At Wednesday night's Association for Women in Science dinner, students and professors were provided with an informal setting where they could discuss the advancement of females in science.
The evening was aimed at bringing women together and allowing them to experience the work of one of their fellow female scientists. As one attendee, College freshman Catherine Schaefer, noted, "This is a great opportunity to be surrounded by women doing the same thing you want to do."
The speaker was Medical School Professor Linda Greenbaum, who focused on the gastroenterology field. She works at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as in the laboratories at Penn in hopes of discovering a way to regenerate a human liver.
The speech focused on data, both published and unpublished, about mouse genetic models currently being used to study liver regeneration. This has become an important topic as a result of a tremendous epidemic of viral hepatitis. Researchers hope that liver regeneration will prevent the need for many liver transplantations.
Greenbaum explained that partial hepatectomies are performed on mice, in which the two largest lobes of mice livers are removed. Then, 36 to 40 hours after removal, the remaining liver lobes increase in size via cell division and cell growth.
It is hoped that these findings will one day enable the regeneration of human liver cells and lead to a better understanding of the survival, DNA synthesis and restoration of mass in the human liver.
This special event's audience was not limited to women. One male freshman, Amol Shah, said that the "encouragement of [Microbiology Professor] Helen Davies tempted" him to attend. Shah is one of six students in Penn's Health Care Management Program.
The night of discussion was sponsored by Davies, an association member. Davies recently received an award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Meredith Abramson, a 2002 graduate, helped Davies organize the event. Abramson lives on the Women in Science floor in Ware College House, which pairs undergraduates with professors, doctors and even researchers in a mentoring and shadowing program that enables students to get first-hand experience in their field of interest.
Overall, the dinner boasted a large turnout, which reflected the 20 percent national increase in Association for Women in Science membership. Several attendees said that Greenbaum did, in fact, "move" them.
