CARTI/OBGYN Distinguished Research Lecture Series

Lasker Award Winner Dennis Lo to Deliver Inaugural CARTI/OBGYN Distinguished Research Lecture

March 7—The Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI) in partnership with the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences announces the launch of a new, annual Distinguished Research Lecture Series. The inaugural lecture to be held Friday, May 17 at 8 a.m. in the Shock Trauma Auditorium, will be given by 2022 Lasker Award winner Yuk-Ming Dennis Lo, DM, DPhil, Chairman and Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“Many challenges can arise during a research career, and everyone experiences them, including Lasker Award and Nobel Prize winners. We think it will be encouraging and inspiring for all to learn how people like Dennis Lo have faced and overcome challenges to become so successful,” says E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, former Dean of UMSOM and Endowed Professor and Director of CARTI.

As part of its mission to advance research careers, CARTI has partnered with OBGYN to offer a distinguished research lecture series featuring world-renowned researchers who will share a peek behind the scenes at their paths to success.

Lo won the 2022 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his discovery of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal blood, which he then leveraged to develop noninvasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome. His initial discovery was published in 1997 and received a lukewarm response from the scientific community. Today, cell-free DNA testing has expanded beyond prenatal testing to determine the success of organ transplants, diagnose, and monitor cancer, and diagnose acute coronary syndrome, among other conditions.

“Of course, Dennis Lo’s discovery and prenatal testing are of great interest to OBGYNs, but the utility of cell-free DNA testing is far-reaching and he gives such a great talk, I think anyone, regardless their specialty, will enjoy listening to him, we are thrilled to host him,” says Irina Burd, MD, PhD, the Sylvan Frieman, MD Endowed Professor and Chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at UMSOM.

Reece and Burd will host Lo for a day-long visit at UMSOM where in addition to giving his lecture, he will spend time with the current CARTI Scholars, UMSOM research leadership, OBGYN research faculty, and a select group of postdocs.

“Success is possible but not easy to achieve and requires navigating failures and obstacles, which can be discouraging. Our guest speakers will share how they persevered through personal and professional challenges on the way to success,” says Marey Shriver, PhD, Executive Director for Faculty Development at CARTI.

The lecture is open to everyone. A virtual option will be available.

https://laskerfoundation.org/dennis-lo-circulating-dna-as-a-window-into-our-health/ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/28/health/lasker-award-medical-research.html