Monkey genes and biobehaviour
Dr. Stephen Suomi to give McGill Faculty of Medicine's 29th Osler Lecture
Nature versus nurture, it's the age-old question. This year's Osler Lecture, presented by the Faculty of Medicine, focuses on the intricate interactions between nature and nurture which guide infant development in rhesus monkeys – one of our closest primate relatives. Dr. Stephen Suomi will give a lecture titled "Up-tight, Laid Back and Jumpy Monkeys: How Gene-Environment Interactions Shape Biobehavioural Development in Primates."
Dr. Suomi, Chair of the Laboratory of Comparative Ethology at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Bethesda, Maryland, is the guest speaker at the lecture. Dr. Suomi has found that strong mothering amongst rhesus monkeys not only eliminates the negative impact of risky genes, it even seems to turn certain kinds of risk into an advantage. What implications might this have for humans? This is an important question for society at large, but especially for physicians confronted by new models of intervention based on genetic risk.
- What: Osler Public Lecture
- When: Wednesday, November 2, at 6:00 pm
- Where: Charles F. Martin Amphitheatre
McIntyre Medical Sciences Building, 5th floor
3655 Promenade Sir-William-Osler (Drummond St.)
About Dr. Stephen Suomi, guest speaker
Dr. Suomi is Chair of the Laboratory of Comparative Ethology at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Suomi has delivered over 300 workshops and symposium presentations and convention papers. He has presented at approximately 100 colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cambridge, Michigan, Berkeley, Brown and Princeton, and has participated in scientific workshops and symposia in ten foreign countries. He has authored or co-authored over 300 published articles in refereed scientific journals and chapters in edited volumes.
For additional information, please contact Prof. Faith Wallis, Dept. of Social Studies of Medicine, at 514-398-6213.
Sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine and a collaborative effort of the Department of Social Studies of Medicine, the Osler Society and the Osler Library of McGill University.
