GSA member Denise Montell (University of California, Santa Barbara) spoke on Capitol Hill this summer, presenting her research on anastasis, the process of by which cells can return from the brink of death:

Montell, a former President of the North American Drosophila Board, spoke as part of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus (CBRC) 2015 briefing series.

CBRC is a bipartisan, bicameral Caucus that seeks to broaden the support and knowledge of basic and clinical biomedical research issues throughout Congress. Seventy five Members of the House of Representatives and eight Members of the Senate comprise the Caucus membership with Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH), Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) serving as co-chairs (CBRC membership in 114th Congress).

The Caucus holds monthly briefings on Capitol Hill that feature leading researchers explaining their research—and stressing the importance of federal support. CBRC is facilitated by the Coalition for the Life Sciences, of which GSA is a member. The current scientific advisors to the Caucus are former GSA Secretary James Haber and Mary Beckerle.

Related on Genes to Genomes:

• “GSA member Denise Montell gives Capitol Hill briefing,” July 29, 2015.

Long-time GSA member and former Drosophila Board President Denise Montell gave a briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss her research on “Life, Death, and Resurrection at the Cellular Level.” This July 29 event was sponsored by the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus and organized by the Coalition for the Life Sciences.

Denise Montell of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Image by Spencer Bruttig via UC Santa Barbara.

“Life, Death, and Resurrection at the Cellular Level”

Dr. Denise Montell
University of California, Santa Barbara

Wednesday, July 29, 2015
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Room 2168, Rayburn House Office Building

Scientific dogma for decades has dictated that once a cell dies it cannot be resurrected. Join Dr. Montell as she discusses her groundbreaking discovery that overturns this widely held belief. What she and her team found was that a variety of normal and cancer cell types can reverse the process of cell death to survive and proliferate. She and her team took cells to the very brink of death and by eliminating the toxin responsible for killing the cell found that the cell rebounds into a normal, healthy, functioning cell. Harnessing this process holds promise in establishing revolutionary therapies for the treatment of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and degenerative diseases.

Join the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus as Dr. Montell discusses her incredible breakthrough. Boxed lunches will be available for attendees. This is a widely attended event.