The University will host Stem Cells for Journalists, an educational conference for journalists from around the country and organizations such as Time Magazine and National Geographic August 13. The conference, sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is designed to inform the media about the science surrounding controversial stem cell research.

Catherine Verfaillie, the director of the University of Minnesota’s Stem Cell Institute and an eminent researcher, will present the keynote address, “Unexpected Potential of Multipotent Adult Stem Cells.” The talk is open to University community members and will be in the Donnelley Biological Sciences Learning Center at 3:00 p.m.

At the conference, journalists will attend a lecture by Harindar Singh, professor in the department of molecular genetics and cell biology, and participate in hands-on workshops conducted by John Crispino, assistant professor of the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, and Bruce Lahn, assistant professor in human genetics.