Athens State University’s Department of Religion and Ethics will present a Table Topic discussion featuring Dr. Neil Lamb of HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology.

The event will be held at noon Tuesday, Nov. 10 in the chapel on the second floor of Founders Hall on the Athens campus. The topic of Lamb’s discussion will be “Ethical Challenges of Bio-Medical Research.”

Lamb is the HudsonAlpha director of educational outreach. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology from Auburn University and his Ph.D. in human genetics from Emory University. In 1999, Lamb became a faculty member of the department of human genetics at Emory. He served as director of education, overseeing genetic educational opportunities with the schools of medicine, nursing and theology, as well as directing outreach efforts for K-12 programs and the public.

At HudsonAlpha, Lamb serves not only as a “cheerleader for genetic education” but also develops and implements a comprehensive outreach program aimed at educating school-age children, educators and the public. He and his team have developed a genetics module for the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, providing hands-on experiences with DNA for middle- and high-school students across the entire state.

Importantly, his team also trains a number of teachers each year so they can lead their classes through genetics and biotechnology curricula. Neil also developed the wildly popular "Biotech 101" program, where both HudsonAlpha and associate company personnel teach basics and applications of biotechnology for a five-night series of classes.

The HudsonAlpha Institute is the cornerstone of a 150-acre biotech campus strategically located in Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, the nation's second largest research park. The non-profit institute is an integral part of Alabama's life sciences community.

The free event at Athens State is open to the public with no reservations needed. Call (256) 233-8126 with questions.