Gilbert Omenn, M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Michigan Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, will deliver the next Flexner Discovery Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 25.
Omenn will discuss “the essential role of bioinformatics in exploring the world of proteins and characterizing the human proteome.” His lecture, which is sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Informatics, will begin at 4 p.m. in room 208 Light Hall.
A Harvard-trained physician who earned his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Washington, Omenn has made significant contributions throughout his career to medical education and research as well as science and technology policy.
Omenn was a White House Fellow at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission during the Nixon administration, and associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and of the Office of Management and Budget under President Carter.
In the mid-1990s, he chaired the Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management, known as the Omenn Commission.
Omenn is a former dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Washington and former executive vice president for Medical Affairs and CEO of the University of Michigan Health System.
He currently is the Harold T. Shapiro Distinguished University Professor and professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Internal Medicine, Human Genetics and Public Health at the University of Michigan.
His research interests include cancer proteomics, chemoprevention of cancers, public health genetics, science-based risk analyses, and health policy. He chairs the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) global Human Proteome Project (http://www.thehpp.org/).
The author of nearly 500 research papers and scientific reviews, Omenn is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Association of American Physicians and the American College of Physicians.
For a complete schedule of the Flexner Discovery Lecture series and archived video of previous lectures, go to http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/discoveryseries.
