About us
Miami 2007 Winter Symposium
The Miami Winter Symposia began in a small way in 1968. The 2007 event is the 40th in this annual series. The Symposia were created by the Department of Biochemistry (now, and Molecular Biology) of the Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami as a resource for its faculty and graduate students, who were thereby enabled to meet in person the nationally and internationally prominent scientists who were persuaded to share the plight of spending a few days in Miami in the winter.
Joined the next year by the Papanicolaou Cancer Research Institute, the Symposia continued thus until the Institute closed in 1984. In 1977 the decision had been taken to focus the Symposia on gene technology and this trend continues. Many of the post-World War 2 Nobellists in Chemistry and Physiology or Medicine who practice gene technology have been our guests. James Watson and Francis Crick, our Distinguished Service Awardees in 2003, were the respective Lynen Lecturers in 1978 and 1979.
In 1988 we were joined by Nature Publishing Company (now Nature Publishing Group) via its Bio/Technology magazine, now Nature Biotechnology, with whom a thriving partnership continues, and who have since been joined by Nature Medicine, Nature Cell Biology and, for this year, Nature Immunology.
This collaboration evolved into the Miami Nature Biotechnology Winter Symposia. Meanwhile, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology created a not-for-profit Foundation, the University Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Foundation, Inc., to manage the Symposia on its behalf. The Foundation Members and Trustees are the tenured faculty of the Department, with the Department Chair, Murray P. Deutscher, as its President. Any surplus from the Foundation’s share of the proceeds is earmarked for the Department's graduate students.
In 1997 a third sponsor joined the organizers, the Miller School of Medicine's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, under its Director, W. Jarrard Goodwin. This advance has strengthened the molecular medicine input into the Symposia and the participation of the clinical faculty of the School.
Beginning with the 2006 Symposium, we were delighted to welcome Scripps Florida as a sponsor, allowing us to become representative of South Florida as a whole. We confidently expect that the Winter Symposia will be as invigorated by this new support as it was in the past when we were joined by Nature Publishing Group and the Sylvester Cancer Center.
The most recent change has been a return to our former name, The Miami Winter Symposia, and our designation as a Nature Conference.
The Symposia continue in their mission of bringing the Miller School's graduate students, postdoctorals and faculty, and now Scripps personnel, face-to-face with the giants who step out of the pages of the research journals and textbooks and sharing this privilege with audiences from all over the world. This is a unique experience. No other School in North America presents such an opportunity.
We look forward to welcoming you to Miami Beach and the Miami Beach Resort & Spa Hotel.
