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Dr. Derek Morris has been awarded a NARSAD Investigator Grant from the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation, for his research into risk genes that cause schizophrenia and how they contribute to cognitive deficits in patients. The research will focus on new schizophrenia risk genes that function in epigenetic mechanisms (controller) genes that regulate the functions of other genes. The Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation is the top non-governmental funder of mental health research grants, which awarded a total of $3.9 million to 40 mid-career scientists from 36 institutions in 10 countries. “Schizophrenia is desperately in need of new drug treatments as current anti-psychotic drugs, discovered serendipitously more than 50 years ago, are only partially effective and do not treat the cognitive deficits in patients that most affect their quality of life” Dr Morris said. 

An exceptional seminar will be presented on Preserving the Promise of Higher Education: our critical roles in excellence and access by international speaker  Prof. Noah Finkelstein, Co-director of Center for STEM Learning and the National Network of STEM Education Centers, Department of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.  The seminar will be at 1pm in Room 203, River Room in the Arts Science Building on Monday November 20th 2017. The event is open to all but please register in advance using the Event Bright link below. Institutions of higher education serve essential roles in building our society, and are currently relied upon to help address national and international challenges. As such, attention is being paid to the needs to transform higher education to make our programs more accessible and impactful, especially within the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Because of decades of research in student learning, we are now positioned to make scholarly and evidence-based decisions that will enhance these teaching, learning, access and success in higher education. This talk examines how we, and STEM disciplines themselves, are positioned to address current barriers and opportunities. The seminar will review the growth of Finkelstein's own programs in STEM education, in particular, research and programmatic efforts in improving our courses, university-community partnerships, and models of institutional change. http://www.colorado.edu/physics/noah-finkelstein Please register at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/special-seminar-preserving-the-promise-of-higher-education-our-critical-role-in-excellence-and-tickets-38225169511?utm_campaign=order_confirmation_email&utm_medium=email&ref=eemailordconf&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term=eventname  This Exceptional Seminar is co-hosted by Cell Explorers (SNS) and School of Physics please contact Claudia  Fracchiolla at CLAUDIA.FRACCHIOLLA@nuigalway.ie for additional information.

Professor Noel Lowndes from the Centre of Chromosome Biology (pictured centre) received the honour of being elected as a Members of the Royal Irish Academy during a special admittance ceremony at Academy House in Dublin last Friday (26 May 2017).  Read further