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(upbeat piano)
- [Narrator] We are the paradoxical ape.
Bipedal, naked, large brain,
long the master of fire, tools, and language.
But still trying to understand ourselves.
Aware that death is inevitable.
Yet filled with optimism.
We grow up slowly.
We hand down knowledge.
We empathize and deceive.
We shape the future
from our shared understanding of the past.
CARTA brings together experts from diverse disciplines
to exchange insights on who we are and how we got here.
An exploration made possible
by the generosity of humans like you.
(ethereal piano music)
- Good afternoon, this is a great turnout.
On behalf of UC San Diego, it's my privilege
to welcome you to Symposia.
This really represents what's best about universities.
To go beyond boundaries, to think outside the box,
and to try develop novel ways to improve human health.
This also represents a collaboration between UC San Diego
and Arizona State University.
Which speaks even more highly about our directors.
Because it's so difficult to work across campuses.
But I think this project is so exciting
and has gotten such enthusiasm,
that I think the two directors and all of you
deserve my appreciation.
And hopefully what will come out of this
is a completely novel way of thinking about diseases.
There's been so many advances in diseases,
but so many diseases are still largely unsolved.
And by taking an anthropological approach,
hopefully entirely new ideas,
understanding disease pathogens,
maybe even new drugs will come out of this.
So I have a little time, I'm going to sit with you
and learn something which is unusual for a dean,
so hopefully I'm still educatable.
I look very forward and congratulations to all of you.
Thank you so much.
(ethereal piano music)
- Good afternoon and welcome to this 25th CARTA Symposium.
We're very glad to see you all here.
My name is Pascal Gagneux.
I'm the associate director of CARTA.
Among the oldest questions
that we humans have asked ourselves.
Figure, who are we?
What are we doing here?
Where did we come from?
How did we get here?
And where are we going?
Two of these questions can be addressed
in a scientific fashion,
and form the core of Anthropogeny.
Where did we come from and how did we get here?
The study of human origins.
CARTA is a UCSD/Salk Center for Academic Research
and Training in Anthropogeny.
The Co-Directors are Ajit Varki, Fred Gage,
and Margret Schoeninger.
Our Management Services Officer is Linda Nelson.
Our Community Relations Director
is Ingrid Benirschke-Perkins.
We have very much needed help
from Computer Systems Programmer, Kate Kaya.
And Program Coordinator, Jesse Robie.
Anthropogeny is at the intersections
of the humanities and the natural sciences.
And we believe that the only way to address these
two important questions is to draw on evidence
from all these very different fields,
which is only possible with a dialogue,
ideally learned early in one's career.
Mission Statement is the following.
We want to use all rational and ethical approaches
to seek all verifiable facts from all relevant disciplines,
to explore and explain the origins of the human phenomenon.
And we want to do so while minimizing complex
organizational structures and hierarchies,
and avoiding unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy.
In the process, very importantly,
we also want to raise awareness and understanding
of the study of human origins within the academic community
and the public at large.
This is the first co-sponsored symposium between
CARTA and the Arizona State University
Center for Evolutionary Medicine.
You will hear from its director in a few moments,
Dr. Randall Finesse.
But we before we start, we need to express special thanks
to our major sponsor,
The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation
of New York, and Howard Chester the Executive Director.
We also need to thank many people who have contributed
to the fund in memory of late James Handelman.
And many other people who have helped us.
For example, closed captioning the Symposium at
a webcast live and then put on YouTube and iTunes
for people to see.
We have other key supporters like Annette Merle-Smith,
that help support the Anthropogeny Graduate Specialization.
And many individual supporters who over the years
have contributed to our enterprise.
And lastly this would not be possible without
very able support from the UCSD-TV crew,
Voice & Video team, and the Mandeville Center support team.
And as I mentioned, George Svoboda who was kind enough to
come and play the guitar for us.
(audience applause)
(ethereal piano music)