The Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP) at UA is working to bridge the gap between biological research and applied medicine by offering monthly seminars in exploring translational research and medicine (ExTrReMe). The seminars offer students the opportunity to learn about a given topic and introduce them to career paths. Carol Bender, Director of UBRP, and Dr. Charles Putnam, Professor of Surgery, invite students and the Tucson community to listen to UA physician-scientists tell about real work experiences to get the idea of where they want their talents to take them.

The goal of the seminars is for students to discover "where they would be happiest on the research/clinical practice continuum. Translational research involves turning discoveries in the lab into treatments for patients and turning clinicians' observations into research questions that can be answered" said Bender.

Charles Putnam is the organizer of ExTrReMe. Putnam and Bender are excited about the catered seminars and eager to showcase the University's accomplished physician-researchers and scientists.

Putnam has reason to be proud of the local talent, including himself. The speakers at the August session were Robert Erickson, MD, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Putnam, himself. Both were on the cutting edge of gene therapy 25 years ago when volumes of medical textbooks were half the size they are now.

On August 28, Erickson and Putnam spoke to ten students, mostly women, for nearly two hours about their personal experiences with gene therapy. Gene therapy involves transporting a healthy gene to an organ in order to treat congenital gene defects. A virus, or vector, delivers a healthy gene to replace a defective one. First approved for cancer use, gene therapy is only available through clinical trials.

Erickson began the seminar with his lecture "The Jesse Gelsinger Case: Societal and Regulatory Issues in Gene Therapy." Erickson specializes in pediatric genetics and brings a serious introspection to science. His interest in gene therapy began when he sought a cure for an enzyme deficiency that keeps the body from turning ammonia into urine. Erickson served on the National Institutes of Health committee that investigated a case when gene therapy went wrong and resulted in the death of Tucson teen Jesse Gelsinger.

Putnam, self-described as "the university's oldest graduate student," is pursuing a doctoral degree in molecular biology. He recalled his attitude back in medical school toward keeping up with literature as that of a "pit bull." In his talk, "Gene Therapy the Old-Fashioned Way: Transplantation for Genetic Diseases" Putnam said that providing patients with a new gene would not be considered gene therapy today, though it was in 1974 when it was an unexpected outcome of his successful treatment of a patient with liver disease via a liver transplant.

Both speakers touched on medical epistemology, learning from patients, bioethics, and balancing medical practice with the relentless pursuit of new knowledge that will improve the care future patients can get.

Student reaction was impressive. A torrential downpour just before the seminar was to begin did not keep away students who were rapt and inquisitive. "It's exciting," said Ok-Kyung Choo, a senior microbiology major from Arizona. "The seminars are very helpful if you have medical questions. You can further your knowledge about the field and have one-on-one communications with physicians. Otherwise, you might not know who to ask about the medical field."

Anne Driscoll, freelance writer and administrative assistant, English