November 05, 2008
Gregory Rose to lead neuroscience research center
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University has hired a director for a research center that seeks to unlock the secrets of how the mind works.
Gregory M. Rose received the appointment as the first full-time director of the Center for Integrated Research in Cognitive and Neural Sciences. He will hold a professorship in the Department of Anatomy in the SIU School of Medicine, effective Jan. 12.
The center coordinates and advances collaborative, interdisciplinary research by psychologists, physiologists, anatomists and biomedical engineers as they study how the brain functions. It also trains undergraduate, graduate and medical students in cross-disciplinary methods. It involves more than 50 faculty spread among SIU Carbondale’s Department of Psychology, its Rehabilitation Institute, and the SIU School of Medicine in both Carbondale and Springfield.
John A. Koropchak, vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school at SIUC, said the center grew out of the “Southern at 150” strategic plan developed by the University.
“When we completed the Southern at 150 process we identified a select number of focus areas for our research, including neuroscience, based on faculty strengths and critical mass,” he said. “We have excellent faculty doing leading-edge neuroscience research in departments including psychology, anatomy, physiology, and the Rehabilitation Institute in Carbondale, as well as the Alzheimer’s Disease Center, neurology, pharmacology, and other programs at the School of Medicine in Springfield.
“We established the Center for Integrated Research in Cognitive and Neural Sciences to build on this strength and create new opportunities.”
As director, Rose will provide leadership, promoting the growth and development of the center through excellence in research, teaching and service. He will facilitate collaborative and multidisciplinary research in neural sciences including molecular neuroscience, neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neurology, cognitive/behavioral sciences, psychology, developmental and aging-related neuroscience, rehabilitation science, and translational research. He also will increase funding and funding resources for basic and applied research while enhancing cross-disciplinary education and training of undergraduates, graduate students, medical students, and postdoctoral fellows.
Rose also will conduct research and contribute to the teaching mission of his department, school and the University.
Peter Patrylo, associate professor of physiology in the SIU School of Medicine, chaired the eight-person search committee from the School of Medicine and SIUC that chose Rose for the position. He said Rose’s diverse experience as a researcher, teacher, scientist and in the drug industry made him the perfect choice for the challenging role.
“Our goal was very ambitious, because unlike most centers like this, that are only hardcore science, we are trying to bridge from that to also include more psychology, cognitive and rehabilitation research,” Patrylo said. “Because of this large range of disciplines we needed someone with the ability to communicate with a diverse group or people. He has an international reputation and that diverse background we were looking for. I’m very pleased we were able to recruit someone like him.”
Rose earned is Bachelor of Science degree in biological science in 1975 at the University of California, Irvine. He earned his doctorate in psychology there in 1980. He is member of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society, the International Brain Research Organization, the New York Academy of Sciences and the Society of Neuroscience.
From 2004 to 2007, Rose served as the director of Neuroscience Discovery Biology at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., in Wallingford, Conn. Prior to that, he was associate director, director and vice president of functional neuroscience for Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., Montvale, N.J. from 1999 to 2004.
He also has worked as a scientist in private industry, and spent more than a decade at the University of Colorado, where he was a professor. He also was a research biologist at the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Denver. He has published more than 130 articles, dozens of book chapters and has received many research grants. His areas of study include the neurobiology of learning and memory, behavioral models for neurological and psychiatric disorders, and drug discovery for cognitive enhancement.
Koropchak said Rose will provide excellent leadership for the center.
“Dr. Rose has been highlysuccessfulin university and industry positions, and is a greataddition to campus,” Koropchak said. “I'm confident that he will be successful at building partnerships andcollaborations that willlead thecenter to our goal of greater national prominence.”