Wendell Lim will be the 2022 Frederick Seitz Lecture speaker, visiting on April 15, 2022. Prof. Lim is the Chair of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at University of California, San Francisco. He is the Director of the UCSF Center for Synthetic Immunology.

Abstract: Instead of taking apart and characterizing molecular components involved in naturally existing biological processes, the emerging field of synthetic biology focuses on the inverse goal of building or programing complex living systems from simpler molecular components.  This novel design perspective offers several unique features.  First, it allows us to systematically explore the principles governing biological systems design, in a manner independent from the biases of natural history.  Second, understanding these principles should enable the engineering of novel cellular behaviors that, although non-natural, are therapeutically useful and as precise as evolved systems.  For example, we are genetically reprogramming immune cells, using engineered sensors and circuits, to precisely traffic to, identify, and disrupt disease tissues, in cases such as cancer or autoimmune disorders.  We are also exploring how to reprogram cells to self-assemble into user-specified tissues.  This work reveals the remarkable functional plasticity of cellular machines, and lays the groundwork for creating revolutionary living cell therapies that exceed traditional molecular therapeutics in their ability to address some of our most challenging diseases.

Zoom link: https://uchicago.zoom.us/j/94981013029?pwd=MlN6OCtTZ2pSbm5BMTdzUFNKZitZZz09