Contact: Bob Ratliff
An Alabama scientist who has carried the search for new disease-fighting drugs into space will deliver the 1999 Robert M. Hearin Lecture at Mississippi State University.
Lawrence J. DeLucas speaks Jan. 26 at the Colvard Union small auditorium. The 4 p.m. public program is made possible by a grant from the Hearin Foundation of Jackson to MSU's College of Engineering.
DeLucas, director of the Center for Macromolecular Crystallography for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, conduced crystal growth experiments in space as a member of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew during its 1992 spacelab mission.
"Dr. DeLucas is internationally recognized for his work with protein crystals used in the search for new pharmaceutical compounds," said Dean A. Wayne Bennett. "A portion of his work involves crystal growth experiments at reduced gravity levels, such as those provided by the U.S. Space Shuttle System."
DeLucas' lab currently is designing new hardware for advanced protein crystal growth methods for use on the space shuttle and, eventually, on space stations.
For additional information on the Hearin Lecture, telephone agricultural and biological engineering department head Jerry Gilbert at (601) 325-3282.