ITHACA, N.Y. -- Edward M. Scolnick, president of Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) and executive vice president for science and technology of MRL's parent, Merck & Co. Inc., will give a public talk, "Diseases of Animals and Humans Caused by Transmissible Proteins: The Prion and Mad Cow Disease," Wednesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Cornell University, Baker Hall, Room 200. This is Scolnick's second visit to Cornell since being appointed an inaugural Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 professor in 2000.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is linked to a prion disease in humans called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Prions are tiny, highly infectious substances made of protein and capable of self-replication. BSE was Þrst observed in Britain in 1984. Since then, nearly 200,000 British cases of BSE in cattle have been identiÞed. The epidemic peaked in 1992-93 at almost 1,000 cases per week, forcing the government to institute strict control measures.

Scolnick, who joined Merck in 1982, is a widely respected scholar in his primary field of virology, particularly protein synthesis, cancer biology and molecular virology, as well as combinatorial chemistry and rational drug design. He began his scientific career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), eventually becoming chief of the NIH Laboratory of Tumor Virus Genetics. He has published nearly 200 scientific articles and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Under Scolnick's leadership, and with a seven-year clinical research program with the World Health Organization, Merck researchers developed the drug Mectizan, which prevents river blindness, a crippling disease caused by a parasitic worm endemic to Africa. In 1987, Merck donated Mectizan free to all people affected by river blindness, for as long as necessary.

Established in 2000, the Rhodes Class of '56 Professorships are awarded for a period of one to five years. Appointees are considered full members of the Cornell faculty, and visit the campus for a minimum of two weeks during each year of their professorship.