The Human Element: A Candid Conversation about Pioneers of Modern Medicine with discussants Peter Agre, J. Michael Bishop and Neen Hunt at the 2007 Aspen Health Forum. Elliot Gerson moderates the discussion.
Intellectual curiosity, methodological rigor, hard work and even luck each play a role in science. Hear Nobel Prize recipients J. Michael Bishop and Peter Agre recount personal stories of discovery, including including amusing anecdotes about what surrounds "Eureka!" moments. Neen Hunt, president of The Lasker Foundation, will share additional insights on discoveries by Lasker awardees- Aspen Institute
Bio
Peter Agre
Peter C. Agre, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is Vice Chancellor for Science and Technology at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Agre received the Nobel for discovering the long-searched-for mechanism by which water passes through cell membranes, which he and a colleague documented in a 1992 paper in the journal Science.
In his post at Duke, Dr. Agre plays a leading role in guiding the development of the university’s medical science research enterprise, including assessing global health care needs and ensuring that Duke is positioned to address them. Dr. Agre received his MD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1974, took a residency at Case Western Reserve University and later a fellowship at UNC-Chapel Hill.
In 1984, he returned to Johns Hopkins, where he progressed among the ranks of the faculty and ultimately was appointed as a full professor in the department of biological chemistry.
J. Michael Bishop
J. Michael Bishop is University Professor and Chancellor at the University of California, San Francisco, and a recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Dr. Bishop and his colleague Dr. Harold Varmus were jointly awarded the Nobel for their discovery of proto-oncogenes—normal genes that can be converted to cancer genes by genetic damage. This work led to the recognition that all cancer probably arises from damage to normal genes, and provided new strategies for the detection and treatment of cancer.
Dr. Bishop has served as a scientific advisor or member of numerous oversight boards, including the Board of Trustees of The Salk Institute, the National Cancer Advisory Board, and the Medical Advisory Board for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is the author of more than 300 research publications and reviews, and of the book How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science.
Elliot Gerson
Elliot Gerson is executive vice president for Seminars and Public Programs at the Aspen Institute. Gerson is responsible for the Aspen Institute's seminars, including the Executive Seminar, topical and custom seminars, and those offered in Socrates programs. He also manages the Institute's public programs, including the Aspen Ideas Festival and the World Biomedical Forum.
As American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, he manages the US Rhodes Scholarships. He is also a founding trustee of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation Trust, which focuses on African higher education and leadership; a director of the International Biomedical Research Alliance, affiliated with the National Institutes of Health; and director of a Kabul-based logistics, security, and construction company focused on the reconstruction and redevelopment of Afghanistan.
He was a US Supreme Court clerk and has practiced law, held executive positions in state and federal government and in a presidential campaign, served as president of leading insurance and health care companies, and served on many nonprofit boards, especially in the arts and humanities.
Neen Hunt
Neen Hunt is President of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation and the Mary Woodard Lasker Charitable Trust, a position she has held since 1995. The foundation and its programs support biomedical research aimed at eradicating disease, improving human health and extending life. Dr. Hunt oversees the Lasker Medical Research Awards, which are widely regarded as among the most prestigious honors granted to medical scientists.
Prior to joining the foundation, she was executive vice president and chief operating officer of the United Nations Foundation, a non-profit advocacy and education organization that supports the United Nations. Before that she was Head of the Calhoun School, a coed independent school of 650 students in grades K-l2. Under her leadership the school received Presidential recognition as a model school, and the Calhoun library is now dedicated to her. She received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.