Herbert Memorial Lecture
The Herbert Memorial Story
The Herbert Memorial Lecture is given annually in honor of the Vollum's founding director, Edward Herbert. This event is sponsored by Cell Signaling Technology, which is directed by Michael Comb, a former Herbert graduate student. Each year, an outstanding scientist is invited to engage in discussion and fellowship with Vollum faculty and students, as well as to give an open talk to the university. Invited speakers embody the values of thorough, far-reaching, and elegant scientific investigations, for which Dr. Herbert was well known. They include Nobel Laureates Rod MacKinnon, Phillip Sharp, Erwin Neher, and Richard Axel.
The Vollum Institute has fulfilled its founders' aspirations by becoming a world-class neuroscience research institute that stands today as a testimony to his vision.
Dr. Herbert was posthumously elected to the National Academy of Sciences after his death on February 19, 1987.
Download Dr. Herbert's obituary (124 KB) written by John Adelman for the NAS.
SHIGETADA NAKANISHI: 2011 HERBERT MEMORIAL LECTURER
In his early studies, Shigetada Nakanishi elucidated the characteristic precursor architectures of various neuropeptides and vasoactive peptides by introducing recombinant DNA technology. Subsequently, he established a novel functional cloning strategy for membrane receptors and ion channels by combining electrophysiology and Xenopus oocyte expression. He determined the molecular structure and elucidated the regulatory mechanisms of several peptide receptors as well as several G protein-coupled metabotropic-type and NMDA-type glutamate receptors. He also developed new techniques for manipulating specific components of neuronal circuitry in olfactory bulb, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, thereby illuminating aspects of the function of these networks.
— excerpt from History of Neuroscience, Vol. 6, Society for Neuroscience (205 KB PDF)
Read a brief biohistory of Dr. Nakanishi in the Biohistory Journal
Past Herbert Memorial Speakers
2011
Information processing and integration of the basal ganglia
Shigetada Nakanishi, M.D., Ph.D.
Osaka Bioscience Institute
2010
The emergence and function of spinal motor circuits
Thomas Jessell, Ph.D.
HHMI, Columbia University Medical Center
2008
Making an Effort to Listen: Mechanical Amplification by Myosin Molecules and Ion Channels in Hair Cells of the Inner Ear
A. James Hudspeth, M.D., Ph.D.
The Rockefeller University
2007
Watching the Brain Compute and Tracing Its Wires: New Methods to Solve Old Riddles
Winfried Denk, Ph.D.
Max-Planck Institute for Medical Research
2006
An Rb/E2F/DP Complex and Chromatin Remodeling Antagonize a Ras Pathway during C. elegans Vulva Development
Robert Horvitz, Ph.D.
HHMI, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2005
Oxygen Sensation: Unconventional Signaling for an Unconventional Sense
Cori Bargmann, Ph.D.
HHMI, The Rockefeller University
2004
The Atomic Basis of Selective Ion Conduction in Potassium Channels
Rod MacKinnon, M.D.
HHMI, The Rockefeller University
2002
RNA Splicing and RNA Interference
Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2001
Ca2+ Signals Controlling Neurotransmitter Release and Short Term Synaptic Plasticity
Erwin Neher, Ph.D.
Max-Planck Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie
2000
The Return of the Human Genome
Sydney Brenner, Ph.D.
Molecular Sciences Institute, Inc.
1999
The Molecular Biology of Smell
Richard Axel, M.D.
HHMI, Columbia University
1998
Potassium Channel Regulation
Lily Jan, Ph.D.
HHMI, University of California, San Francisco
1996
Trimeric G Proteins: Structure and Function
Henry Bourne, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco
1995
ARIA: A Protein that Promotes the Maturation of Synapses
Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
1991
New Aspects of Peptide Hormone Biosynthesis
Donald F. Steiner, Ph.D.
HHMI, University of Chicago
