Biochemist DeLuca to speak March 7

Vitamin D discoveries have a long history in the dairy state and have produced some of our most lucrative patents. But globally renowned UW–Madison biochemist Hector DeLuca is putting vitamin D into the forefront of our state’s biotech sector, churning out papers and patents to combat a long list of illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, depression, immune disorders, arthritis and diabetes.

DeLuca will share the latest developments in a free presentation, “The New Old Natural Wonder Drug, Vitamin D,” on Tuesday, March 7, at 7 p.m. at the Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St. in Madison. The presentation, which is open to the public, will include time for questions and discussion.

DeLuca is best known for discovering the vitamin D-endocrine system, which revolutionized the treatment of osteoporosis, cured the syndrome of vitamin D-resistant rickets, and has been a lifesaver for patients on dialysis. At least eight pharmaceutical drugs are derived from his research on vitamin D. His accomplishments have been recognized with awards from throughout the world, and his more than 150 patents have brought tens of millions of dollars in royalty income to the University of Wisconsin, thus strengthening the university as a research center. He has also trained nearly 160 predoctoral and postdoctoral students, many of whom went on to further science in their own right. DeLuca is a Wisconsin Academy Fellow.

The program is a presentation of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters as part of its Academy Evening series, in partnership with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Free tickets (suggested donation $2) are recommended to ensure seating. They will be available one week prior to the event at the James Watrous Gallery in the Overture Center (3rd floor). Gallery hours are Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; and Sundays, 1-5 p.m. Maps and directions are available at www.wisconsinacademy.org. For more information, call (608) 265-2500.

The Academy Evenings series is intended to encourage public interaction with leaders in an intimate atmosphere designed to build community. This presentation is sponsored by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, M&I Bank, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Isthmus Newspaper, Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC and a number of individual donors.