Michael Stryker
The Allen Institute for Brain Science, a nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to performing innovative basic brain research and freely distributing its discoveries to researchers worldwide, recently announced the formation of the new Allen Institute Scientific Advisory Board.
Board members will provide expert advice to help the institute define and advance its overall scientific agenda.
Michael Stryker, PhD, William F. Ganong Endowed Chair in Physiology at UCSF, is among eight other distinguished scientists to be appointed to the new advisory board.
"We are absolutely thrilled to convene such an experienced and diversified range of scientists to help inspire the future direction of the Allen Institute," said Allan Jones, PhD, chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science. "The appointment of the new board is an important milestone for the institute as we chart our course beyond the Allen Brain Atlas project."
A member of the UCSF faculty since his appointment as assistant professor in 1978, Stryker served as department chair from 1994 to 2005. He earned his PhD degree neurophysiology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
Stryker has received several awards and honors for his research, including appointment as the Galileo Galilei professor of science at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, and the highly selective MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time Award), which provides support to outstanding researchers who have demonstrated superior research competence and productivity. Stryker's primary research interest is in the role of neural activity in the development and plasticity of precise connections within the central nervous system.
The world-renowned scientific board will include five members of the institute's existing Allen Brain Atlas Scientific Advisory Board, which was formed to support the institute's inaugural project, the Allen Brain Atlas, a web-based, three-dimensional map revealing where more than 21,000 genes are expressed in the adult mouse brain. Four new board members also will join.
"Building on the success of the Allen Brain Atlas, the institute will undertake additional large-scale projects designed to help accelerate fundamental discoveries by the greater scientific community in areas such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, neurodegeneration and autism. The board's members will provide key expertise and third-party perspectives to help the Institute test its ideas and identify scientific initiatives with the greatest potential to impact research on the brain in health and disease," said Marc Tessier-Lavigne, PhD, chair of the institute's Scientific Advisory Board, a world leader in the study of brain development, and senior vice president for research drug discovery at Genentech.
Located in Seattle, Washington, the Allen Institute for Brain Science aims to advance a new understanding of diseases that result from disorders of the brain. Founded in 2001 and launched in 2003 with a seed contribution from philanthropist Paul G. Allen, the institute seeks federal and state funds, along with private contributions and foundation awards, as part of an ongoing public-private partnership to sustain the organization.
Related Links:
Stryker Lab
Vision Research at UCSF Facilities Management
The Allen Institute for Brain Science
The Allen Brain Atlas
