SPOTLIGHT NEWS
Neurobiology Department Created
Born this past July out of recommendations from the dean-appointed neurosciences task force, the new Neurosciences Institute Steering Committee, took the lead to push for a department exclusively focused on the neurosciences.
With the approval of James Madara, MD, dean of the Biological Sciences Division, and the BSD faculty, the formation of a Department of Neurobiology was proposed. The Council of the University Senate approved the creation of this new department, as did the provost. S. Murray Sherman, PhD, serves as its inaugural chair.
Vinay Kumar, MD, vice dean of the BSD, led an ad hoc committee that recommended founding members for the new department. The dean and provost have approved the 11 members. New department faculty will consider all further appointment applications.
The 11 founding members for the Department of Neurobiology are:
- S. Murray Sherman, PhD, chairman
- William Green, PhD
- Elizabeth Grove, PhD
- Naoum Issa, MD, PhD
- Peggy Mason, PhD
- Robert McCrea, PhD
- Clifton Ragsdale, PhD
- Kamal Sharma, PhD
- Sangram Sisodia, PhD
- Gopal Thinakaran, PhD
- Xiaoxi Zhuang, PhD
Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology will serve temporarily as an academic “home” for those faculty members who do not align with any other BSD department. Kumar will oversee the process of NPP faculty transitioning to other departments.
The Department of Neurobiology will coordinate its programmatic efforts with the planned Neurosciences Institute, which will bring together faculty interested in the neurosciences from across campus and span basic, translational and clinical research.
As with the new department, the task force—which included faculty from the Physical Sciences Division, the Social Sciences Division and Argonne National Laboratory, as well as the BSD—recommended the Neuroscience Institute. Daniel Margoliash, PhD, chairs the Neuroscience Institute.
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