Home

Calendar

Filter

Search

What Do We Mean by Research Now? — Collaborative Approaches to Understanding Memory and Minds

Person trying to measure moon with measuring tape

How do scientists gather and sustain teams to understand infinitely complex mysteries—in this case, memory and the mind? And how are our departments, colleges, and disciplinary organizations adapting to the need for such deeply interdisciplinary teams? Join us on February 7, 2022, as a group of researchers from neuroscience, microbiology, and internal medicine share their process, challenges, and suggestions for the future of research.

Panelists:

Ted Abel, Professor, Chair, and DEO of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Iowa
—Dr. Abel is the Roy J. Carver Chair in Neuroscience, Director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute and Chair and DEO of the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology  in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa with secondary appointments in the Departments of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Psychiatry, Biochemistry, and Psychological and Brain Sciences. Until 2017, he was the Brush Family Professor of Biology and Co-Director of the Biological Basis of Behavior Program at the University of Pennsylvania where he directed a Graduate Training Program in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of memory storage and the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. He has been a pioneer in the use of molecular and genetic approaches to define how neural circuits mediate behavior, including identifying the molecular impact of sleep deprivation on neuronal function. He is a recently elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Read full bio.

Josalyn Cho, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine) and Director of Iowa Inflammation Program, University of Iowa
Dr. Cho's clinical interests include critical care and general pulmonary disease. Her research focuses on understanding the immunologic mechanisms of pulmonary disease. Specifically, her laboratory utilizes basic models of disease and translational studies to investigate innate and adaptive immune responses during viral infection and asthma. View faculty profile.

Nandakumar Narayanan, Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Iowa
—Dr. Narayanan is the Juanita J. Bartlett professor of Neurology Research and Vice Chair for Basic and Translational Research in the Department of Neurology at the Carver College of Medicine in the University of Iowa.  He also is an Associate Professor an Associate Director of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute, and Associate Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Training Program. He received a BA from Stanford University and received an MD and PhD from Yale Medical School, where he also completed a residency in neurology. He came to the University of Iowa in 2012 to launch his lab studying the basic mechanisms of prefrontal dopamine. He leads a multidisciplinary clinic focused on Parkinson's disease. Read full bio.

Stanley Perlman, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Iowa
—Dr. Perlman's laboratory has been interested in the pathogenesis of murine coronavirus infections for several years. Now, the lab also studies three respiratory human coronavirus infections: SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)-coronavirus, Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS)-coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), human coronavirus-OC43, and human coronavirus-NL63. View faculty profile.

Moderated by Teresa Mangum, Director of the UI Obermann Center for Advanced Studies.

Free and open to all, but registration is required

About the new "What Do We Mean By Research Now?" series:
For many faculty members in the last decade the forms of artistic practice, scholarship, and research have undergone a sea change. Empirical methodologists in the social sciences engage with ethnographers. Artists take deep archival dives to prepare for plays and paintings. Engineers collaborate with anthropologists and English professors. Humanities scholars and technologists form international ArcGIS teams. Yet as the Mellon-funded Humane Metrics Initiative in the Humanities and Social Sciences, the American Council of Learned Societies, and other professional organizations frequently point out, our systems of evaluation have not kept pace with these new methodologies and forms. This year, the Obermann Center is hosting a series of conversations across the disciplines to highlight the many experimental, cutting edge, even controversial creations, discoveries, interpretive work, empirical studies, STEM experiments, publicly engaged and interdisciplinary projects that ask us to expand our understanding of research and what it means to be a research university. All discussions will be virtual, free, and open to the public.

Photo credit: Laurent Laveder, www.laurentlaveder.com, from his "Moon games" series. 

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact in advance at