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Science Café presents Dr. John Kopchick on “Growth Hormone: Too Much or Not Enough?” on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 5 p.m. in the Baker Front Room.
“Hormones do many things to our body starting before birth and continuing until death,”says Kopchick, the Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology. He studies the various ways one specific hormone, namely growth hormone (not growth hormones!) affects the body.
For more than 20 years—with 300 publications and more than 25 Ph.D. students—his research has focused on finding the clinical implications of growth hormone excess and deficiency. His research on growth hormone and the interaction with its receptor has lead to the development of the drug, Somavert, which is used as a treatment for acromegaly, a condition of “too much growth hormone” that results in disfigurement, organ failure and premature death.
Kopchick will give the audience “a better appreciation of the positives and negative aspects of growth hormone action.” He also will discuss the misuse and abuse of growth hormone by athletes in hopes of enhancing their performance.
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Café events are free and open to students, faculty and staff. Café Conversations and Science Cafés are both venues for students to share their interests informally during a conversation exchange in a friendly setting. The Science Cafe is hosted by Dr. Sarah Wyatt, Professor of Environmental & Plant Biology and Vice President of the Ohio University Chapter of Sigma Xi. The two series are sponsored by the Ohio University chapter of Sigma Xi and the Office of the Vice President for Research. Find the Science Café on Facebook and Twitter.
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