Understanding the Sources of Regenerative Capacities in Animals

Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado is a molecular biologist, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and executive director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. The Sánchez Alvarado Laboratory focuses on understanding the regenerative capabilities of the planarian flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea.

The 41st annual Hamburger Lecture will be given at 4:00 PM on March 20 in Rebstock 215 by Dr. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Stowers Institute in Kansas City Missouri.  The title of his talk is "Understanding the sources of regenerative capacities in animals".  Dr. Sánchez Alvarado is a leading light in animal regeneration; his focus is on a classical system, the extraordinary regenerative abilities of planaria.  His group has identified many genes required for regeneration, clarified the roles played by both differentiated cells and different classes of pluripotent stem cells in regeneration, addressed why some organisms display extensive regenerative abilities while other forms do not, and defined similarities and differences between regeneration and normal development.  Dr. Sánchez Alvarado's talk will be a very exciting one.  A reception will follow.