By Malisa Smith

Immunologist Dr. Douglas Green visited Haverford on Tuesday to give a lecture on "matters of life and death” and explored the serious implications that his research on apoptosis, a type of cell death, may have on the future of science and cancer research.

"Dr. Green has been able to discover valuable information about how apoptosis occurs at the molecular level," said biology major Vassily Kutyavin ‘11, who invited Green to Haverford as part of a summer research program.

Green is one of the leaders in his field and the chair of immunology at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Approximately 50 students and faculty attended the lecture, including President Dr. Stephen G. Emerson ’74, himself the former head of the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Emerson and Green attended Yale’s graduate school together and were good friends, although this only became apparent after Kutyavin had invited Green to speak at Haverford.

Green began research into apoptosis at the start of his career, and has remained fascinated ever since.

Some types of apoptosis are healthy — for instance, fingers are initially formed because apoptosis occurs between each digit. However, apoptosis can also result in the body killing off cancerous cells, and therefore is integral to current cancer research.

“Dr. Green has done very interesting and important work in biology, and it was great to learn about it from the scientist himself,” Kutyavin said.

Related articles

• President-Elect of Mount Holyoke Describes “Death as UnAmerican”
• From the Lab: Getting a Gig in a Bio Lab
• THE SCI-CO NEWS
• Alum, Hepburn Fellow Lectures on Women’s Cancers at BMC
• Meet Stephen Emerson ‘74
• April Fools: First Bonds, Then Clemens, Now…Emerson?
• Kerson Delves Into Epilepsy in Film
• Within the Bounds of Reason: On a Cancer-Crazed Society
• Stephen Emerson ‘74 Named Next HC President
• Khalidi Lectures Continue