Society for Neuroscience Announces Achievement Awards
For immediate release.
SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE ANNOUNCES ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Awards recognize contributions to career achievement, the advancement of women, early promise
Washington — The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) announced the winners of major achievement awards during Neuroscience 2011, SfN’s annual meeting and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
"Achievement awards give SfN the chance to recognize colleagues who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to neuroscience, the advancement of women scientists throughout the field, as well as mentoring and outreach," said Susan G. Amara, PhD, president of SfN.
Janett Rosenberg Trubatch Career Development Award: Amar Sahay, PhD and Jennifer R. Morgan, PhD
Supported by the Trubatch family, the Career Development Award recognizes promise and achievement in the neuroscience field for early career professionals. The award includes complimentary SfN annual meeting registration and a $2,000 prize.
Amar Sahay is engaged in developing a deeper understanding of adult-born neurons and their role in depression and affective disorders. He is currently transitioning to his own lab at Harvard University, where he will continue investigating the plasticity and function of adult-born neurons and neural stem cells.
Jennifer R. Morgan’s research is concerned with synaptic vesicle recycling. Her work explores proteins that regulate vesicle recovery and how disruptions at the synapse can affect this process. Morgan is also working with her lab to advance the understanding of the regeneration of spinal axons and the recovery of synaptic transmission during nerve repair. Morgan is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
Bernice Grafstein Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Mentoring: Stephen G. Lisberger, PhD
The Bernice Grafstein Award recognizes individuals for dedication to promoting women’s advancement in neuroscience, specifically by mentoring women to facilitate their entry and retention in the field. This award is supported by Bernice Grafstein, PhD, who was the first woman president of SfN. The award, established in 2009, includes complimentary registration and transportation to SfN’s annual meeting, along with a $2,000 award.
Stephen G. Lisberger is a professor in the Department of Physiology, director of the W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience, and co-director of the Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco. He has an impressive record of mentoring women graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in computational neuroscience and vestibular and oculomotor physiology — research areas traditionally dominated by men. His trainees have thrived under his guidance and many are now supervising their own successful laboratories. Lisberger received his PhD in 1976 from the University of Washington.
Louise Hanson Marshall Special Recognition Award: Judy Illes, PhD
The Louise Hanson Marshall Special Recognition Award honors an individual working to promote the professional advancement of women in the field through organizational leadership, teaching, and public advocacy. This award includes complimentary SfN annual meeting registration and travel expenses.
Judy Illes has demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing women in neuroscience both in academia and outside the lab. Her work with national and international organizations such as Women in World Neuroscience, the International Brain Research Organization, and her term as co-chair of SfN’s Women in Neuroscience subcommittee reflect a deep commitment to promoting women scientists.
Illes received her PhD from Stanford University in 1987. She contributes extensively to the international development of neuroethics and provides strong support for women researchers in this area.
Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award: Margaret S. Livingstone, PhD
Established in 2000, the Mika Salpeter Award recognizes individuals with outstanding career achievements in neuroscience who have also actively promoted the professional advancement of women in neuroscience. The award includes a $5,000 prize for the recipient.
Margaret Livingstone has demonstrated considerable creativity and enthusiasm throughout her career as a scientist and mentor. Her desire to promote women in neuroscience is reflected by her many efforts to improve the lives of women at her university. Livingstone has been vocal about women’s issues, particularly those related to work/family balance, and is known to be an exceptional mentor.
Livingstone earned her PhD in 1981 from Harvard University. Her research has been instrumental in providing insight into visual systems and processing, particularly how we see color, depth, and motion. Livingstone has also combined her scientific work with an interest in visual art. She has won acclaim with artists and art historians alike, and continues to seek ways to help further the understanding of art through science.
The Society for Neuroscience is an organization of more than 41,000 researchers and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.
