The symposium, named for Frieden's age, will be held Sept. 21 at the Eric P. Newman Education Center at the School of Medicine. Speakers include Stephen J. Benkovic, Ph.D., Penn State University; David Eisenberg, D.Phil., University of California, Los Angeles; Walter Englander, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Tom Pollard, M.D., and Arthur Horwich, M.D., Yale University. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will open with remarks.

Frieden, professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, joined the School of Medicine in 1957 with an interest in enzyme kinetics and mechanisms. He served as department head from 1996-2005. His research now focuses primarily on one of the major unsolved problems in biochemistry — how proteins, which begin as long strings of amino-acid building blocks, adopt their three-dimensional shapes.

Using techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance and site-directed mutagenesis, Frieden investigates the role of specific amino acids in the protein folding and unfolding processes. In 2000, Frieden received the Carl and Gerty Cori Award from University.

Colleagues from around the country are planning to attend this event, including P. Roy Vagelos, M.D., who headed the Department of Biological Chemistry, now called the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, from 1966-1975.