CHAMPAIGN, Ill. University of Illinois professor Benita Katzenellenbogen will discuss "Estrogen in Human Health and Disease" during the Center for Advanced Study Professors' 11th Annual Lecture, on Sept. 19 at the UI.
Katzenellenbogen, a professor of molecular and integrative physiology, who also holds an appointment in the College of Medicine, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Colwell Playhouse at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana.
Her talk will address the crucial roles that estrogen hormones play in both women and men, influencing areas such as reproduction, cardiovascular health and brain function, as well as the growth of some breast cancers. She will discuss how drugs have been developed to promote estrogen's beneficial effects in menopausal hormone replacement, while acting as agents that are effective in preventing and treating breast cancer.
Katzenellenbogen was appointed in 2000 as both a Swanlund Chair and a CAS professor, the latter considered the highest recognition the campus can bestow upon a faculty member. She is known for her scholarly work that addresses fundamental issues in cell biology concerning how hormones and other chemical signaling agents regulate cell function.
She received a bachelor's degree from the City University of New York, and earned master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. Since joining the UI faculty in 1971, she has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, among them the MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. She also is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served as the president of the Endocrine Society, the world's largest professional society for endocrinologists.