Visiting Phi Beta Kappa scholar to give lecture

Publication Date

Biochemist Gregory Petsko, a Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar at Union, will

Gregory Petsko

speak Monday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

His talk, “The Coming Epidemic of Neurodegenerative Diseases and What Science Is—and Should Be—Doing About It,” is free and open to the public.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Petsko is the Mahon Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and Tauber Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Emeritus, at Brandeis University.

His research involves the development of methods to treat age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s (ALS).

Cofounder of the journal Protein Engineering, he writes a monthly column on science and society. He served as president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

His talk is sponsored by the College’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Since 1956, the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Visiting Scholar Program has been offering members of the campus community the opportunity to spend time with some of America’s most distinguished scholars.

Founded in 1776, Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest academic honor society.