Costa Symposium
19th Annual Robert H. Costa Memorial Lecture
Jun
16
2026
"Molecular Glues: From Mechanisms to Therapeutics" by Dr. Ning Zheng, PhD (Professor, Investigator Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington)
Tuesday, 12:00 pm–1:00 pm
Herman Auditorium, MBRB
About the Symposium
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics began the annual Robert H. Costa Memorial Lecture to honor the esteemed Dr. Costa (1957-2006) who passed away after a heroic battle with cancer. The first Robert H. Costa Memorial Lecture was given by Dr. James Darnell, Jr., Rockefeller University, who Rob joined in 1985 as a postdoctoral fellow. Rob made many important contributions to the field of cancer biology and was a leading authority in molecular analysis of liver cell proliferation. We welcome you in joining us in honoring his achievements.
Past Speakers for Costa Memorial Lecture Series
Past Speakers
| Date | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 4/29/2025 | Modulation of mTOR to treat MAFLD/MASH — a circuitous story | Dr. Zoltan Arany, MD/PhD / University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine |
| 3/19/2024 | Liver fibrosis in MASH and the role of LARP6 | David Brenner, MD / President and CEO at Sanford Burnham Prebys |
| 12/7/2022 | Bioengineering and Stem Cell Approaches to Improve Pulmonary Vasculature in Perinatal Lung Diseases. | Vladimir V. Kalinichenko, MD/PhD / Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center |
| 11/10/2021 | Uncovering Regulatory Mechanisms That Help Determine the NF-kB-dependent Inflammatory Gene Expression Program. | Sankar Ghosh, PhD / Silverstein and Hutt Family Professor and Chairman, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York, NY |
| 10/28/2020 | Metabolic phenotypes and cancer progression in humans. | Ralph J. DeBerardinis, MD/PhD / Joel B. Steinberg, M.D. Chair in Pediatrics, Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research, Chief- Division of Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism, Professor, Children’s Medical Center Research Institute (CRI), UT Southwestern Medical Center |
| 12/4/2019 | Nrf2 activation promotes lung cancer metastasis by inhibiting the Fbxo22-dependent degradation of Bach1. | Michele Pagano, MD / Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chair, Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine |
| 6/13/2018 | Pancreatic Cancer Biology and Medicine. | David Tuveson, PhD / Roy J. Zuckerberg Professor of Cancer Research, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |
| 5/18/2017 | New insights into the pathogenesis of NASH and its progression to liver cancer. | Michael Karin, PhD / Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Ben and Wanda Hildyard Chair for Mitochondrial and Metabolic Diseases, Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego |
| 9/21/2016 | Epigenetics: One Genome, Multiple Phenotypes. | Danny Reinberg, PhD / Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Terry and Mel Karmazin Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, NYU Langone School of Medicine |
| 4/9/2015 | Hypoxia, Metabolism, and Tumor Progression | M. Celeste Simon, PhD / Scientific Director and Investigator, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine |
| 9/9/2014 | Mechanisms of Interferon Signaling. | Leonidas C. Platanias, MD/PhD / Lurie Professor of Oncology, Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University |
| 10/30/2013 | Links from Fibrosis to Hepatocellular Carcinoma. | Scott Friedman, MD / Director,Division of Liver Diseases, Dean for Therapeutic Discovery, Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai |
| 10/24/2012 | Sexual Dimorphism of Liver Cancer – It All Depends on FoxA. | Klaus H. Kaestner, PhD / Thomas and Evelyn Suor Butterworth Professor in Genetics, Dept. of Genetics, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine |
| 5/18/2011 | Global profiling reveals gain-of-function for p53 in liver regeneration. | Michelle C. Barton, PhD / Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Co-Director, Center for Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 4/21/2010 | Pluripotent Stem Cells in the Study of Liver Development and Disease. | Stephen Duncan, PhD / Director, MCW Program in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology, Medical College of Wisconsin |
| 4/29/2009 | Mechanistic Discovery in Murine Cancer Models: From Basic Discovery to Clinical Translation. | Terry Van Dyke, PhD / Director, Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, National Cancer Institute at Frederick |
| 3/26/2008 | Epigenetic Control by a Pioneer Transcription Factor, FoxA. | Kenneth S. Zaret, PhD / Joseph Leidy Professor, Dept. of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania |
| 3/23/2007 | Transcription Factors Are Involved in Cancer: Will Anti-Cancer Agents Follow? | James Darnell, Jr., MD / Viston Astor Professor & Head, Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Rockefeller University |