The Annual Usha Mahajani symposium is a collaborative project between UC San Diego, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. The multi-sponsored symposium was established in memory of Dr. Usha Mahajani, who lost her battle with cancer in 1978.
The first symposium was held in September, 1989. It was chaired by Drs. James Feramisco and Michael Karin and the keynote speaker was the Nobel Laureate Dr. Harold Varmus. Since then, the symposium has been chaired by faculty members at UC San Diego, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. Speakers have come from outstanding institutions in the United States and abroad including Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the University of Paris, and universities in Sweden, Norway and Japan.
The symposium is held in the first part of September of each year, and is generally attended by 250 - 300 senior investigators, post-docs and graduate students in academia and biotech throughout southern California and beyond. Future scientists have an entire day to interact with national and international experts in the field of biomedical research – an unusual and attractive interaction for their career growth.
At the present, the symposium is supported from the earnings of the endowment made by the Usha Mahajani Symposium, and by contributions from Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and bio-tech companies in the San Diego area. The Symposium Board of Directors would also like to thank Shirley Kolkey Klug for her dedicated work in helping to start the symposium and managing it during its early years.
Usha Mahajani, PhD
The Usha Mahajani Symposium was started in memory of Dr. Usha Mahajani who was born in India in 1933. She came to the United States for her post-baccalaureate education receiving a Master’s degree from Smith College in 1955 and a doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1957. Her area of interest was international relations, and she held faculty positions at the Australian National University and Central Washington University. She died at the untimely age of 45 of metastatic breast cancer. The symposium was established by her husband, Vijay Sharma, PhD, an emeritus faculty member in the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Zea Borok, MD
Helen M. Ranney Professor and Chair
Department of Medicine
UC San Diego
Gerry Boss, MD
Distinguished Professor
Department of Medicine
UC San Diego
Wolfgang H. Dillmann, MD
Distinguished Professor
Department of Medicine
UC San Diego
Tony Hunter, PhD
Renato Dulbecco Chair In Cancer Research
Salk Institute
Ze’ev Ronai, PhD
Chief Scientific Advisor
Sanford-Burnham-Prebys
Medical Discovery Institute
Kristiina Vuori, MD, PhD
Pauline & Stanley Foster Presidential Chair
President, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Usha Mahajani Symposium 1989 - 2023
|
Date |
Title |
9/6-8/89 |
National and Synthetic Tumor Suppressor Genes |
9/6-7/90 |
Molecular Approaches to Genetic Disease and Cancer |
9/5-6/91 |
The Genetic and Biochemical Basis of Cancer |
9/8/92 |
Control of Cell Cycle |
9/9-10/93 |
GTP-Binding Proteins: Their Role in Basic Cell Functions |
9/8-9/94 |
Molecular control of Transcription in Development and Disease |
9/7-8/95 |
Molecular control of Development and Homeostasis |
9/5-6/96 |
Transcriptional Control of Development |
9/5/97 |
Cancer: A Genetic Disease |
9/18/98 |
Cancer: A disease of the Cell Cycle |
9/17/99 |
Cancer on the Eve of The Millennium: Diagnostics, Therapy & Prevention |
9/15/00 |
Cancer at the Beginning of The Millennium: Diagnostics, Therapy & Prevention |
9/14/01 |
Functional Genomics & Proteomics in Medicine (cancelled due to 9/11) |
9/13/02 |
Functional Genomics & Proteomics in Medicine |
9/12/03 |
Animal Models & Imaging: Recent Advances in Cancer Research |
9/10/04 |
Chromatin Modification, Epigenetics & Disease: Advances in Cancer Research |
9/9/05 |
DNA Repair and Cancer |
9/8/06 |
Cancer Metastasis & Invasion |
9/7/07 |
Metabolism and Cancer |
9/12/08 |
Molecular Targets of Cancer Therapy |
9/11/09 |
Host Response to Cancer and its Implications for Therapy |
9/20/10 |
Targeted Therapeutics, Basic & Clinical Implications of Tumor Targeting |
9/16/11 |
Stem Cells in Cancer |
9/7/12 |
Cancer, the Microbiome, and the Virome |
9/9/13 |
Cancer Genomics Medicine |
9/8/14 |
Cancer Immunotherapy |
9/11/15 |
Cancer Epigenetics |
9/9/16 |
RNA and Cancer |
9/8/17 |
Cancer Heterogeneity and Therapy Resistance |
9/7/18 |
Cancer, the Wound that Does Not Heal |
9/6/19 |
Cancer and Aging |
9/20 |
Postponed |
9/10/21 |
A Multiplex View of Cancer Heterogeneity |
9/9/22 |
Tumor Dormancy |
9/8/23 |
Advances in Cellular Therapies Against Cancer |