Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture

Child Health Research Center

The Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture was established in 2016. Betsy and Stuart Houston became an integral part of the UVA Health family when UVA doctors and nurses provided lifesaving care to Stuart's late wife, Betsy, after a Pegasus transport to UVA in 2004. Stuart says it is a "debt we could never repay." Prior to Betsy's death in 2015, they supported many programs across UVA Health, including this lectureship. Stuart and his wife, Dawn Houston, whom he married in 2019, remain supportive today of the UVA Children’s Child Health Research Center and many other UVA Health initiatives.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD

2022 Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems at Washington University School

of Medicine in St. Louis, delivered the keynote address for the 4th annual Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture on on April 14, 2022. Dr. Gordon is an internationally acclaimed scientist whose work on the human microbiome research has altered our understanding of the microbial origins of health and disease. Many people attended the virtual keynote entitled "Development of microbiota-directed complementary foods for treatment of childhood undernutrition”.

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Klaus Rajewsky, MD

2018 Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture

The University of Virginia was honored to host our special guest here at UVA for the 3^rd annual Betsy and

Stuart Houston Lecture. Klaus Rajewsky, the head of the Immune Regulation and Cancer Group at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, participated in a series of meetings and events leading up to his lecture. His lecture was very well attended, as the entire Medical Education Building Auditorium was full. Additionally, a live airing was available to attendees on-screen in a separate location.

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Hans Clevers, MD, PhD

2017 Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture

The University of Virginia was honored to have Johannes Carolus (Hans) Clevers, a professor in molecular

genetics, a geneticist, physician, and medical researcher, present the second annual Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture, on April 27, 2017. His lecture attracted many and was very well attended, as the entire Medical Education Building Auditorium was full. In addition, a live airing was available to attendees, on-screen in a separate area.

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Mario R. Capecchi, PhD

2016 Betsy and Stuart Houston Lecture

Mario R. Capecchi, Ph.D., a Nobel Laureate whose work can be applied either directly or indirectly to

nearly every medical field of research, spoke at the University Tuesday. Capecchi, with Sir Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies, received the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on the use of embryonic stem cells to introduce gene modifications in mice. His lecture filled the entire auditorium — leaving every chair filled, the stairs stacked on both sides, and the back of the room lined — as well as providing a live broadcast to attendees in a separate study hall.

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