(Posted July 7, 2003)

HUNTINGDON. Pa. -- An international expert on SARS, the mysterious illness that triggered outbreaks in Asia and Canada earlier this year, will give a presentation at Juniata College as part of the 2003 Pennsylvania Governor's Institute for Life Science at 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 15 in the Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Science Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Dr. Anthony Mazzuli, deputy chief microbiologist at Toronto Medical Laboratories and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, will talk about ?SARS: An Overview and Update on the Recent Epidemic.? Mazulli is an infectious disease consultant at Mount Sinai and Princess Margaret Hospitals in Toronto, where he has been on staff since 1993.

The Life Sciences Institute, held for the second year in a row at Juniata, hosts 100 elementary and secondary teachers who will have the chance to gain experience with new biology equipment, attend seminars by leading scientists and educators in Pennsylvania and nationwide and take part in workshops from July 13 to July 18.

The PA Governor?s Institute for Life Science is one of 29 Pennsylvania Governor's Institutes and Academies held in 24 different areas across the state. Previously, the institute was held at Penn State's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The 100 teachers who attend the institute will receive two graduate credits.

?The institute gives science teachers from across the state a chance to see Juniata?s state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment and benefit from our experience in science outreach," says Lorraine Mulfinger, associate professor of chemistry and co-director of the institute. ?We also have been fortunate enough to feature speakers who have been involved first-hand in some of the most pressing health issues around the world.?

The institute will offer lectures and workshops focused on the
Pennsylvania educational standards for biological sciences and biotechnology. Teachers also will be able to work with new equipment and processes that can be used in biology classes.

The conference opens with registration at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, July 13. At 7 p.m., Joseph Levine, scientific adviser to WGBH-TV in Boston, will give a talk on "Unexpected Connections: Ecology, Evolution, and Infectious Disease? in Alumni Hall in the Brumbaugh Science Center. This lecture also is free and open to the public.

Levine worked on the PBS science program ?NOVA? and the documentary series ?The Secret of Life.? He also has recentlly served as the science editor of ?The Evolution Project.? Levine earned a bachelor?s degree in biology from Tufts University and earned a doctorate from Harvard College. He also is co-author of the Prentice Hall high school biology textbook.

On Monday, July 14, educators can take workshops beginning at 8 a.m. in the von Liebig Center for Science. A second workshop session will start at 1:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., the attendees will travel to Raystown Lake for a nature walk and picnic.Tuesday, July 15 offers workshop sessions at 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. At 7 p.m., Dr. Mazzuli will speak on SARS.

The sessions on Wednesday, July 16, will allow the educators to meet with representatives from industries specializing in science-related products or services at 9:30 a.m. The entire institute class will travel to Penn State University to visit the university?s Laboratory Animal Facility and its Transgenic Animal Laboratory. At 5:30 p.m., attendees will have a dinner/roundtable session on writing school-industry partnership plans.

The morning of Thursday, July 17, is taken up a workshop session at 8 a.m. At 1:30 p.m.there will be a series of presentations by representatives from the business and industry community. At 7 p.m. in Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig center, Jay Hosler, assistant professor of biology at Juniata, will give a talk on his comic book series, ?Clan Apis,? which traces the life cycle of a female bee.

The Institute wraps up Friday, July 18, with a presentation session that starts at 8 a.m.

For more information, visit the state's Web site at http://www.pagils.org, or call Lorraine Mulfinger at Juniata College at (814) 641-3718.










Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.