News Release

Frederic M. Richards, a retired Yale biophysicist best known for his contributions to the understanding of protein folding, will give the 2006 Christian B. Anfinsen Lecture at The Johns Hopkins University at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 1.

The lecture will take place in the auditorium of Mudd Hall on the university's Homewood campus at 3400 N. Charles Street. Part of the Pioneers in Biology Series, the hour- long lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception.

Now Sterling Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University, Richards' work has informed protein chemistry for more than half a century. Early in his career, he developed a soon-to-become famous protein system, Ribonuclease S, which became a microcosm for understanding proteins, from their self- assembly and energetics to molecular recognition. He also pioneered the use of surface area and volume in the understanding of protein folding and worked extensively on soluble proteins.

"Dr. Richards' contributions to the field of biophysics have been substantial, not only in his approach to research and discovery, but also in regard to his uncompromising integrity and willingness to work with others," said Seamus Levine-Wilkinson, a graduate student in the Biology Department in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Pioneers in Biology planning committee, a group of graduate students that organizes both the Christian B. Anfinsen Lectures and the Thomas Hunt Morgan Lectures.

The Pioneers in Biology group was organized last year to allow Johns Hopkins students to invite Nobel-caliber scientists to the Homewood campus. The Anfinsen Lecture was named for Christian B. Anfinsen, a member of the Biology Department from 1982 to 1995. Anfinsen was widely recognized for his contributions to the understanding of protein synthesis and folding. For these seminal contributions, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1972 for his discovery that ribonuclease could spontaneously refold and regain its enzymatic activity after denaturation. Those results suggested that the manner in which a protein folds is encoded within its primary amino acid sequence. Anfinsen, who died in 1995, is remembered as a generous and kind person who was keenly interested in the success of students and colleagues.

For details about the Anfinsen Lecture and the Pioneers in Biology group, contact them at PioneersinBiology@jhu.edu or visit www.bio.jhu.edu/Events/Pioneers/Richards.htm. Please note that, due to campus construction, the visitors' parking lot at Homewood has recently moved. Directions to the Homewood campus and parking information are available here: tinyurl.com/65pma.