An American researcher who has demonstrated the importance of a specific protein regulatory mechanism in maintaining normal cell function, and how changes therein can lead to diseases, including cancer, will be speaking on campus on Friday, May 26. The seminar is part of the annual Department of Biological Science’s Doyle Lecture Series.

Anthony Rex Hunter is an American Cancer Society Professor and Renato Dulbecco Chair at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. Dr. Hunter demonstrated that phosphorylation of the amino acid tyrosine within a protein served to regulate its function, and dysregulation of many of these proteins has been found to lead to certain disease states, most notably cancer.

Hunter’s papers have been cited tens of thousands of times, and he is the recipient of many awards, including the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 1994, the Wolf Prize in Medicine in 2005, and the Royal Medal in Biological Sciences in 2014.

Biology PhD candidate Don Karl Roberto helped to organize the event and is looking forward to hearing the prolific researcher’s lecture, “Protein phosphorylation; pancreatic cancer and new frontiers in histidine phosphorylation.”

“This is not only an exciting opportunity for researchers and students, but also the wider campus community because Dr. Hunter is a first-rate researcher and we are very fortunate he accepted our invitation,” Roberto says.

The seminar is free of charge and will be held in Toldo Health Education Centre, room 202 at 4 p.m. Friday, May 26. For more information about the event, send the Department of Biological Sciences Graduate Student Association an email dbgsa@uwindsor.ca. Visit Hunter’s website for more information on his research.