Alcorn’s Sizemore invited to present at World Congress of Immunodiseases and Therapy in China
Alcorn State, Miss. (June 26, 2013) – Dr. Robert C. Sizemore, professor of biology at Alcorn State University, has been invited to present at the 3rd Annual World Congress of Immunodiseases and Therapy that will be held in Dalian, China, October 11-15, 2013.
His presentation “Stress and the Immune System: The Enkephalin Connection” highlights research conducted in his laboratory at Alcorn. It describes how small peptides derived from endorphins and enkephalins modulate immune responses in a biphasic manner. It explains why short-term stress has been shown to enhance immune responses whereas long-term stress leads to suppression.
Dr. Sizemore joined Alcorn in 1996. He teaches several classes in the Department of Biological Sciences, serves on the advisory board for the Penn State-Alcorn State University Bridges to Doctorate Program and conducts research on modulation of the immune system by small peptides derived from enkephalin/endorphin. To conduct this research, Dr. Sizemore secured over one million dollars in grant support from the National Institute of Health. Since 2012, he has served as an editor for the prestigious per-reviewed Journal of Cell and Developmental Biology that covers the most significant developments in the field of cell and developmental biology, including structure, function, and organization of the cell, development and evolution of the cell as it relates to single and multicellular organisms, and models and tools of molecular biology.
As a person of broad interests, Dr. Sizemore also participates in the arts having appeared on national television as an actor in PBS series “Slavery and the Making of America”. He composed the score for “Twelfth Night” and “Othello” at the Natchez Little Theater, performed on bass with the Alcorn Jazz Ensemble, and published two poems and a short story. Dr. Sizemore chairs two committees and serves on the Board of Directors for the Natchez Festival of Music. He will also be appearing as an actor in the upcoming Hollywood movie “Rise Again”.
