Life at the Interface of Science and Engineering (LISE) Lecture Series
Established through the generosity of UAlbany Distinguished Professor Marlene Belfort and RPI Institute Professor Georges Belfort, the Life at the Interface of Science and Technology Endowed Lecture Series is designed to address fundamental questions that require the expertise of both Life Sciences and Engineering to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.
2024 Lecture
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). This is the 9th seminar in the series. View the lecture poster.
“Escape from the Planet of the Cows”
Featuring Pat Brown
PhD Founder, Impossible Foods
Professor of Biochemistry, Emeritus Stanford University
Thursday, September 12, 2024 3 to 4 p.m.
D’ Ambra Auditorium - UAlbany
Past Lectures
2023
David Baker, PhD
Director, Institute for Protein Design
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Henrietta and Aubrey David Endowed Professor of Biochemistry, University of Washington
Thursday, September 14, 2023
3 to 4 p.m. via Zoom.
2022
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). This is the 7th seminar in the series. Learn more about the 2022 lectures.
“Micro and Nanotechnology Delivery Systems for mRNA Therapies and Tackling Global Health Challenges”
Robert S. Langer, PhD
David H. Koch Institute Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thursday, September 15, 2022
10 to 11 a.m. at the Biotech Auditorium, CBIS Building, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Refreshments will be served at 9:30 a.m.
“mRNA as Medicine”
Melissa J. Moore, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Scientific Affairs
Moderna
Thursday, September 15, 2022
2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
ETEC 1st Floor Atrium, University at Albany
Refreshments will be served at 2 p.m.
About LISE
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Previous speakers include:
Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech (University of Colorado) (2016),
Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University) (2017)
Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold (Caltech) (2018),
David R. Liu (Harvard University) (2019)
Stephen R. Quake (Stanford University) (2021),
Nobel Laureate Jennifer A. Doudna (UC Berkeley)(2021)
This endowed lecture series was made possible through the generosity of Distinguished Professor, Dr. Marlene Belfort (UAlbany) and Institute Professor, Dr. Georges Belfort (RPI). The series is designed to address questions that require the expertise of life scientists and engineers to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.
2021
“CRISPR: The Science and Opportunity of Genome Editing”
Dr. Jennifer Doudna
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair
Professor of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Berkeley
2020 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
The lecture will be virtual via Zoom at 1 p.m.
“The Cell is a Bag of RNA”
Stephen R. Quake, PhD
Stanford University
"Molecular Counting and Liquid Biopsies: A Path to Creating Health Equity in the Genomic Revolution"
Stephen R. Quake, PhD
Stanford University
About LISE
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Previous speakers include:
Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech (University of Colorado) (2016),
Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University) (2017)
Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold (Caltech) (2018),
David R. Liu (Harvard University) (2019)
This endowed lecture series was made possible through the generosity of Distinguished Professor, Dr. Marlene Belfort (UAlbany) and Institute Professor, Dr. Georges Belfort (RPI). The series is designed to address questions that require the expertise of life scientists and engineers to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.
2019
"Base Editing: Chemistry on a Target Nucleotide in the Genome of Living Cells Using Engineered and Evolved Proteins."
David R. Liu, PhD
Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Friday, September 20, 2019
10:30 a.m. at RPI's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) with a pre-reception at 10 a.m.
Friday, September 20, 2019
3:30 p.m. at D'Ambra Auditorium, UAlbany Uptown Campus with a pre-reception at 3 p.m.
About LISE
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Previous speakers include:
Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech (University of Colorado) (2016),
Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University) (2017)
Nobel Laureate Frances Arnold (Caltech) (2018)
This endowed lecture series was made possible through the generosity of Distinguished Professor, Dr. Marlene Belfort (UAlbany) and Institute Professor, Dr. Georges Belfort (RPI). The series is designed to address questions that require the expertise of life scientists and engineers to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.
2018
“Innovation by Evolution: Expanding the Enzyme Universe”
Frances H. Arnold, PhD
Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry
Director of Donna and Benjamin M. Rosen Bioengineering Center
California Institute of Technology
Monday, October 15, 2018
3 p.m. at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) Auditorium, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a pre-reception at 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
2:30 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center (PAC), UAlbany's Uptown Campus with a pre-reception at 2 p.m.
About LISE
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Previous speakers include:
Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech (University of Colorado) (2016),
Karl Deisseroth (Stanford University) (2017)
This endowed lecture series was made possible through the generosity of Distinguished Professor, Dr. Marlene Belfort (UAlbany) and Institute Professor, Dr. Georges Belfort (RPI). The series is designed to address questions that require the expertise of life scientists and engineers to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.
2017
“Integrated brainwide structural and functional analysis”
Karl Deisseroth, MD PhD
D.H. Chen Professor
Professor of Bioengineering, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University, School of Medicine
Friday, September 8, 2017
10:30 a.m. at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) Auditorium, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a pre-reception at 10 a.m.
“Nature's gift: how the discovery of structural principles in a microbial protein helped illuminate the pathophysiology of psychiatry”
Karl Deisseroth, MD PhD
D.H. Chen Professor
Professor of Bioengineering, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University, School of Medicine
Friday, September 8, 2017
3 p.m. at D'Ambra Auditorium, UAlbany Uptown Campus with a pre-reception at 2:30 p.m.
About LISE
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
Previous speakers include:
Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech (University of Colorado) (2016)
This endowed lecture series was made possible through the generosity of Distinguished Professor, Dr. Marlene Belfort (UAlbany) and Institute Professor, Dr. Georges Belfort (RPI). The series is designed to address questions that require the expertise of life scientists and engineers to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.
2016
"Long Noncoding RNAs and Epigenetic Gene Silencing"
Thomas R. Cech, PhD
Nobel Laureate
Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
Director, University of Colorado BioFrontiers Institute
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
4 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center (PAC), UAlbany's Uptown Campus with a pre-reception at 3:15 p.m.
"CRISPR Genome Engineering Gives New Insights About Telomerase and its Role in Cancer"
Thomas R. Cech, PhD
Nobel Laureate
Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
Director, University of Colorado BioFrontiers Institute
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
1 p.m. at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) Auditorium, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a pre-reception at 12:30 p.m.
Undergraduate Research Symposium in Biology
Undergraduate students from 11 universities participated in the first Undergraduate Research Symposium in Biology sponsored by the Department of Biological Sciences on Tues. Oct. 25, 2016.
Students delivered oral presentations and posters on their research projects and enjoyed a keynote symposium by Novel Laureate, Thomas R. Cech entitled “How to win a Nobel Prize.” The undergraduate symposium was partnered with the new endowed lecture series “Life at the Interface of Science and Engineering,” which included a research seminar by Dr. Cech at University at Albany, SUNY entitled, “Long-noncoding RNAs and Epigenetic Gene Silencing” and a research seminar at RPI entitled: “CRISPR Genome Engineering Give New Insights about Telomerase and its Role in Cancer.”
Symposium Program
About the Keynote Lecturer
The seminar series was made possible by an endowment by Dr. Marlene Belfort, Distinguished Professor at the University at Albany, SUNY, and Dr. Georges Belfort, Institute Professor at RPI.
About LISE
These lectures are part of a collaboration between the University at Albany & Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).
This endowed lecture series was made possible through the generosity of Distinguished Professor, Dr. Marlene Belfort (UAlbany) and Institute Professor, Dr. Georges Belfort (RPI). The series is designed to address questions that require the expertise of life scientists and engineers to answer. This collaborative lecture series brings world-renowned experts to speak to the campus communities at both UAlbany and RPI.