Science Cafe
A Summer Series at St. Thomas
The Campion Fund, a non-profit organization that promotes fundamental science in men’s and women’s reproductive health, healthy pregnancies and healthy babies will sponsor a three-session series on August 16, 23, and 30th. The sessions will be open to our congregation and our community in the Seattle-Bellevue-Medina area and will be held in the Great Hall following the 10 AM service. Refreshments will be provided.
The series will focus on the essential public-private partnership of the American Scientific Enterprise and its history leading to the ascendancy of the United States leadership of the world-wide scientific community. Presentations will discuss the origins of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and how their programs fund fundamental science that has led to innovative scientific and medical advances. Outstanding science is conducted at national laboratories at the NIH and at private and public universities and research institutes after rigorous peer review. Since 1945, national research agencies have changed policies over time and the series will discuss how these policies have affected the overall conduct of outstanding science. The US is now at a cross-road that will determine the continued leadership of American Science. There will be ample time for questions and discussions following the presentations.
DETAILS
August 16th, 12:30pm (following the Reception for Father Thomas Ortung)
Vannevar Bush’s Vision for America’s American Excellence in Scientific Research. Origins of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation as public-private partnerships for innovation and how they function to promote world class science and to educate future scientists.
Presented by Phyllis Leppert, MD, PhD. She was a former Chief of the Reproductive Sciences Branch, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development during the George W. Bush years prior to becoming a faculty member at Duke University School of Medicine where she is currently Professor Emerita of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Leppert is the President of the Campion Fund and a member of St. Thomas Medina.
August 23rd, 12pm
The Future of the American Scientific Enterprise: Keeping the Vision Alive
The second session will focus on young scientists and their future dreams for success. A panel discussion will be presented by two young women who are committed to careers in science. Alice Leppert who is from Woodinville, is an upcoming senior at the University of Washington and is a chemistry major with a minor in mathematics. Sophia Vander Veer, a Seattle resident, is an upcoming junior at Whitman College. She is also a chemistry major with a minor in Biology. They will talk about their undergraduate studies and the challenges for their future and share their hopes and dreams.
August 30th, 12pm
The Bush Vision Bears Fruit: An NIH success story with implications for Healthy Babies
. Samuel Cripps, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Margeaux W. Marbrey’s Laboratory at Duke University will be presenting work on electronic cigarettes and their effects on pregnancy. He will discuss via interactive video (Zoom) how e-cigarette vapors delay gestation and implantation of embryos causing chronic metabolic defects in offspring. E-cigs were thought to be a replacement for cigarette smoking during pregnancy that caused complications and harms to mother an fetus and were initially promoted as safe alternatives for pregnant women. The work of the Marbrey Lab has changed that concept. Dr. Cripps is from Australia and has a PhD degree. He previously studied the effects of environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals (chemicals that mimic endocrine hormones in the body) in male reproduction. Dr Marbrey is Assistant Professor in the Division of Reproductive Sciences, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke School of Medine and the Division of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke Nicholas School of the Environment.