Neuroscience

Participating Faculties: Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry (Host), Science and Social Science

Project Leaders: Michael Lehman and David Sherry

Total Project Funding:  $150,000

Funding Period: 3 years

Abstract:
Neuroscience is the study of the brain and the millions of neurons that make up the nervous system.  It is an interdisciplinary field covering a vast range of topics from the genes and molecules inside neurons to the nature of consciousness and the mind.  It includes research on how nerve cells are born, develop and communicate with each other, how perceptual systems like vision and hearing tell us about the world around us, and how disorders of the nervous system lead to brain diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer’s, ALS, schizophrenia, depression, and substance abuse. 

Neuroscientists teach and conduct research in many departments, units and faculties at Western, including the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, the Robarts Research Institute, and the Faculties of Social Science and of Health Sciences.  As neuroscience at Western has grown across the campus, there is a need for coordination and synergy.  The proposed School of Neuroscience will bring together the expertise we have at Western in many areas of neuroscience to form a truly integrated and interdisciplinary program.  A key component will be creation of a new undergraduate neuroscience program and the further growth of the current Graduate Program in Neuroscience.  The proposed School will also provide new opportunities for collaboration and training in neuroscience at Western through the creation of a biennial international neuroscience conference and a new Summer School in Neuroscience for advanced students from across Canada and around the world.

The proposed School of Neuroscience will combine integrated undergraduate and graduate programs with the facilitation of research, collaboration, and advanced training directed toward the growth of fundamental knowledge in neuroscience and the application of research in neuroscience to the treatment of disorders of the nervous system.