The Power of Science
Lecture Series

This presentation, delivered by Professor Greg Lemke, covered how the body regulates the immune system to prevent disease.

This presentation, delivered by Ha Nguyen, Senior Director of the Office of Technology Development, features the past and present successes of translating Salk’s scientific discoveries into technologies and interventions that prevent, treat or mitigate some of our most difficult health challenges to benefit humankind.

Cancer is caused when the DNA in our cells mutates, causing the cells to grow uncontrollably. These mutations can disrupt critical genes. Different mutations to the same gene can have very different effects. Assistant Professor Edward Stites is using computational approaches to determine why patients respond differently to treatment, and our work finds unexpected ways in which mutations determine whether or not a cancer patient responds to treatment.

How do our brains adapt to changes in social contact? Acute social isolation produces prosocial behaviors and increases the motivation to seek social contact. In contrast, chronic social isolation produces antisocial behavior, and increases aggression, territorial behavior and avoidance of social contact. Professor Kay Tye shared how her lab is employing cutting-edge neuroscience approaches to understanding the mechanisms of how our brains respond to social isolation.

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with only 8% of patients surviving more than five years. Professor Ronald Evans shared clinical trial updates on pancreatic cancer research breakthroughs including immunotherapy and a Vitamin D derivative.

Aging is the most significant risk factor for human disease. Human cells and tissues age at different rates depending on their intrinsic properties, where they are in the body and environmental exposures. The Hetzer lab aims to understand this variability (“heterogeneity”) and how it contributes to overall human aging, risk for disease or therapeutic responses. Professor Martin Hetzer also speaks about Salk research activities during COVID-19.

In this live virtual event, Salk Professor Satchin Panda will share updates regarding the status of research labs at the Salk Institute, ongoing and future scientific collaborations and the latest in circadian biology research, all through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this live lecture, which was part of the “Impact of Infectious Diesease on Humans & Our Origins” symposium, Salk Professor Susan Kaech discusses how memory T cells form during infection and are specialized into distinct subsets that maximize the way in which they provide immunosurveillance throughout the body and provide long-term protective immunity.

Salk’s Cancer Center Director Reuben Shaw and Assistant Professor Dannielle Engle shared updates regarding the status of research labs at the Salk Institute, ongoing and future scientific collaborations and the latest in cancer research, all through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic.