J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Celera Genomics, will be available to answer media questions at a press availability Sunday, March 26, at 4 p.m. (PST), preceding his lecture at the 219th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, in San Francisco, Calif.

Venter, co-founder of Rockville, Md.-based Celera, is renowned for having helped develop a new strategy for gene discovery that has facilitated genetic sequencing. His company seeks to become the definitive source of genomic and medical information.

For his contributions to genome research, Venter is this year's honoree of the David Perlman Memorial Lectureship at the Society's San Francisco meeting. His lecture, entitled "Decoding the Human Genome," will be presented Sunday, March 26, at 5:30 p.m. (PST), at the Moscone Convention Center.

WHO: J. Craig Venter, Ph.D.
President and chief scientific officer, Celera Genomics

WHAT: Press availability preceding his lecture, "Decoding the Human Genome"

WHEN: Sunday, March 26, 4 p.m. (PST)

WHERE: Moscone Convention Center
747 Howard Street, Esplanade Level
Room 114

REPORTERS COVERING THIS EVENT MUST FIRST CONTACT THE ACS PRESS OFFICE AT THE MOSCONE CONVENTION CENTER, ROOM 216/218; TEL: 415-923-7510.

A nonprofit organization with a membership of 161,000 chemists and chemical engineers, the American Chemical Society ( www.acs.org ) publishes scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences, and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.