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• The Origins of Life, a joint NIH-NASA program
  Wednesday, October 7
  8:30 am-10:30 am
  Natcher Conference Center
  Main Auditorium
  Organized by Arthur S. Levine, Scientific Director, NICHD
  Chaired by Harold E. Varmus, NIH Director

  This joint NIH-NASA plenary session explores planetary evolution and its implications for pre-biotic life, as well as the earliest events in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic evolution.

  Daniel Goldin, NASA Administrator
  Introduction

  Sherwood Chang, NASA
  The Origin of Planets and Life

  Eugene Koonin, NIH/NLM
  The Minimal Set of Genes Required to Form a Cell

  Reed Wickner, NIH/NIDDK
  Yeast Prions: A Window on Evolution

  David Des Marais, NASA
  Astrobiology

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• Insight from the Bedside: The Patient, Clinical Research and Scientific Discovery
  Thursday, October 8
  8:30 am-10:30 am
  Natcher Conference Center
  Main Auditorium
  Chaired by Scott M. Whitcup, Clinical Director, NEI

  This plenary session features lectures on the interaction between clinical observations and basic science discoveries that promote our understanding of health and disease.

  Scott Whitcup, NEI
  Introduction

  Thomas Waldmann, NCI
  IL-2/IL-15 Receptor Directed Therapy: From Inception to FDA Approval, a 17-Year Odyssey

  Gisele Sarosy, NCI
  Identifying Opportunities for Translational Research: The Value of Electronic Information

  Albert Kapikian, NIAID
  Development of a Rotavirus Vaccine for the Prevention of Severe Diarrhea in Infants and Young Children

  Anthony Fauci, NIAID
  Host Factors in the Pathogenesis of HIV Disease
  

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• Apoptosis Plenary Session
  Friday, October 9
  8:30 am-10:30 am
  Natcher Conference Center
  Main Auditorium
  Chaired by Story C. Landis, Scientific Director, NINDS

  Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, plays a crucial role in normal development and has been implicated in a number of disease states. In the last decade, investigators have made significant progress in delineating the molecular mechanisms responsible for apoptosis. Speakers in this plenary session will discuss the regulation of cell death and its role in disease.

  Richard Youle, NINDS
  The Mechanism of Cell Death Regulation by Bcl-2 Family

  Luciano D'Adamio, NCI
  Regulation of Programmed Cell Death by the Familial Alzheimer's Disease Proteins, Presenilin 1 and 2

  Michael Lenardo, NIAID
  Molecular Regulation of Lymphocyte Apoptosis

  Steve Strauss, NIAID
  Autoimmune Lymphoproliferative Syndrome: A Human Disorder of Lymphocyte Apoptosis