How are We Approaching Cancer Treatment? From Cyclops Sheep to Vaccines

Speaker: 
Amy Andreotti
 
20 Apr 2023
 
6:00 PM
 
Great Hall, Memorial Union
Co-sponsors: 
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Lecture Series highlights faculty excellence in learning, discovery, and engagement in Iowa State’s most academically diverse college. Each semester, the dean invites LAS faculty of distinction to present lectures from their own areas of expertise on topics of interest to the general public, designed to stimulate high-quality, intellectual discussion among faculty, staff, students, and community members. Lectures are held during the fall and spring semesters during the academic year.

Amy Andreotti, university professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, was selected by Dean Beate Schmittmann to deliver the spring 2023 LAS Dean’s Distinguished Lecture on April 20 at 6:00 p.m. The lecture, “How are we approaching cancer treatment? From cyclops sheep to vaccines,” will be presented in the Great Hall at the Iowa State Memorial Union and also livestreamed.

Cancer encompasses an array of specific diseases that require tailored treatment approaches. Andreotti, a biochemist with expertise in structural biology and immune cell signaling, will highlight three stories that illustrate how scientists and physicians are devising new approaches to specific types of cancers. These vignettes will show how serendipity drives discovery, how great cancer drugs can be plagued by resistance, and how vaccines and immunotherapies are reshaping cancer treatments of the future.

Andreotti is a University Professor and the Roy J. Carver Chair in Biochemistry. Since joining the ISU faculty in 1997, her work in structural immunology has been published in leading scientific journals and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health. Her research group is recognized for applying sophisticated biophysical tools to the study of immune protein function with major contributions in understanding the mechanisms of immune regulation and drug resistance. Andreotti sits on the National Advisory Committee for the Pew Charitable Trust, serves as a senior editor for eLife, and loves to inspire undergraduate students by sharing the beauty and intricacies of the biological molecules that form living systems.

She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and studio art from Bowdoin College, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University, and conducted postdoctoral training at Harvard University.

A live Q&A session with Andreotti will follow the lecture.

This event will be livestreamed - click here to access the livestream link.

This event was recorded and will be available for two weeks on the Lectures website at https://www.lectures.iastate.edu/recordings/available-recordings