Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Carol Greider, will be speaking at American River College during a ceremony that will honor her mother, a former ARC professor, on March 16.
The event is open to all members of the public, although registration is required.
Rina Roy, dean of science and engineering, discovered that Greider’s mother worked at ARC, while she was working on a presentation to inspire female high school students to become interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines.
Roy was researching women who won nobel prizes in science related fields.
Greider won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack W. Szostak for the discovery of telomerase, an enzyme that is thought to be key to understanding how cells age.
“The work that she is doing with telomerase has a lot to do with the process of aging. So her work may reverse that,” said Roy.
Additional presentations have been added to the schedule.
The first presentation will take place between 2 and 3 p.m. and will focus on what led to the discovery of telomerase, while the second presentation will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. and will focus on the health implications of the discovery.
There will be a question and answer session for science and engineering, allied health and gerontology students that will take place from 3:15 to 4p.m.
There will also be another Q&A for biotechnology students, and other top science classes and clubs that will take place from 4:15 to 5 p.m.
Roy said that even students who are not taking science courses will be able to get something out of Greider’s lectures.
“What would you find from a Nobel laureate, somewhere in that structured process, something different, something out of the box that no one thought of before,” said Roy.
Executive Director of the ARC Foundation Kirsten DuBray said that one of the goals of the event is to get donors to make a donation to the science department.
ARC will be engraving a tree plaque dedicated to Greider’s mother, Jean Foley Greider, who taught at the school during the 1960s.
The plaque will be placed on a stone next to a group of redwood trees that can be found near the horticulture department, which is already dedicated to the late Greider.
“If there is a message I want to give to students, (it) is don’t be afraid of science,” said Roy.
In order to register for the event, attendees must contact Christina Wagner in the Center of Teaching and Learning.
