Mello Delivers Tripathy Lecture

Welcoming Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, second from left, are, from left, Daniel Sandman, associate director of the Center for Advanced Materials, Chancellor Marty Meehan and Jayant Kumar, director of the Center for Advanced Materials.

Craig Mello, professor of molecular medicine at the UMass Medical School, gave the Tripathy Endowed Memorial Lecture in October. His presentation, “RNAi: From Mechanism to Medicine,” summarized and updated the research for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2006, with Prof. Andrew Fire of Stanford University Medical School.

Mello and Fire published their work on RNA interference or gene silencing in 1998, just eight years before the Nobel was awarded – an unusual speed justified by the explosive growth of research based on RNAi. Using this natural method of switching genes off, researchers have been able to suppress each gene and identify its function, leading to new research models and new classes of drugs.

The 2008 Tripathy lecture was sponsored by Konarka Technologies, a world leader in thin film solar technology, with additional support from the Center for Advanced Materials.

Sukant Tripathy, University Professor and founder of the Center for Advanced Materials, was recognized around the world for his research in thin polymer films and their electrical and optical properties. The annual lecture is one of four programs that honor his life and memorialize his work.

- Sandra_Seitz