THREE NORFOLK INSTITUTIONS SPONSOR RESEARCH EXPO 2007: 400 YEARS OF DISCOVERY
Norfolk's three institutions offering graduate-level educational programs are co-sponsors of Research Expo 2007: 400 Years of Discovery, which will be held April 5 at Old Dominion University's Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The inaugural Research Expo was produced by Old Dominion in 2004 and Norfolk State University joined as a sponsor in 2005. This is the second year Eastern Virginia Medical School also has been a partner in the event's production.
For the first time, the 2007 exposition will feature limited participation by other universities in the region affiliated with the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education. Inside Business, a Hampton Roads weekly publication, is a co-sponsor.
Research Expo is a daylong event that showcases research, scholarship and artistic achievements of faculty and students.
Nobel laureate Dr. Ferid Murad, who directs the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, will be the keynote speaker at the closing convocation. He formerly taught and directed the Clinical Research Center at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Six panel discussions throughout the day will explore topics inspired by or related to America's 400th Birthday celebration in Jamestown this year.
About 350 exhibits and demonstrations will be on the convocation center's main floor, and awards for best student posters and faculty research will be given at the closing session.
Each segment of the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., will be free and open to the public. Organizers said the exposition is designed to present to the public the achievements of the participating institutions; to stir public interest in academic disciplines; to foster interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration; and to introduce faculty and students to potential collaborators and employers in business, industry, government and the military.
Murad, co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology (Medicine), will speak on the topic, "Discovery of Some of the Biological Effects of Nitric Oxide and Its Role in Cell Signaling." He also won the 1996 Albert and Mary Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, often described as the top biomedical prize in the United States.
His work has resulted in the development of new drugs and in better understanding of how drugs work. In addition to his associations with universities, he has been an executive with Molecular Geriatrics Corp. and Abbott Laboratories, and is a major proponent of research collaborations between educational institutions and private industry.
Posters and demonstrations will come from the three sponsoring schools, as well as from consortium members College of William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, Hampton University, Regent University, Thomas Nelson Community College and Virginia Wesleyan College.
Discussion panelists will be experts in fields such as history, history of Native Americans, race relations, women's studies, international studies, tourism, shipbuilding, global trade, naval history, critical infrastructure management, homeland security, chemistry, biochemistry, oceanography, cancer research, environmental protection and health sciences. The panel discussions will be held in sets of two, with beginning times at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.
A reception with refreshments will begin at 4 p.m. and the closing convocation, including the keynote address, will begin at 5 p.m. For more information about Research Expo, visit http://www.odu.edu/ao/research/ or contact Lee Furr in the ODU Office of Research at 757-683-3148 or rfurr@odu.edu.