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Pierluigi Gambetti, MD – Director, National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University |
| Friday January 25, 2013 12:30-1:30 p.m. Dampeer Room Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University Dear Colleagues: In 1985 cattle started stumbling around British fields, looking confused even for cattle, and then dying. This outbreak was called “mad cow disease,” and has had effects on both policy and science. The policy issues flow from the fact that the syndrome can be passed to humans who eat the wrong parts (brain or spinal tissue) of such cattle. It has led to measures such as countries banning imports of beef from other countries where the disease has been observed. But it also has led to identification of a previously unknown and quite scary disease process. Moreover, it turns out that prion disease in animals has been around a long time, in the form of the sheep disease scrapie. And there were already rare examples of prion disease in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Dr. Pierluigi Gambetti is at the cutting edge of both research and policy. As Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, he leads the nation’s efforts in the fundamental public health task of tracking incidence of such diseases. But his work has also helped identify new variants and causal patterns. Join us as he reports on what has been learned over the past quarter century. All best regards, About Our Guest… The primary focus of Dr. Pierluigi Gambetti’s research is prion diseases. The main objective is the understanding of the fine changes leading to the disease. The approach is multidisciplinary. The research group he leads analyzes the human prion disease and they try to establish accurate anatomo-clinical correlations. Special attention is devoted to the understanding of correlations between pathological changes, such as spongiosis, and the distribution, amount and type of the abnormal prion protein present in the brain of affected individuals. For those studies his research group takes advantage of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center of the USA which is located at CWRU within their laboratories and provides an invaluable source of cases of prion disease. Dr. Gambetti’s research group analyzes in vitro the chemicophysical characteristics of the prion protein and the mechanisms of conversion of the normal to the abnormal prion protein conformer. Finally, his research group uses transfected cells and transgenic animals to investigate in detail the various abnormalities of the prion protein metabolism related to the presence of mutations in the prion protein gene leading to disease. Parking Possibilities We regret that there is no convenient free parking, especially with the current construction on Bellflower. The closest lot is the Severance garage, which can be entered from East Boulevard. One can avoid going outside the garage by using an entry door to the library that is just northeast of the main parking lot entrance from East Boulevard. It leads to an elevator which goes to the library entrance. You can also go up the stairway or elevator labeled “Thwing Center,” from which it is a short walk to the library. Another possibility is the parking lot of the Church of the Covenant on Euclid, which can be entered from the north side of Euclid Ave, opposite Cornell Road. Visitors would walk west on Euclid, past the Thwing Center, and then follow the walkway to the library entrance. Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers: February 1: A (Really) New Middle East? Pete W. Moore, Associate Professor of Political Science February 8: Casting and Counting Votes in Cuyahoga County. Steven H. Izen, Professor of Mathematics, and Kenneth F. Ledford, Associate Professor of History and Law February 15: Israeli Politics. Dr. Guy Ben-Porat, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Administration, Ben Gurion University of the Negev February 22: The Widening Party Gap in Electing Women to Congress. With Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor of Political Science March 1: University Circle Update. Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer March 8: Perspectives on Genetically-Modified Food. Chris Cullis, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology and Mary Holmes, co-founder of the North Union (Shaker Square) Farmers Market March 15: Spring Break – No Discussion March 22: Shale Gas: Opportunities and Challenges. David Zeng, Frank H. Neff Professor and Chair, Department of Civil Engineering March 29: International Development Assistance in Public Health. Bill Goldman, retired foreign service officer with USAID April 5: Military Ethics and Dehumanizing the Enemy. With Anthony Jack, Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science, Philosophy, and Psychology and Shannon French, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Inamori Professor of Ethics. April 12: The New Cuyahoga County Government: Perspective from the Council. Julian Rogers, Councillor for District 10 April 19: Mass Murder for the Media: The Breivik Case in Norway. Mark Turner, Institute Professor and Professor of Cognitive Science April 26: Advocacy for Children, Who Don’t Vote. Doug Imig, Professor of Political Science, University of Memphis |
