neuroscience.lsuhsc.eduNeuroscience Center of Excellence

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Crime Statistics View Campus Crime Statistics Search Menu School of Medicine Home Neuroscience Center Navigate this sub-section: About About the Director Administration Directions to Center Calendar & Events Previous Activities Press Faculty Current Faculty Selected Former Faculty Awards & Recognitions Invited NCE Faculty Lectures Research Publications Patents Education Graduate Programs Summer Undergraduate Neuroscience Program Giving Donate to the NCE Benefactors of the NCE Donate to the neurosicence center of excellence Welcome! The Neuroscience Center pursues a multidisciplinary approach to neuroscience education and research. The primary mission of the Center is to foster and conduct science of the highest caliber that advances the understanding of brain function and diseases that affect the nervous system. A major role of the Center is to mentor the development of neuroscientists and clinician-neuroscientists through fundamental and translational research. The Neuroscience Center has established, through the faculty associated with the Center, research and clinical programs directed toward Alzheimer’s disease, pain, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, brain, and spinal cord injury, epilepsy, depression, blinding eye diseases, schizophrenia, and developmental and hearing disorders. Cutting-edge research programs on the molecular and cellular bases of neural diseases are the heart of the Center’s innovative educational programs: the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate Program (Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. in Neuroscience) attracts outstanding students from around the world; the Summer Undergraduate Neuroscience (SUN) Program mentors top Louisiana undergraduate students through lectures and hands-on research; and postdoctoral fellowships train the next generation of investigators. Several seminar programs and lectureships host renowned scientists who present their work to the LSUHSC community. The lecture series Health Through Discovery” promotes the exchange of knowledge at the interface of clinical and research science. The annual statewide Neuroscience Retreat (in its 22nd year in 2010) is a forum for the showcasing of neuroscience investigation and discovery and has been the birthplace of countless research collaborations. The Center has had an economic impact in Louisiana through significant federal and private research funding. Innovations from the Center’s drug-discovery program have resulted in 19 patents or patent applications; some of these innovations formed the base of a start-up pharmaceutical/biotechnology company in Louisiana. In addition, the expertise of the Center’s investigators has drawn the interest of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and has taken the lead in the establishment of the Neurobiotechnology Program of Louisiana, which brings together Tulane University, LSUHSC-Shreveport, and LSUHSC-NO to promote the application of knowledge gained through research. The Center is very active in technology transfer and is dedicated to the retention within the state of Louisiana of technologic expertise, patents, and the income generated through discovery. In 1997 the Center began its initial phase of consolidation of resources and recruitment of investigators. At present, the Neuroscience Center is undertaking its second major expansion. In bringing together academic and governmental agencies and private/public partnerships, the Neuroscience Center has had a pivotal role in innovative approaches to the treatment of disorders of the nervous system and the advancement of understanding of the mechanisms of disease. I appreciate your visit to the Neuroscience Center of Excellence website and thanks to Dr. Rigby for his perspective on the Center’s organization and activities (see below). Sincerely, Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D. Director, LSUHSC THE LSU NEUROSCIENCE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE: A PERSPECTIVE By Perry G. Rigby, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Chancellor, LSUHSC (1985-1994) Overview The was proposed by Dr. Nicolas Bazan and authorized by the LSU Board of Supervisors and the Board of Regents in 1989. This recognition was supported a few years later by funds from the Louisiana Legislature to begin a comprehensive biomedical scientific center at the LSU Medical Center aligned with the mission components of Education, Research, Patient Care, and Community Service. This Neuroscience Center, and the Cancer Center, were in subsequent years followed by other LSUHSC centers of excellence. They in turn recruited faculty participants in many related disciplines and across departmental lines, basic and clinical hierarchical relationships that joined together in common purpose and active work. Dr. Bazan not only founded this new entity in interdisciplinary and interdepartmental endeavor, but effectively managed, grew and expanded the enterprise to include other academic institutions and organizations across the state and around the nation. The core emphasis and focus of these teams of scientists is research; the ideas, experiments, and results that unite and encourage exploration and progress. There are also numerous areas of education by many of the related neuroscience faculty and others, and teams of clinicians, focused in practice settings, arranged, and available to deliver medical and surgical care in neuroscience. The initial relationship with the community in which we live, broad in scope and diverse in people and talent, has also been nurtured and encouraged by Dr. Bazan. Now the Neuroscience Center is recognized as a...