On Friday, August 24 and Saturday, August 25, some of the brightest minds will convene on Penn Vet’s campus to honor Ralph L. Brinster, VMD, PhD, Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at Penn Vet.

Often regarded as the father of transgenesis, Dr. Brinster was the first veterinarian to receive the prestigious National Medal of Science. He has led the field of reproductive biology and germ cell biology for five decades and pioneering discoveries include culturing of early stage eggs, generation of chimeric mice by injecting teratocarcinoma cells into mouse blastocysts, transgenic technology and male germ cell biology.

As a tribute to his work and impact on science, his peers at Penn Vet and the University are hosting this two-day scientific symposium, which will provide an opportunity for some of the brightest minds around the globe to share with others the work they are doing in their labs and what their findings may mean for future generations.

Featuring more than 15 noted scientists, the keynote address for the two-day-long event will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. At that time, Michael S. Brown, MD, director of the Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, will address attendees with a talk titled “Genetically Engineered Mouse Strains (GEMS): Models for Human Disease.”