HHMI Undergraduate Science Program

Dr. H. Robert Horvitz
2002 Nobel Prize in Medicine

Pioneering studies by H. Robert Horvitz have made him one of the central figures in research on programmed cell death. He discovered key genes that control cell death in C. elegans, a tiny transparent worm made up of fewer than 1,000 cells. (Nearly identical genes have been identified in other animals, as well as in humans.) For this work and for his studies concerning organ development in C. elegans, Horvitz won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, an award he shared with Sydney Brenner and John Sulston, whose studies made important related contributions. His apoptosis studies may also improve the understanding of neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

He is also an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, and a member of the MIT Center for Cancer Research. He holds appointments at the Massachusetts General Hospital in neurology and in medicine.

Dr. Horvitz received bachelor's degrees in mathematics and economics from MIT (1968) and an M.A. and Ph.D. (1974) in biology from Harvard University. He joined the faculty of MIT in 1978 and became professor of biology in 1986 and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1988.

Dr. Horvit'z talk is titled: "Programmed Cell Death in Development and Disease"

The keynote lecture will be held in the Flavin Auditorium (SOM 137) at 4:00 pm. It is free and open to the public.

LOCATION

This year's symposium will be held at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Please see the symposium schedule below for the location of each event.