23rd Annual James V. Neel Lectureship
Monday April 29, 2024 (1:00-4:00PM)
This annual lectureship honors James V. Neel, M.D., Ph.D., a pioneer in the study of human genetics and one of the first to foresee its importance in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.
1:00 PM Graduate Student Awards & Presentation, Keynote Lecture; Kahn Auditorium, BSRB
3:00 PM Poster Session & Reception; ABC Seminar Rooms, BSRB (Sign up to present a poster here)
Biomedical Science Research Building (BSRB), 109 Zina Pitcher Pl, Ann Arbor
Keynote Speaker: Jenny Tung, Ph.D.
Director, Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Professor, Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology, Duke University
Seminar Talk: "A Proper Study for Mankind: Understanding the Human Condition Through the Lens of Other Primates."
Hosted By: Xinjun Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Genetics
Sponsored By: The Department of Human Genetics, Medical School, University of Michigan
Kenote Speaker Bio:
Jenny Tung is the Director of the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology at Duke University. Jenny joined Duke University in 2012 after completing her post-doctoral training in the University of Chicago Department of Human Genetics and her PhD training in the Duke Biology department. She founded the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at MPI-EVA in 2022. Research in the department focuses on the intersection between behavior, social structure, and genes. Jenny’s lab is particularly interested in how the social environment influences gene regulation, population genetic structure, and health and survival across the life course. We primarily pursue these questions in nonhuman primates and other social mammals, both wild and captive.
Director, Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology
Duke University
Annual Lecture
James Van Gundia Neel, M.D. (1915-2000) was a pioneer in developing human genetics research, having founded the first Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan in 1956, and chaired the Department for 25 years (1956-1984). He received the Lasker Award for establishing the genetic inheritance of thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. He was also well-known for assessing the effects of radiation on survivors of the atomic bombing in Japan during World War II, studying Amerindian populations, and conceptualizing the thrifty gene hypothesis. Dr. Neel was President of the American Society of Human Genetics in 1954 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1971.
James V. Neel Lecturers
- 2025 Matthew Hurles
- 2024 Jenny Tung
- 2023 Eric Green
- 2022 Hopi E. Hoekstra
- 2021 Stuart H. Orkin
- 2020 Canceled
- 2019 James Lupski
- 2018 Uta Francke
- 2017 Neil J. Risch
- 2016 Andrew G. Clark
- 2015 Haig H. Kazazian, Jr.
- 2014 Richard P. Lifton
- 2013 Huntington F. Willard
- 2012 Mary-Claire King
- 2011 David Page
- 2010 David Botstein
- 2009 Aravinda Chakravarti
- 2008 Janet Rowley
- 2007 Joseph Goldstein
- 2006 Newton Morton
- 2005 Charles Scriver
- 2004 Arno Motulsky
- 2003 James Crow
- 2002 L.L. Cavalli-Sforza
- 2001 Jack Schull