On Monday, May 5, Dr. Robert K. Lefkowitz will deliver the 10th annual Rodbell Lecture on “Seven Transmembrane Receptors” at the NIEHS auditorium in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The James B. Duke professor of medicine and biochemistry at Duke University, Lefkowitz also holds an appointment as an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His laboratory’s work focuses on the elucidation of the molecular properties and regulatory mechanisms controlling the function of G protein-coupled receptors.

Lefkowitz and his colleagues have performed studies to discover the general principles of signal transduction from the outside to the inside of the cell involved in systems as diverse as sensory perception and neurotransmitter and hormonal signaling. His group is currently experimenting with novel approaches to the treatment of congestive heart failure in animal models, including the encoding of gene products that when expressed in the myocardium may markedly enhance cardiac contractility.

Speaking at the Dr. Martin Rodbell Lecture Series is a special honor for a research scientist because the series recognizes the Nobel Prize-winning pioneer in G protein-mediated signal transduction. Rodbell served as scientific director at NIEHS from 1985 to 1988.