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Seminarreihe und „Heinrich-Pette-Lecture“ am HPI

Nach Beendigung der vergangenen Bauphase findet am HPI wieder eine aussagekräftige, international und national besetzte Seminarreihe mit anerkannten Wissenschaftlern der Virologie, Immunologie, Molekular- und Zellbiologie und Onkologie im Ferdinand-Bergen-Auditorium statt. Der Höhepunkt dieser neuen Seminarreihe wird einmal im Jahr ein herausragender Vortrag eines Wissenschaftlers oder einer Wissenschaftlerin von hohem internationalem Rang sein. Zum Andenken an den Institutsgründer Heinrich Pette und zur Betonung seiner Tradition nennt das HPI diese Veranstaltung „Heinrich-Pette-Lecture“.

Der erste Forscher, der am 14. September 2006 mit einer Einladung zur „Heinrich-Pette-Lecture“ ausgezeichnet wurde, ist Prof. Peter K. Vogt, Leiter der Onkovirologie am Scripps Research Institute, Dept. of  Molecular and Experimental Medicine, La Jolla, Kalifornien. Sein Vortrag beschäftigte sich mit „Lessons of Tumor Virology: From Viral Oncoproteins to Drug Targets“ (Zusammenfassung und kurzer Lebenslauf von Peter K. Vogt, siehe unten).
Durch diese hochrangig besetzte Seminarreihe haben insbesondere auch HPI-Nachwuchswissenschaftler die Chance, mit etablierten internationalen Wissenschaftlern und Wissenschaftlerinnen ins Gespräch zu kommen und Impulse für ihre Forschungsarbeit zu erhalten. Externe Gäste aus umliegenden Instituten sind herzlich willkommen.


Heinrich-Pette-Lecture 2006  
"Lessons of Tumor Virology:  From Viral Oncoproteins to Drug Targets"

Peter K. Vogt, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California

Cancer research had entered a new era.  Oncogenes, first discovered in viruses, increasingly provide specific targets for novel therapies.  The success of Gleevec in chronic myelogenous leukemia has spawned intense efforts to develop inhibitors of other oncoproteins that have been identified in human cancer.  A particularly exciting example of a new cancer target is PI 3-kinase.  This lipid kinase was found as an oncoprotein in an animal virus, but PI 3-kinase activities are also elevated in many human cancers.  The gain of enzyme function contributes to the malignant properties of the cancer and is caused by specific mutations in the PI 3-K protein.  As an enzyme, PI 3-kinase is an ideal target for a small molecule inhibitor.  Numerous PI 3-kinase inhibitors have been identified recently, but the development of clinically useful drugs lies still in the future.  The new era in cancer research has introduced the beginnings of targeted therapy, it has also presented us with unique, novel targets and strengthens confidence that basic research will result in clinical benefits.


Peter K. Vogt: Short CV
Peter K. Vogt received his Ph.D. from the University of Tübingen.  He spent formative years in the laboratory of Harry Rubin at the University of California in Berkeley before accepting his first faculty position at the University of Colorado in Denver.  Subsequent faculty posts were at the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where he was Hastings Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology at the School of Medicine.  In 1993 Peter Vogt moved to The Scripps Research Institute as Professor in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine.
Peter Vogt’s research interests focus on virology and cancer biology.  Early studies of avian retroviruses outlined the cell biology of infection and defined the basic functions of the viral envelope proteins.  His analysis of the Rous sarcoma viral genome led to the identification of the first oncogene, src, and to the discovery of its cellular origin.  He played key roles in the discovery of several retroviral oncogenes, including myc, jun and p3k, the latter coding for a homolog of the catalytic subunit p110 alpha of PI 3-kinase.  His recent work deals with the oncogenicity of p110 isoforms and with the control of protein-protein interactions in the Myc-Max network.  The web site of his lab may be found under http://www.scripps.edu/mem/oncovir/vogt/

Peter Vogt is a member of the National Academy of Sciences USA, of the American Philosophical Society, of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the German Academy Leopoldina.  Among the honors he received are the California Scientist of the Year Award (Los Angeles, CA), the Jung Prize (Hamburg, Germany), the Paul Ehrlich Prize (Frankfurt, Germany), and the Mott Prize of the General Motors Foundation (Washington, DC).

Peter Vogt is passionate about science but he also has several serious hobbies.  Ever since his undergraduate years in Würzburg, he has been an amateur painter, and his current gallery on the web can be found under http://homepage.mac.com/pkagvogt/Menu41.html  
He is also an accomplished chef and member of the American Guild of Bread Bakers.  Living close to the Pacific Ocean, he loves to kayak and to swim.