Director:
Walt Wilczynski, Ph.D.
Associate Director:
Anne Murphy, Ph.D.
Director of Graduate Studies
Laura L. Carruth, Ph.D.
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Donald Edwards, Ph.D.
Business Affairs Coordinator:
Tara Alexander
The Neuroscience Institute draws upon expertise in many disciplines across Georgia State. Faculty participate as core, associate, and affiliate members.
The Neuroscience Institute adds new faculty members.
Three new senior faculty members will become part of GSU’s Neuroscience Institute this year. All are distinguish scientists and educators who bring internationally recognized research programs to GSU.
Two of the nation’s most prominent researchers in the field of social neuroscience and neuroendocrinology , Dr. Geert De Vries and Dr.Nancy Forger, will join the Neuroscience Institute as new faculty members this summer. Both will occupy new lab space in the Petit Science Center associated with the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience. Dr. Geert de Vries’ research has provided fundamental insights into the role of the neuromodulator vasopressin in regulating social behavior. This work has led to more recent research on the mechanisms by which sex differences in the brain and behavior develop, and insights into the reasons why such sex differences exist. Understanding the mechanisms and consequences of such differences may provide a better understanding of the etiology of disorders of social behavior, which often show striking sex differences in morbidity. Dr. de Vries is the latest addition to GSU through its support for the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, which to date has partnered with its member institutions to add 32 new neuroscience faculty to colleges and universities across Atlanta. He will be an important part of the CBN’s plans to continue as a nationally recognized inter-institutional center, headquartered at GSU, devoted to combining neuroscience research, education, and public outreach. Dr. Nancy Forger’s research also focuses on sex differences, from a development perspective. Her work has advanced the understanding of the development of sex differences in brain structure and function, and their implications for sex differences in behavior. Her current work targets the role of programmed cell death in the development of the brain, and has focused on epigenetic processes – mechanisms by which gene expression is regulated by a variety of molecular factors – in causing differences in brain development that result in long term or permanent differences in brain structure or organization. Dr. Forger is part of the Neuroscience Institute’s growth in neurogenomics and the molecular basis of behavior under the Second Century Initiative.
Dr. William Hopkins, an internationally recognized researcher in the fields of primate behavior and brain evolution, also joins the Neuroscience Institute this summer as part of an interdepartmental Second Century Initiative in Primate Cognition, Social Behavior and Evolution. Dr. Hopkin’s innovative research focuses on the evolution of language and the specializations of the primate brain that support it. His research focuses on brain imaging in non-human primates, which he has used to identify patterns of brain lateralization and other cortical specializations that may serve as the evolutionary precursors to the brain mechanisms of human language. Dr. Hopkins will be a member of GSU’s Language Research Center as well as the Neuroscience Institute, and with other primate researchers will occupy newly renovated space in Kell Hall. He will also be a member of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience , where he is already participating in the CBN’s undergraduate research and education programs.
Dr. De Vries, Dr. Forger, and Dr. Hopkins add to GSU’s internationally recognized strength in the neuroscience of social behavior, with Drs. De Vries and Forger enhancing its existing strength in behavioral and neuroendocrinology, while Dr. Hopkins adds to the strong primate research program of GSU’s Language Research Center. All three will help us more forward in establishing GSU’s Neuroscience Institute as a premier location for research and education in these areas.
