Princeton Class of 1968 Seminar

Genomics, Genetics, and Public Policy

November 15-16, 2019

Only 10 slots available for the Class of 1969, so act fast!

Once again the Class of 1968 has been kind enough to extend an invitation to the Class of 1969 to send up to 15 ‘69ers to the Class of ‘68’s Fall Seminar, which is being convened this year on November 15th and 16th (the weekend we play Yale in football). Details, as provided by the Class of 1968, are as follows:

The Class of 1968 is fortunate and excited to have Shirley Tilghman, Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs and past President of the University, to lead our 2019 class seminar on Genomics, Genetics, and Public Policy. Shirley is also an honorary member of the class which is particularly appropriate given that she graduated in 1968, albeit from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Certainly, she would have come to Princeton if our admissions criteria had been a little more enlightened.

Shirley has been able to put together an outstanding group of speakers to lead us through our topic. There are three social scientists who will talk about public policy issues in the field of genomics and genetics:

Professor of Sociology Dalton Conley (https://sociology.princeton.edu/people/dalton-conley)
Professor of History and Public Affairs Keith Wailoo ( http://www.keithwailoo.com/)
Professor of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study Myles Jackson (https://www.ias.edu/scholars/jackson)

Joining them will be the following:

Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Genomics Joshua Akey on what genomics is telling us about human history (https://lsi.princeton.edu/joshua-akey)
Professor of Computer Science and Genomics Olga Troyanskaya on how we are using computer science to understand human disease. See the recent article in the PAW about Olga (https://paw.princeton.edu/article/secrets-within-genes)
Professor of Molecular Biology Coleen Murphy on genomic approaches to understanding the phenomenon of aging (https://lsi.princeton.edu/faculty/coleen-murphy)
Tom Vogt, Vice President of Discovery and Systems Biology, CHDI Foundation, a privately-funded, not-for-profit biomedical research organization devoted finding a cure for a single disease – Huntington’s disease. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-f-vogt-22109824)

Also invited is '68 classmate Edward Benz, who is Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Genetics at the Harvard Medical School and President and CEO Emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Center to join us and to be our after-dinner speaker. His topic will be "Cancer Care and Research in the 21st Century: The Impact of Genomics on a Genomics Disease." Let’s hope he has an optimistic view of the future of cancer treatment.

Seminar speakers will be asked to provide pre-readings and web links related to their talks which we will provide to you as they are received. Past seminar pre-reading materials have been terrific and have helped us appear more informed that we might otherwise appear.

Logistics

In a change from our previous seminars, the Friday afternoon session will be at McCormick 101, the building on campus which houses the Princeton University Art Museum. We are hoping to be able to have a simple box lunch available at 12 PM with the seminar starting at 1 PM. After our Friday afternoon session, we will move to The Nassau Club for cocktails, a performance by one of Princeton’s a capella groups, dinner, and an after-dinner talk by our classmate, Dr. Edward Benz. We will reconvene on Saturday morning for breakfast at the Erdman Center at the Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) followed by our sessions with our remaining speakers. Our seminar will wrap up around noon in time for you to catch the Princeton vs. Yale football game if you are so inclined. Dress is business casual. We will send out more information about times and locations as soon as they are finalized.

Cost and Accommodations

The cost for the seminar is $170 per person which covers meals, conference facility charges, and honoraria for our speakers. While the cost of lodging is not included, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Erdman Center at the PTS ( https://www.ptsem.edu/discover/hospitality/lodging) where the Saturday session of our seminar will be held. Different room configurations are available for Friday night starting for $60 with doubles starting at $80. Depending on availability, a limited number of these rooms may also be reserved for Thursday and Saturday nights if you want to come early or stay over. To reserve a room, call the Erdman Center at (609) 497-7990 and mention Princeton University Class of 1968 and group ID# 108 406.

Besides the Erdman Center, there are a large number of hotels nearby offering reasonable rates. You can see them at: https://www.visitprinceton.org/hotels/

Register Now

With almost no exception, classmates, spouses and guests who’ve attended previous seminars have come away describing them as a wonderful experience. Between learning and having a chance to reconnect with classmates, this seminar should be a great time. You really don’t want to miss it so please plan on joining us. Just click here to complete the registration form. There is room for only 15 members of the Class of 1969, so act fast!

In the meantime, if you have any questions about the seminar, logistics, or whatever, please feel free to call Charlie Byers at (609) 273-6778 or Charles Kalmbach at (609) 273-8826 for assistance.