Boston, March 14: Kafatos lecture on the European Research Council

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From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" <dist@hri.org>

It is our pleasure to invite you to a talk by Prof. Fotis C. Kafatos, Prof. Imperial College London UK and Head of European Reserach Council (ERC). The talk is entitled:

"The European Research Council (ERC): Excellence at the heart of European Science Policy"

The talk will take place on Wednesday, March 14th, in room 32-141 at MIT, from 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm (strictly), and is organized by the MIT Hellenic Students' Association. The talk will focus on the newly formed European Research Council and the new European policy on research in science, engineering, social studies and humanities. A recent article about ERC and Prof. Kafatos can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6399157.stm

The biography of the lecturer follows.

*Fotis C. KAFATOS, Professor *

Fotis Kafatos currently holds the Chair of Immunogenomics at Imperial College London. In the 1960s Kafatos was one of the scientists who introduced molecular biology to the study of development. He also helped develop fundamental techniques such as cDNA synthesis, cloning and sequencing (for beta globin) and the dot-blot. He pioneered the analysis of gene families in development and evolution (chorion gene families). He helped launch the *Drosophila* and *Anopheles* genome projects, and has made important contributions to comparative and functional genomics. His current scientific work is on malaria research with emphasis on mosquito genomics and immunity of *Anopheles* to the parasite. His research contributions and leadership have been recognized by numerous distinctions, such as membership in several academies, including the National Academy of Sciences USA, the Royal Society of London and the French Academy of Sciences.

He was full Professor at Harvard University, as well as at the Universities of Athens and Crete. He founded the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) and directed it from 1983 to 1993. From 1993-2005, he was Director-General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). In December 2005, Fotis Kafatos was elected Chairman of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC).

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