Dr. Kristian M. Hargadon, Elliott Assistant Professor of Biology, recently delivered the keynote address at the Harker Research Symposium at The Harker School in San Jose, CA.  The Harker School, one of the most prestigious high schools in the country, hosts its annual symposium to highlight the research conducted by its students, who often collaborate with institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, etc.  Two keynote addresses were given to an audience of approximately 300.  Dr. David Baltimore, recipient of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of reverse transcriptase and the role of retroviruses in viral tumorigenesis, discussed recent advances in antiviral gene therapy.  Dr. Hargadon’s talk, entitled “From Gym Rat to Tumor Immunologist: A Scholar Athlete’s Path to Cancer Research,” focused on the role of both academics and athletics in his journey to become a tumor immunologist and biology professor at Hampden-Sydney College, and he highlighted several recent advances from work conducted by he and his students at Hampden-Sydney that have shed light on melanoma-induced immunosuppression of dendritic cells and the associated anti-tumor T cell dysfunction that results from these tumor/dendritic cell interactions.  Dr. Hargadon will also be giving this talk in late May at the Symposium to Advance Research at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, another one of the top-ranked high schools in the country.

Dr. Hargadon delivering the Harker Research Symposium keynote address

Dr. Kristian Hargadon with fellow keynote speaker and Nobel laureate Dr. David Baltimore at the Harker Research Symposium.