Evolution: From Genetic Code to Extant Genomes
Symposium in Memory of Sergei N. Rodin

Hosted by Arthur Riggs, Ph.D. and Andrei S. Rodin, Ph.D.
Presented by Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope.

Friday, August 17, 2012
8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Complete program

Beckman Research Institute
Argyros Auditorium
City of Hope
1500 E. Duarte Road
Duarte, CA 91010
Directions

Synopsis

Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope is pleased to present this symposium as a forum to celebrate the life and work of Sergei N. Rodin. As the title – “Evolution: From Genetic Code to Extant Genomes” – indicates, the focus of the symposium is on the interface of the evolutionary biology and genomics, which is reflected in the presentations by the leading experts in fields ranging from theoretical evolutionary biology to biophysics to genomics and bioinformatics.

Sergei N. Rodin, Ph.D., D.Sc., was born in Russia. In 1994, he came to City of Hope, where his research was predominantly centered around early evolution of life, genetic code and translation machinery, epigenetic mechanisms of evolution by gene duplication, and tumorigenic selection in carcinogenesis. Rodin’s collaboration with Susumu Ohno, Ph.D., D.V.M., proved to be especially productive, and laid foundation to the theoretical evolutionary biology research at Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, which continues to the present day.

While the primary goal of this meeting is to commemorate Rodin’s contribution to the field, it is also an opportunity to spur dialogue and discussion among participants who are involved in both theoretical evolutionary biology and genomics, mirroring Rodin’s interdisciplinary approach. Presentations by Sergei’s friends and colleagues will cover recent developments in, among other research areas, origins of the genetic code and translation apparatus, population genetics and analysis of large-scale biomedical data.

The general public is invited, especially those with interest in theoretical, computational and evolutionary biology.

Lunch will be provided.

Charles Carter Jr., Ph.D.
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

George E. Fox, Ph.D.
University of Houston

Yun-Xin Fu, Ph.D.
University of Texas – Houston

Eugene V. Koonin, Ph.D.
National Center for Biotechnology Information
National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health

Arthur D. Riggs, Ph.D.
City of Hope

Andrei S. Rodin, Ph.D.
University of Texas – Houston

Andrey Rzhetsky, Ph.D.
University of Chicago

Mark Safro, Ph.D.
Weizmann Institute of Science

Victor Solovyev, Ph.D.
University of London