FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - With the Human Genome Project nearing completion, the focus now shifts to proteins which do nearly all the work in the cells of our bodies, ranging from brain function and nerve transmission to muscular contraction. The determination of protein structure and function is a major opportunity for harnessing the wealth of new information about the genome to achieve improvements in human health.

The Annual Symposium of the NIH COBRE Center for Protein Structure and Function scheduled for Thursday, May 15 will highlight the multidisciplinary approaches to the study of protein structure and function. The symposium is open to the public.

Faculty, researchers and students of the U of A department of biology, department of chemistry and biochemistry, and the Cellular and Molecular Biology program together with UAMS medical school will present talks and poster presentations.

Members of the Center advisory committee will be present including Dr. Chang-An Yu, of Oklahoma State University, Dr. Olaf Andersen of Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Dr. Fusao Takusagawa of the University of Kansas.

A complete symposium schedule is available on-line at http://www.uark.edu/chemistry/protein

Symposium, session I 8:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. Chemistry Building 113

Poster Session 10:30 a.m.- 12 p.m. Chemistry Building 318

Symposium, session II 1:30 p.m. - 2:50 p.m. Chemistry Building 113

Poster Session 2:50 p.m. - 4:00 p.m Chemistry Building 318

The Center was established in October 2000 with a $9.6 million COBRE grant from the NIH National Center for Research Resources. Through multidisciplinary study, students gain knowledge in different areas of expertise as they work on exciting projects in a world-class research environment. The Center provides unique, world-class facilities and expertise in X-ray crystallography, protein NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, protein folding, computational chemistry, laser kinetics, and drug design and discovery.