Biologist Susan Lee Lindquist will deliver the Fourth Annual Sharon Cosloy-Edward Blank Lecture at The City College of New York (CCNY) 4 p.m. Thursday, November 19, in Room 95, Shepard Hall.  The title of her talk will be “Engineering Simple Cells to Study Complex Human Diseases.” A reception will follow the lecture in Room 150, Shepard Hall.

Dr. Lindquist is Professor of Biology at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a member and former director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  She specializes in protein folding, and her investigations seek to find reasons for incorrect folding, which is associated with several medical conditions including Parkinson’s disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease.  

In 1997, Dr. Lindquist was elected to the National Academy of Sciences; she was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2006.  Her other awards and honors include the Dickson Prize in Medicine, the Sigma Xi William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement, the Centennial Medal of the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Otto-Warburg Prize, the Genetics Society of America Medal, and the FASEB Excellence in Science Award.

Dr. Lindquist received her Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University in 1976. She also holds a B.A. in Microbiology with High Honors from the University of Illinois.

CCNY alumnus Edward Blank, ’57, established the lecture series in memory of his late wife, Professor Sharon Cosloy, who was a beloved member of the City College biology faculty for 27 years and served as Chair of the Biology Department.  Sharon Cosloy was an adored mentor, educator, wife, mother and a passionate investigator of life and science.  The lecture is presented by CCNY President Dr. Robert E. Paaswell and the CCNY Department of Biology.