UC Davis-Based Webinar to Focus on Financially Crippled Academic Research
Webinar to Feature Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman of UC Berkeley
Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman, a Distinguished Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Molecular and Cell Biology will keynote a UC Davis-based webinar, “Beyond the Headlines: The Invisible Power of Academic Research” on Tuesday, July 1.
“Behind nearly every major advancement in medicine, technology, national security, and economic growth lies a powerful but often overlooked engine: academic research,” said UC Davis Distinguished Professor Walter Leal of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, who is spearheading and coordinating the free-access webinar, set from 1 to 3 p.m., Pacific Time.
Registration is underway at https://tinyurl.com/4krenb5.
“This webinar brings that story to the forefront, featuring Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman in conversation with a panel of distinguished experts," said Leal, who is a former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and is internationall recognized for his entomology research. (See website) "Due to scheduling conflicts, Nobel Laureates David Julius and Torsten Wiesel, along with other prominent scholars, will contribute their insights via recorded video messages. Together, these esteemed voices will underscore the critical role of federally funded university research in driving America’s global leadership in science and innovation. The conversation will spotlight the enduring partnership between the federal government and U.S. research universities, a collaboration that fuels discovery, advances the public good, and shapes the future, often without public recognition. Join us as we bring this essential, yet too often untold, story into the light.”
Schekman, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and colleagues James Rothman and Thomas Südhof shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering discoveries on the mechanisms of vesicle trafficking in cells.
A member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1992, Schekman has also served as editor-in-chief of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and as a founding editor of eLife. His lab is currently investigating the unconventional secretion of alpha-synuclein, a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease.
Leal, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, laments the unraveling partnerships between the federal government and the nation’s research universities. “For 80 years, the partnership between the federal government and the United States’ research universities has been a powerful engine driving the nation’s scientific leadership, economic strength, and long-term prosperity,” Leal commented. “Quietly but profoundly, this collaboration has fueled breakthrough discoveries, advanced the public good, and strengthened the country’s future in medicine, technology, national security, and economic growth.”
“At a time when academic institutions face increased scrutiny, it is more important than ever to demonstrate to taxpayers how their investment in high-risk, high-reward research yields lasting benefits,” Leal said. “A distinguished panel of scholars will highlight how each federal research dollar generates significant economic returns, often hundreds of dollars per dollar invested, while equipping the next generation of innovators to tackle the complex challenges of tomorrow."