Keynote Speaker — Mina J. Bissell, Ph.D.
Dr. Bissell, cell biologist and Director of the Life Sciences Division at the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, was a pioneer in postulating, and then proving that the extracellular matrix (ECM)-the mass of fibrous and globular proteins that surrounds cells—performs a critical role in dictating a tissue's organization, function and programmed cell death. Her interest in understanding how cells develop led her off the beaten track of cancer research and onto a somewhat unorthodox approach. In 1981, Dr. Bissell formulated the concept of a “dynamic reciprocity” between cells and their microenvironment. Through productive collaborations, this concept has become a central theme in cancer biology today. Her group recently has been able to revert human breast cancer cells to a “normal” phenotype with manipulation of ECM receptors. She has opened a whole new field in cell and molecular biology of normal and malignant cell research in the area of ECM and microenviromental signaling.
Dr. Bissell earned an A.B. in chemistry from Radcliffe/Harvard College, an M.A. in bacteriology and biochemistry, and a Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics from Harvard University in 1969. She served as a Milton Fellow in 1969-1970 and was an American Cancer Society Fellow from 1970-1972 in the Department of Molecular Biology at U.C. Berkeley. She joined the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a staff biochemist in 1972. She was the Director of Cell & Molecular Biology in 1988 and was appointed director of the Life Sciences Division in 1992. She is also on the Faculty of Comparative Biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley. Dr. Bissell has authored more than 100 publications in peer reviewed journals and more than 50 book chapters and reviews. She has submitted three patent applications and sits on the scientific advisory board of a number of biotechnology companies. Dr. Bissell has received a number of awards and citations; she was named a Guggenheim fellow in 1992-1993; she was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1995; she was awarded the 1996 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in biology, the U.S. Department of Energy's highest award; she is currently President of the American Society for Cell Biology.
