Category: Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study

Decade of the Mind IV, V and beyond


We returned to Washington on the red-eye from Long Beach Airport and arrived on Monday morning, in time for the festivities–although we didn’t brave the crowds on the Mall. I note that President Obama clearly mentioned science in his inaugural address–that and his high quality appointments make me very optimistic about this administration.

The money quote:

The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

The Decade of the Mind IV meeting went better than I could have ever expected–just a superb set of presentations, Q&A sessions and off-line discussions. The picture is of the New York Times’ science reporter George Johnson and Director of the National Museum of Health and Medicine Adrianne Noe. Dr. Noe is also the current chair of the Krasnow Advisory Board. I’m in the middle. The river in the background is the Rio Grande with the Sandia Mountains as the backdrop.

Decade of the Mind V, will be held in Berlin Germany on September 10-12 of this year. I’ll have more information soon, so stay tuned. And in the meantime, we’re working on future plans to keep the momentum moving into Asia.

Jim

Moving on to 2009

I write these words as 70 mph winds rumble by our mountain ridge. One hope that the “sail” that is our roof remains firmly attached to the pylons that constitute our anchor. Otherwise, we’ll be flying west!

This has been an extremely uplifting year for the Institute.  We are further expanding the Institute’s physical footprint, we’ve continued hiring, we’re continuing to publish in high-impact journals and the process of scientific discovery combined with graduate education remains a constant all while the macro-economy went into free-fall. We were able to do this because our University remains on solid ground, and because the University leadership continues to believe in the vision of advanced study as a means of catalyzing the advance of the overall goal to become a major research university.

This does not mean that there wont be real challenges ahead–there most certainly will, but I feel more confident than ever, that the Institute has a great future ahead of it–one where it can play a central role in the National Decade of the Mind Project. And one where high-risk, high-payoff scientific research is rewarded on the basis of merit.

Happy New Year,

Jim

The Economy and our Institute for Advanced Study

It seems that every day recently, the headlines literally scream economic meltdown. I’ve lived a bit more than half a century (I distinctly remember growing up in the 1960’s) and I have to say the recent crisis is unparalleled in my own experience–distinct in its rate of daily change from the economic “malaise” of the late 1970’s.

In that environment, it’s inevitable that the world-wide storm would have effects on this small jewel of an institute for advanced study. And that is certainly the case–as an academic of one of the largest public universities in the Washington D.C. area, we are to some extent dependent upon the generosity of the Virginia taxpayer. But it’s also true that as an academic unit inside a large public university we are to some extent protected from the economic tsunami in a way that our stand-alone sister institutions are not. There is a certain strength that comes from being part of a commonwealth (lower case c intended).
The other positive note that I would think useful is how diversified our sponsored-research portfolio really is. The Institute receives support from multiple federal agencies, international organizations and private sector entities. And I believe, we do excellent science–I would argue that even in the worst of times, the really excellent science will be funded.
On the other hand, we are dealing with real cuts and we expect to see more contraction soon. That is the reality of our current interesting times. I am particularly grateful to our Advisory Board under the current conditions–their continued financial support is more important than ever.
Jim

Welcome to the the 2008-2009 Academic Year

A week from today, the Institute for Advanced Study parking lot will be jammed with parents unloading their children’s stuff–we’re adjacent to the freshman dorms here at George Mason University–and so the beginning of the academic year is unmistakable for us.

I have just returned to campus from the annual two-day President’s Council/Board of Visitor’s retreat. It’s an entirely useful exercise that informs me of the entire waterfront of activities going on at this very large public university. Beyond informing, it also is wonderful for getting into the right frame-of-mind to begin another academic year as Institute Director.
For the Institute, this marks the beginning of our eighteenth year, and our sixth since fully merging into George Mason. I count approximately 60 scientific staff, 7 administrative support folks (including myself) and two wonderful doctoral programs that fill our halls and break-out places with students. We have finished our first expansion project (we’re now approximately 35,000 square feet) and we’re going to commence the second expansion sometime during this academic year (another 12,000 or so square feet).
Most importantly, we’re doing significant science–advanced studies–at the forefront of the interface between biology, psychology and machines–“mind sciences”. Throughout my travels this past summer, I find myself reminding: I may be a neuroscientist, but I lead an institute for advanced study.
So let’s focus on the trans-disciplinary science that our illustrious founders chose as putatively fruitful–cognition across the intersection of computer sciences, neurobiology and cognitive psychology. 
Good luck for a successful year!
Jim

Thank you Nadine!

Thanks Nadine for introducing yourself. We’re really looking forward to your joining Molecular Neuroscience here at the Institute and especially taking the time to write a bit about yourself to this blog’s loyal readers.

Dr. Kabbani’s arrival at the Institute for Advanced Study will mark the continuation of our growth trajectory across the mind-sciences.
Jim

Agent-based models of HIV in Uganda


We’re into the afternoon now. This a very interesting presentation from Krasnow’s Center for Social Complexity. Maction Komwa is a graduate student under Professor Dawn Parker who is working with collaborators in Uganda to model HIV-AIDS transmission using agent-based models.

It’s fascinating to learn about the breadth of scientific activities that go on at the Institute.

Construction becomes a way of life at Krasnow

Yesterday afternoon, the Virginia General Assembly approved the bond authorization that will now lead directly to the next 12,000 sq. foot expansion project (Phase III) of the Institute. We’re going to be headed back into “neuroarchitecture” mode over the Fall and I expect in the next 24 months that we will take delivery. This is wonderful news for mind research at George Mason University and I believe a very strong endorsement of our transdisciplinary research program here. It also should serve as a signal that the Institute will continue its very active recruiting program.

Jim

Our colleagues at the Great Ape Trust in the news

Krasnow alum, Rob Shumaker at the center of the story:

Dr. Rob Shumaker, director of orangutan research, signed the document on behalf of Great Ape Trust in January after he and one of his scientific colleagues, Dr. Serge Wich, traveled to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Wich is one of three co-directors of orangutan research at Ketambe Research Center, the longest-running field study site for orangutans in Sumatra. Ketambe is located entirely in the Gunung Leuser National Park, and is therefore part of the government-protected Sumatran Rainforest World Heritage Site and the Leuser Ecosystem. About 90 percent of 6,700 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) are found in the Leuser Ecosystem.

New faculty member for the Fall: Nadine Kabbani Ph.D.

It’s a pleasure to announce that Dr. Nadine Kabbani will join the Department of Molecular Neuroscience here at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study for the Fall term 2008. Dr. Kabbani comes to Mason from the Institute Pasteur in Paris where she was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Jean Pierre Changeux. Her research has focused on the proteomic profiling of nicotinic receptor complexes in the brain using mass spectrometry.

Previously Dr. Kabbani was in the laboratory of Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic at Yale University. She received her Ph.D. from Penn State University under Dr. Robert Levenson in 2003.

And Dr. Kabbani is coming home. Because she received her B.A. in Biology and Psychology right here at George Mason University.

Welcome back Nadine!

Jim