< Symposium
25th Anniversary Celebration Symposium
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research hosted its 25th Anniversary Celebration Symposium November 14, 2025, honoring a quarter century of discovery, innovation, and hope.
Nov 142025
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
This special daylong event featured thought-provoking talks, fireside chats, and conversations with leading voices in biological sciences and beyond.
Highlights included:
- Welcome remarks from Stowers Institute President and Chief Scientific Officer Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., Scientific Director Kausik Si, Ph.D., and Chairman of the Stowers Institute and Chairman, CEO & President of American Century Investments Jonathan Thomas.
- Reflections from the Institute’s first Scientific Director Robb Krumlauf, Ph.D.
- Presentations and Panel Discussions from leading scientists in their fields.
- A special talk from Carl Zimmer, award-winning science journalist at The New York Times and best-selling author.
The day of invigorating discussion and celebration concluded with a festive reception in the Stowers Institute Gallery, where we gathered to toast the discoveries yet to come.
Featured Speakers
Celebrating 25 years
Watch a recap of the event: The Stowers Institute's 25th Anniversary Celebration Symposium and Reception took place on November 14, 2025. We look forward to welcoming you to future events at the Stowers Institute. Sign up for our newsletter below to say in the know.
Watch the recordings
Full recordings of each presentation from the 25th Anniversary Symposium are now live. Watch below.
Rooted in symbiosis: Microbes that feed our plants
Siva Sankari, Ph.D., Stowers Institute
Timing Development: The Segmentation Clock
Olivier Pourquié, Ph.D., Harvard University, Stowers Institute (former)
It's in our DNA
Jennifer Gerton, Ph.D., Stowers Institute
Cnidarians: Aliens among us
Matt Gibson, Ph.D., Stowers Institute
The Physics and Development of Beauty: Structural Colors in Butterflies
Nipam Patel, Ph.D., Marine Biological Laboratory
The Nature of Societies: cells, insects, humans
Corina Tarnita, Ph.D., Princeton University
Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe
Carl Zimmer, New York Times
Unraveling the regulatory genome
Mike Levine, Ph.D., Princeton University
An experiment that worked
In November 2000, the Stowers Institute first opened the doors to its 10-acre campus in Kansas City, Mo. Thanks to the vision of our founders, Jim and Virginia Stowers, and the unique funding model they established between the Institute and American Century Investments, our scientists can openly pursue and discover the secrets of life—transforming scientific discovery and accelerating our understanding of human health and disease.
“This is a fundamental principle that will make the Stowers Institute different,” Jim Stowers said at the Institute’s opening. “The Institute will attract the very best scientists because of the uninterrupted financial support.”
Over the past 25 years, Institute has earned a reputation throughout the Kansas City community and the world as a one-of-a-kind scientific Institute where scientists have the financial and scientific freedom to pursue the boldest, riskiest questions facing biologists today.
