M E D I A A D V I S O R Y
Dec. 21, 2001
From: George Humphrey, (520) 626-7301
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LECTURE: Molecular Tracking of Anthrax And Other Dangerous Pathogens
SPEAKER: Paul Keim, PhD, the Raymond and Ruth Cowden Professor of Microbiology, Northern Arizona University; affiliate researcher, Los Alamos National Laboratory
DATE/TIME: FRIDAY, JAN. 4, NOON to 1 P.M.
PLACE: Duval Auditorium, University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell
COST: Lecture is free and open to the public.
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The Northern Arizona University geneticist who reportedly has played a key role in the federal government's efforts to analyze the anthrax spores used in this fall's terrorist attacks, will present a lecture at the Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson.
Paul Keim, PhD, an internationally noted geneticist, is the Cowden Endowed Chair in Microbiology at Northern Arizona University, as well as an affiliate researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He will discuss "Molecular Tracking of Anthrax and Other Dangerous Pathogens" Friday, Jan. 4, noon, at Duval Auditorium, University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. This special presentation is free and open to the public (but is geared to the scientific community).
According to an article in the Oct. 18 edition of the journal Nature, "the authorities turned to Keim's lab immediately after the Florida attacks because of its published record of describing anthrax strains and its role in developing analytical techniques to identify the strains."
His research involves the exploration of genomes to understand biological processes. Frequently these are population- and evolutionary-level problems that can be answered by studying genetic diversity among individuals. A portion of his recent efforts has been on bacterial pathogens important to biological weapons. High on this list are the bacteria causing anthrax and plague, where his lab has developed high-resolution DNA fingerprinting methods for strain identification. He has applied these DNA tools to the evolution, ecology, epidemiology and, now, the forensics of anthrax, according to biographical information.