A medical biophysicist will be the first speaker in a series of seminars organized by West Virginia Universitys interdisciplinary program in genetics and developmental biology.

Andrew Wyrobek of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., will speak on”Molecular and Cellular Consequences of Ionizing Radiation in Mice and Humans”at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, in Room 2001 of the Agricultural Sciences Building, Evansdale Campus. The seminar is free and open to the public.

Wyrobek is Livermores senior staff medical biophysicist and the leader of the genetic damage and disease team in the biology and biotechnology research program. Wyrobek led a groundbreaking study at the laboratory that showed for the first time in humans that chemotherapy for cancer causes some chromosome abnormalities in sperm that could lead to birth defects or abnormal pregnancy. Faculty and students from WVU have collaborated with Wyrobek in his work.

The seminar series is under the direction of Joginder Nath, genetics and developmental biology program coordinator and professor in WVU s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences. Geneticists from across the nation will join local experts in presenting seminars on a range of topics. Future speakers will come to WVU from PurdueUniversity, the New EnglandMedicalCenter in Boston, the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown.

The seminar series is supported by the Daniel C. and Elizabeth Daugherty Brown Faculty Development Fund. In 1995, the Browns established the fund through the WVU Foundation to support the improvement of teaching and research in the DavisCollege through the professional development of faculty.

For additional information, contact Nath at 304-293-6256, ext. 4333.