Abstract
Next generation sequencing technologies provide access to human genomes at a price that was unthinkable only ten years ago.
In this talk, the speaker will share some of today’s applications of the new genetic analysis technologies to the fields of health care, agriculture, and forensics and will look to where the technology is going in the future.
The speaker has also developed methods for observing single molecules — the ultimate in measurement. These ultra-sensitive measurements are enabling new diagnostics for the early detection of cancer, infections, and neurological diseases. These technologies are changing how we view the world around us and are empowering us with information that will transform our lives in ways we cannot imagine.
About the speaker
Prof David R. Walt received his BS in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1974 and PhD in chemical biology from SUNY at Stony Brook in 1979. He has joined the faculty of Tufts University since 1981, and is currently the Robinson Professor of Chemistry. In 2014, he was named a University Professor, an honor reserved for faculty of unusual scholarship eminence at Tufts. He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor.
The Walt Laboratory at Tufts is world-renowned for its pioneering work in developing optical microarray technology for disease detection and cancer diagnostics and in answering fundamental questions about basic biological processes, including protein folding. Prof Walt has published more than 300 papers and holds more than 70 patents. He is a founder of Illumina (NASDAQ: LIMN), a company based on his invention of a miniature lab platform that allows researchers to conduct genetic screening and other repetitive experiments quickly and inexpensively.
Prof Walt is also dedicated to the improvement of science education in local high schools. In 2010 he founded the Chemistry Organized Outreach Partnership (CO-OP), which aims to revitalize science classrooms by bringing experiments, modern techniques and equipment to urban high schools. He has received numerous national and international awards and honors for his fundamental and applied work in the field of optical sensors, arrays, and single molecule detection. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the US National Academy of Inventors, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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