ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ira Mellman, the Sterling Professor of Cell Biology and Immunobiology, and chair of the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University's School of Medicine, will present a seminar, "Generation and Maintenance of Epithelial Cell Polarity," Friday, March 12, at 4 p.m. in Cornell University's Biotechnology Building, Room G10. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The seminar is part of Cancer Biology Lectures, a formal series of seminars by outstanding cancer researchers hosted by the Cornell University/Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Partnership and Cornell's Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

Mellman and his colleagues were the first to characterize endosomes, a ubiquitous organelle crucial to controlling endocytosis in virtually all cell types. He also has explored the role of immunoglobulin receptors in different cells, including dendritic cells. An understanding of the life cycle of dendritic cells is leading to new strategies for cancer vaccines.

Mellman also is the director-designate of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cell Biology .

Five years ago, Cornell and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research entered into a partnership to develop potential cancer therapies. In 2003, the partnership opened a $2 million Good Manufacturing Practices facility in Stocking Hall on the Cornell campus to produce therapeutic agents for clinical trial.

This facility and the Ludwig Institute have ties with the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and the consortium will be capable of "bench-to-bedside" development of novel cancer treatments.