{"id":18540,"date":"2014-02-04T19:01:43","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T19:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/?p=18540"},"modified":"2014-02-04T19:01:43","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T19:01:43","slug":"unravel-the-mysteries-of-the-brain-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/2014\/02\/04\/unravel-the-mysteries-of-the-brain-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Unravel the mysteries of the brain"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Tom<\/p>\n

Unravel the mysteries of the brain<\/h1>\n

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If the human brain is what gets your electrodes going, at URI you\u2019ll have about a dozen different undergraduate majors from which to choose \u2013 from biochemistry and psychology to pharmacy, engineering, communicative disorders and more \u2013 and our graduate Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program<\/a><\/strong>. And now, we have the George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience<\/a><\/strong>.
\nThe George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience is engaging scientists and students in solving some of the most pressing health care challenges we face today, thanks to the generosity of the largest private donation in URI history.\u00a0 Thomas M. Ryan, a 1975 URI graduate and former chairman, president and CEO of CVS Caremark, and his wife Cathy, donated $15 million<\/a><\/strong> to establish the Institute in honor of his late parents, whose lives were irreversibly changed by stroke and Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Neuroscience is one of the last scientific frontiers where fundamental discoveries can still be made. All behavior is under the umbrella of neuroscience. ~ Pharmacy Professor Nasser Zawia<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhen you look at what\u2019s happening around the world with ALS, autism, epilepsy, Parkinson\u2019s, and Alzheimer\u2019s, it\u2019s truly an epidemic,\u201d Ryan said.
\nThe Ryan Institute focuses its research, teaching and outreach on such neurodegenerative diseases and disorders as Alzheimer\u2019s, Parkinson\u2019s and ALS. It draws on the expertise of more than 30 scientists across URI who have been studying brain disorders and diseases from multiple perspectives and disciplines, and attracts leading researchers and other neuroscience programs to collaborate at URI. These scientists are in turn training future scientists in a field that\u2019s increasingly important as people live longer and experience more neurological disorders later in life.
\n\u201cNeuroscience is one of the last scientific frontiers where fundamental discoveries can still be made,\u201d said Pharmacy Professor Nasser Zawia<\/a><\/strong>, director of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program.\u00a0 \u201cAll behavior is under the umbrella of neuroscience. How you behave is a result of brain function; when you love, you love with your brain.\u201d He should know. Studying Alzheimer\u2019s disease in mice, rats and monkeys, Professor Zawia has made major discoveries that have garnered international attention<\/a><\/strong>. His studies have found that Alzheimer\u2019s disease has its foundations in infancy when babies are exposed to low levels of lead, a time period he calls \u201ca window of vulnerability.\u201d
\nWhen you study neurosciences at URI, besides Professor Zawia, you might also get to work with Biomedical Engineering Professor Walt Besio<\/a><\/strong>, who\u2019s invented an electrode so sensitive<\/a><\/strong> that it can translate a person\u2019s thoughts into electrical impulses that can be read by a computer, eventually enabling people who are paralyzed to use their thoughts to control their phone, television or other devices in their environment.\u00a0 \u201cThe electrode allows me to see things that others haven\u2019t been able to see before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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