The Center for Hemispheric Policy will present “Reducing the Carbon Footprint in the Americas” on Friday, March 18 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, 50 Alhambra Plaza. Speakers will include: Odón de Buen Rodríguez, Energía, Tecnología y Educación, S.C. (ENTE), Mexico, D.F.; Roberto Dobles, Eco Solutions Worldwide, Costa Rica; Marc LePage, Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C.; and Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C. The cost is $30; faculty and students free with valid ID. RSVP to [email protected]. For more information, call Patricia Salinas at 305-284-3707 or visit www.miami.edu/chp.

Guoping Feng, Poitras Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, will present “Synaptic and Circuitry Mechanisms of Compulsive/Repetitive Behaviors in OCD and Autism” on Friday, March 18 at 1 p.m. at the Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium. For more information, call 305-243-7108.

The M.D./Ph.D. Program will host a special seminar on Friday, March 18, from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Clinical Research Building, sixth-floor executive center. Andy Minn, assistant professor of radiation oncology and assistant investigator at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, will present “Regulation of Gene Signatures Controlling Cancer Metastasis and Treatment Resistance.” Minn’s lab focuses on understanding how cancer cells acquire metastatic and treatment-resistant phenotypes. After the lecture, Minn also will speak at the M.D./Ph.D. Program’s third annual Research Symposium, which will be held from 1 to 6:30 p.m. in the same location. For more information, contact Carlen Duncombe at [email protected] or 305-243-6278.

The Department of Neurology will present Grand Rounds on Friday, March 18 at 1 p.m. in the first-floor auditorium of the Gordon Center at the Clinical Research Building. Jose Posas, David Adams, Michael Norenberg, Charif Sidani, and Kevin Auerbach, all of the Miller School of Medicine, will present the clinicopathological conference “A 61-Year-Old Male with Sudden Quadriplegia and Hypesthesia.”

The Department of Art and Art History will present a Master of Fine Arts exhibition by contemporary artist Brian Gefen, beginning Saturday, March 12. The exhibition, titled “Development of Power vs. Untitled Creatures,” is a progressive series of narrative artwork that grasps ideas from various 20th-century artists to create an endless graphic narrative. The exhibition will be available for viewing through March 25 at the University of Miami Wynwood Project Space, 2200-A NW 2nd Avenue, Miami.

The theme of the exhibition demonstrates a conflicting mythical world in which characters battle one another for food and the basic amenities of life. The mythical world exposes a system of nobility, featuring King Steamer and Queen Tatiana Dee Dee. Untitled Creatures is tribal, with leaders such as Doyleox, Helmet Jack, and Hixon.

Development of Power controls the food and weapons, which are heavily guarded by the security farmers who are constantly on alert because the opposing Untitled Creatures lurk around the land in an attempt to steal food. The two groups cannot agree on anything, and as a result tension grows. This discord is displayed through Brian Gefen’s series of paintings in “Development of Power vs. Untitled Creatures.”

Aesthetically, Brian Gefen’s painting surfaces are visually flat but complimented by many strongly contrasting color combinations and lively characters illustrating events in the ongoing, unfolding artistic drama of “Development of Power vs. Untitled Creatures.” Gefen uses an array of mixed media, including acrylic paint, spray paint, markers, photos, computer printouts, and vinyl stickers.

For more information about the artist, e-mail [email protected]. A full schedule of exhibitions can be viewed at www.as.miami.edu/art. In celebration of the exhibition’s opening, there will be a reception for the artist on Saturday, March 12 from 6 to 10 p.m. Other viewing times can be arranged by appointment.

For more information about the exhibition or Wynwood Project Space, call 305-284-3161 or e-mail [email protected].