The Del Mar Foundation Presents
Flies in Space!
How experiments with fruit flies at the International Space Station are helping human cardiovascular treatment
Dr. Karen Ocorr,
Assistant Professor in the Neuroscience and Aging Center at
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla

Dr. Karen Ocorr will talk about her fascinating experiments with fruit flies conducted aboard NASA’s International Space Station. The study explores the impact of weightlessness on the heart. Why fruit flies? Humans have a lot in common with them. Each fruit fly carries roughly 75% of disease-causing genes and a similar heart structure to us. Dr. Ocorr will explain how her fruit flies traveling in space are our partners in helping to uncover a route to therapeutics that can be used to prevent or treat human cardiovascular disorders, both in space and on earth!
A free speaker series event
Tuesday, October 13, 2020 | 6:30 PM
Live on Zoom
Reservations are required
Space is Limited to 100 Guests

A link to the Zoom broadcast will be sent only to registered guests
Dr. Karen Ocorr earned her BA at Lehigh University and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Wesleyan University. She was awarded an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas Medical School – Houston, as well as Stanford University. In 2004 she accepted a position at Sanford Burnham Prebys. She has published 68 peer-reviewed studies on heart disease using both the fruit fly and zebrafish cardiac models. She continues to collaborate with NASA scientists and is currently serving on the board of the American Society for Space and Gravitational Research, supporting mankind’s exploration of low earth orbit, the moon and beyond.
DMF Talks, the Del Mar Foundation's unique version of TED© Talks, draws its speakers from the exceptionally deep bench of locally-based creative, intellectual and scientific leaders. Launched in 2012, DMF Talks aims to entertain, inspire, and inform the Del Mar community through a series of free presentations.
Del Mar Foundation
Del Mar Foundation | info@delmarfoundation.org | 858-635-1363
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