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March 16-20 has been designated "Brain Awareness Week" by the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiative. Neuroscientists at the School of Medicine and throughout the country will be reaching out to the public to demonstrate recent advances in the understanding of how the brain works and how it can malfunction as a result of disease or injury.
"We see this as an opportunity for people to understand the contributions being made by neuroscientists nationally, as well as by our scientists," said Kenneth R. Smith Jr., M.D., professor of surgery and director of the division of neurosurgery. "Neuroscientists at Saint Louis University School of Medicine are conducting studies that are at the forefront of many fields of research. Brain Awareness Week gives us the chance to show the community how neuroscience research benefits society by helping us understand and treat disease and injury."
Scientists at the School of Medicine will be available to share their latest research in the neurosciences. This includes the new equipment for stereotactic, image-guided surgery developed by neurosurgeon Richard D. Bucholz, M.D., and the latest advances in spinal cord regeneration under investigation by neurobiologist Dr. Xiao Ming Xu and guest lecturer Wise Young, M.D.
Through events such as "The Eighth Annual Neuroscience Symposium," the "Brain Awareness Week Symposium" and demonstrations for children in the classroom, Saint Louis University researchers will join scientists across the country in heightening awareness of what is happening in one of medicine's last frontiers.
To furnish information on neuroscience topics for Brain Awareness Week, Saint Louis University is launching a web site organized under the headings of understanding the brain, the developing brain, the mature brain, the aging brain and the brain in death. Each category includes subjects related to ongoing research, neuroscience experts, patients and case studies, active studies and support groups, and additional resources.
The web site is located at http://www.slucare.edu/cr/brain. For information on the "Eighth Annual Neuroscience Symposium: Head and Spinal Cord," March 9-10, call Sally Lehnert at 577-8919. For information on the Brain Awareness Week Symposium "Neuroscience Research: The Road to Clinical Breakthroughs," March 18, 1-5 p.m., call Allyn Howlett at 577-8548. The web site also contains information on these events and other Brain Awareness Week activities.