In honor of his 70th birthday, Leonard Herzenberg is getting something unusual: a symposium. The professor emeritus of genetics is hosting a homecoming of past Herzenberg lab researchers in an afternoon symposium on stem cell research. The event takes place Friday at 1 p.m. in Fairchild Auditorium.

"We wanted to have an exciting and informative event for the people who are coming back," said Leonore Herzenberg, professor of genetics and wife of the guest of honor.

The symposium will run the gamut of stem cell topics, including both scientific advancements and public policy issues.

Leonore Herzenberg expects the speakers will cover both policy and science. "The symposium is for people who want to know what scientists are thinking about these issues," she said. Topics include a discussion of adult stem cells, isolating liver stem cells, and transplanting cells to treat disease.

Leonard Herzenberg developed at Stanford the first flow cytometry device, which is central to stem cell research and is used in other biomedical fields. Flow cytometry

distinguishes stem cells from mature cells. Although the focus of the Herzenberg lab is not on stem cell work, the subject relates directly to Herzenberg’s discovery — all the speakers use the cytometry device in their researcher and practice.

The symposium will include talks by Paul Berg, professor emeritus of cancer research, Helen Blau, director of the Baxter laboratory for genetic pharmacology, and Irving Weissman, Karel and Avice Beekhuis Professor of Cancer Biology, and by courtesy of biological sciences, and stem cell expert Hiro Nakauchi, a Herzenberg alumnus and professor at the University of Tokyo.