News Media
Advisory
American Chemical Society
Office of Public Affairs
Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @acspressroom for live tweeting of press conferences and
other events during the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
Contact:
Michael Bernstein
[email protected]
215-418-2056 (Philadelphia Press Center, Aug. 17-23)
202-872-6042
Michael Woods
[email protected]
215-418-2056 (Philadelphia Press Center, Aug. 17-23)
202-872-6293
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Press Center Highlights
from
“The World Series of Science”
August 21, 2012
244th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, world’s largest
scientific society
August 19-23, 2012 in Philadelphia, PA
August 21, 2012
6:00 a.m. ACS Press Center opens, Room 304, Pennsylvania Convention Center
7:00 a.m. Complimentary continental breakfast
8:30 a.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time
Scientists find protein that promotes cancers, heart disease; create substance to block its
effects
American Chemical Society
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Released: 08/21/2012
Strong scientific evidence suggests that high levels of a blood protein called galectin-3 may increase the
risk of heart attacks, cancer and other diseases, and help forecast the outcome of those diseases, a
scientist reported here today at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society,
the world’s largest scientific society.
Isaac Eliaz, M.D.
Amitabha Medical Clinic & Healing Center
9:00 a.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Toward a portable emergency treatment for stopping life-threatening internal bleeding
Progress toward a new emergency treatment for internal bleeding ― counterpart to the tourniquets,
pressure bandages and Quick Clot products that keep people from bleeding to death from external
wounds ― was reported here today at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical
Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
Erin Lavik, Sc.D.
Case Western Reserve University
9:30 a.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, 2:45 p.m. Eastern Time
Electrifying success in raising antioxidant levels in sweet potatoes
Already ranked by some as number one in nutrition among all vegetables, the traditional sweet
potato can be nutritionally supercharged ― literally ― with a simple, inexpensive electric current
treatment that increases its content of healthful polyphenols or antioxidants by 60 percent, scientists
said here today.
Kazunori Hironaka, Ph.D.
University of the Ryukyus
10:00 a.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, 2 p.m. Eastern Time
Coconut water is an excellent sports drink ― for light exercise
Coconut water really does deserve its popular reputation as Mother Nature’s own sports drink, a new
scientific analysis of the much-hyped natural beverage concluded here today at the 244th National
Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Chhandashri Bhattacharya, Ph.D.
Indiana University Southeast
11:00 a.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time
“CSI” technology holds potential in everyday medicine
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Released: 08/21/2012
A scientific instrument featured on CSI and CSI: Miami for instant fingerprint analysis is forging another life
in real-world medicine, helping during brain surgery and ensuring that cancer patients get effective doses
of chemotherapy, a scientist said here today. The report on technology already incorporated into
instruments that miniaturize room-size lab instrumentation into devices the size of a shoebox was part of
the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
R. Graham Cooks, Ph.D.
Purdue University
Nathalie Agar, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School
11:30 a.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time
Targeting sugars in the quest for a vaccine against HIV — the virus that causes AIDS
As a step toward designing the first effective vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, scientists are
reporting new insights into how a family of rare, highly potent antibodies bind to HIV and neutralize it —
stop it from infecting human cells. The antibodies were isolated from people infected with HIV and work
against a wide range of HIV strains. The researchers described the study today at the 244th National
Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.
Ian Wilson, D.Sc.
AVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute
Noon. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, Noon Eastern Time
Eating cool: What to eat to beat the heat
The chill of today’s fudge-brownie cookie-crumble ice cream cone ― will it really last? Or can ice cream
actually stoke the body’s metabolic furnace and make you feel even hotter? How about a few ice-cold
brews? Or should you add a dash of the counter-intuitive to your summer menu with the sweat-inducing,
mouth-on-fire, tear-provoking taste of chili peppers? With millions of people already weather-worn after a
summer punctuated by record heat, and some of the hottest days still ahead, the American Chemical
Society (ACS) today is hosting a special briefing, “What to Eat to Beat the Heat.”
Shirley O. Corriher
Biochemist and Author
Sara Risch
Science by Design
1 p.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time
New version of 150-year-old law could ease student debt and college funding cutbacks
Members of a panel today commemorating the 150th anniversary of federal legislation that transformed
college education for people in the 19th and 20th centuries said that a 21st century counterpart to the Morrill
Act of 1862 could ease the staggering load of student debt and help colleges and universities cope with
American Chemical Society
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Released: 08/21/2012
state funding cut-backs. The panel was held at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American
Chemical Society.
Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Ph.D.
President, American Chemical Society, Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Gary Schuster, Ph.D.,
Georgia Institute of Technology
Alan Marcus, Ph.D.
Mississippi State University
Mark Finlay, Ph.D.
Armstrong Atlantic State University
Amy Bix, Ph.D.
Iowa State University
Robert W. Seidel, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Stephen J. Weininger, Ph.D.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Alan Rocke, Ph.D.
Case Western Reserve University (tentative)
1:30 p.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 8 a.m. Eastern Time
Advances in decades-old dream of mining seawater for uranium
Scientists today reported progress toward a 40-year-old dream of extracting uranium for nuclear power
from seawater, which holds at least 4 billion tons of the precious material. They described some of the
most promising technology and an economic analysis showing uranium from the oceans could help solidify
nuclear energy potential as a sustainable electricity source for the 21st century. Their reports were part of a
symposium at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s
largest scientific society, being held here through Thursday.
Robin Rogers, Ph.D.
The University of Alabama
Patrick Barber, Ph.D.
The University of Alabama
Chris Griggs
The University of Alabama
Steven Kelley
The University of Alabama
2:30 p.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 9 a.m. Eastern Time
Looking one cell at a time in the brain to better understand pain, learning, memory
Working with units of material so small that it would take 50,000 to make up one drop, scientists are
developing the profiles of the contents of individual brain cells in a search for the root causes of chronic
pain, memory loss and other maladies that affect millions of people.
Jonathan Sweedler, Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Released: 08/21/2012
3:15 p.m.
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time
New form of long-used food ingredient for “anti-hunger” yogurts, smoothies
Promising results were reported here today from a proof-of-concept clinical trial of an “anti-hunger”
ingredient for yogurt, fruit shakes, smoothies and other foods that would make people feel full longer and
ease the craving to eat. Scientists described the ingredient, a new version of a food additive that has been
in use for more than 50 years, at the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical
Society.
Carsten Huettermann, Ph.D.
Dow Wolff Cellulosics
3:30 p.m. –– Online Press Conference
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Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, 9 a.m. Eastern Time
New solar panels made with more common metals could be cheaper and more sustainable
With enough sunlight falling on home roofs to supply at least half of America’s electricity, scientists today
described advances toward the less-expensive solar energy technology needed to roof many of those
homes with shingles that generate electricity.
James C. Stevens, Ph.D.
The Dow Chemical Company
Harry A. Atwater, Ph.D.
The California Institute of Technology
5:00 p.m. –– Press Center closes
###
American Chemical Society
1155 Sixteenth Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036
#12-202
T (202) 872-6042 F (202) 872-4370
www.acs.org
Released: 08/21/2012