses.

Related World Wide Web sites:

• Baker Institute: https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/baker-institute
• College of Veterinary Medicine: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/