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March 2021
Virtual Coffee Connection Event
Join us on March 11 for a virtual event designed exclusively for members of the Van Andel Institute Board of Governors and JBoard, as well as the Purple Community Cabinet, event hosts and volunteers. Top scientists and educators at VAI will share exciting research initiatives and K–12 education programs that are making our world a healthier and more hopeful place. It’s a great chance to learn more about the groundbreaking work taking place on Grand Rapids’ Medical Mile — without…
Find out more »Van Andel Institute Virtual Public Lecture Series: A Focus on Depression
Please join us for our next free public lecture, A Focus on Depression, Thursday, March 18. This informative event will be hosted virtually and will feature presentations and a Q&A session with experts in depression research. Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting more than 264 million people around the world. Often misunderstood as a prolonged period of sadness, depression is a serious condition that has its roots in several psychological, social and biological factors that vary…
Find out more »Marnie Blewitt, Ph.D. – VAI Seminar Series
Deciphering the molecular mechanism of the epigenetic modifier SMCHD1 in normal development and disease Dr. Blewitt did her Ph.D. with Prof. Emma Whitelaw (University of Sydney), and her postdoctoral studies with Prof. Douglas Hilton (WEHI). In her postdoc, she identified a critical role for the novel protein Smchd1 in X inactivation, and studied the role of polycomb group proteins in hematopoietic stem cell function, earning her the Australian Academy of Sciences Gani medal and the L’Oreal Australia Women in Science…
Find out more »April 2021
Thomas Wichmann, M.D. – Jay Van Andel Seminar Series
The role of the thalamus in primate Parkinsonism Dr. Wichmann received medical training in Germany, followed by postdoctoral training in pharmacology and electrophysiology at the University of Freiburg (Germany) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD). In the early 1990s, he completed residency training in Neurology at Emory University (Atlanta, GA), and has been a professor in the movement disorder division in the Department of Neurology at the same University since then, specializing in research and treatment of Parkinson’s disease and…
Find out more »Van Andel Institute Virtual Public Lecture Series: A Focus on Clinical Trials and Collaboration in Parkinson’s Disease
Please join us for our next free public lecture, Clinical Trials and Collaboration in Parkinson’s Disease, on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. This informative event will be hosted virtually and will feature presentations and a Q&A session with international Parkinson’s disease experts. For the millions of people around the world with Parkinson’s, treatments that slow or stop disease progression are desperately needed. One promising approach to find such therapies is drug repurposing — rigorously evaluating medications for other diseases, such as…
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