The Herter Lecture Series in NYU Langone’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology is named for Christian Archibald Herter, MD. Born in Glenville, Connecticut, in 1865, Dr. Herter received an MD from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University and studied pathology under William H. Welch, MD, at Johns Hopkins University and Auguste-Henri Forel, MD, in Zurich.

Dr. Herter’s experience practicing neurology in New York City was captured in The Diagnosis of Diseases of the Nervous System, a manual he wrote for students and practitioners in 1892. His interest in laboratory medicine led him to abandon his medical practice and build a laboratory on the fourth floor of his home. In 1897, he was appointed professor of pathological chemistry at The University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College.

In 1903, Dr. Herter established this lectureship as a memorial to his second son Albert, who died the previous year at the age of 2. He also established a similar lectureship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he returned to work the same year.

In 2018, we hosted our 100th Herter lecture.

Previous Herter Lectures

2018

“Cellular Responses to DNA Damage: From Mechanistic Insights to Applications in Cancer Therapy”
Stephen P. Jackson, PhD
The Frederick James Quick Professor of Biology; Member, Department of Biochemistry
Associate Faculty Member, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Cambridge University, United Kingdom

2016

“DNA Replication Stress, Chromosome Instability, and Cancer”
Ian D. Hickson, PhD
Director, Center for Chromosome Stability
Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2014

“The Genetic Basis of Protection Against Genotoxic Metabolites in Mammals”
Ketan J. Patel, MD, PhD
Program Lead, Medical Research Council
Cambridge, United Kingdom

2012

“The Transcription and Roles of Non-Coding RNAs”
Philip A. Sharp, PhD
Institute Professor, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2010

“Guarding the Genome: Centromeres, Aneuploidy and Tumorigenesis”
Don W. Cleveland, PhD
Chair, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Distinguished Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Medicine, and Neurosciences
Member, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
University of California, San Diego