Upcoming Events:
Please see the list of ASEF sponsored events below. For events that are done in conjunction with PASEF, click here.
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ASEF Luncheon - September 20, 2010
Speaker: Janet M. Monge, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology and Keeper, Skeletal Collections, Penn Museum
Title: "Of Big Brains and Small Teeth: The Evolution of Humans"
Human evolutionary history in a nutshell. The general framework of human evolutionary history has been established based on research spanning the last 150 years. What is new, newsworthy, and exciting in the field of paleoanthropology that emerged in the last decade. A sample of topics include: What is the relationship to Neandertals to modern forms of Homo sapiens?; Have discoveries in recent years, including Ardipithecus ramidus, changed our understanding of the beginnings of the human evolutionary lineage?
This luncheon is scheduled as follows:
Date: Monday, September 20, 2010
Time: 12pm
Location: The Lenape Room of the University Club. (Located on the 2nd floor of The Inn at Penn - enter from 36th and Walnut Street).
Please confirm your attendance by sending a RSVP via email to Rachael Berget (rberget@mail.med.upenn.edu) or via phone (215-898-7160).--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASEF Luncheon - October 5, 2010
Speaker: Gary Beauchamp, PhD, Director, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Title: "Odors in Animal Communication"
For most mammals the sense of smell is the primary sense by which individuals communicate with each other. For many years we have been investigating the roles of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in determining an individual’s olfactory identity or what we have termed its odortype. In this presentation I will describe some of this work as background and then discuss new studies of how infection with mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) alters the odor of infected mice and, as a consequence, manipulates its behavior apparently to the benefit of the virus.
This luncheon is scheduled as follows:
Date: Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Time: 12pm
Location: The Lenape Room of the University Club. (Located on the 2nd floor of The Inn at Penn - enter from 36th and Walnut Street).
Please confirm your attendance by sending a RSVP via email to Rachael Berget (rberget@mail.med.upenn.edu) or via phone (215-898-7160).
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ASEF Luncheon - October 14, 2010
Speaker: Howard Goldfine, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine
Title: "Darwinism Comes to America: The Philadelphia Response"
Darwin's "Origin of Species" was published in England in Nov. 1859. An American edition appeared soon after. Philadelphia was an important center of science in mid-19th century America and several of the best-known figures were connected to Penn. Dr. Goldfine will discuss their response to Darwin's theory in comparison to the responses of other notable centers of learning.
This luncheon is scheduled as follows:
Date: Thursday, October 14, 2010
Time: 12pm
Location: The Lenape Room of the University Club. (Located on the 2nd floor of The Inn at Penn - enter from 36th and Walnut Street).
Please confirm your attendance by sending a RSVP via email to Rachael Berget (rberget@mail.med.upenn.edu) or via phone (215-898-7160).
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ASEF Luncheon - November 9, 2010
Speaker: Robert F. Margolskee, MD, PhD, Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Title: "Taste Cells of the Gut and Endocrine Cells of the Tongue"
Studies from our group have shown that taste signaling proteins are also expressed in endocrine cells of the gut and pancreas where they underlie physiologic responses to sugars and nutrients. We have recently observed that "gut hormones" also are expressed in taste cells; sweet stimuli elicit the release of these hormones into general circulation. Our work is leading to a fuller appreciation of the importance of the taste system and an understanding of its place in gastrointestinal physiology.
This luncheon is scheduled as follows:
Date: Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Time: 12pm
Location: The Lenape Room of the University Club. (Located on the 2nd floor of The Inn at Penn - enter from 36th and Walnut Street).
Please confirm your attendance by sending a RSVP via email to Rachael Berget (rberget@mail.med.upenn.edu) or via phone (215-898-7160).
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ASEF Luncheon - November 19, 2010
Speaker: Julie A. Mennella, PhD, Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Title: "The Sweet Taste of Childhood"
Health organizations worldwide recommend that adults and children eat diets richer in fruits and vegetables (many of which taste bitter), and minimize intakes of salty, sweet, and fatty foods (highly preferred tastes). Despite such recommendations and benefits to health, adults aren't complying, nor are their children. This lecture will explain the primary reason for this difficulty: the remarkably potent rewarding properties of the tastes and flavors of foods high in sweetness, saltiness, and fatness. From an evolutionary perspective, the biological drive to avoid bitter and eat salty and sweet foods whenever they were available may have served children well in a feast-or-famine setting, but with food always available and in large quantities, children’s physiology no longer matches their environment. While we cannot easily change their basic biology of liking sweets,salt and fat and avoiding bitterness, we can modulate children’s flavor preferences by providing early exposure, starting in utero, to a wide variety of healthy flavors available within the culture.
This luncheon is scheduled as follows:
Date: Friday, November 19, 2010
Time: 12pm
Location: The Lenape Room of the University Club. (Located on the 2nd floor of The Inn at Penn - enter from 36th and Walnut Street).
Please confirm your attendance by sending a RSVP via email to Rachael Berget (rberget@mail.med.upenn.edu) or via phone (215-898-7160).