The spring semester begins tomorrow at Mason. I’ll be teaching a class
on molecular signal transduction within the context of neuroscience–it
should be as interesting for me as it will be for our doctoral students.

In the meantime, I wish all of our students, faculty and staff the very
best of luck,

Jim

In today’s NY Times magazine. Aren’t these questions that we should be studying at Krasnow?

Money quote:
“Q:Yet faith, by definition, means believing in something whose existence cannot be proved scientifically. If we knew for sure that God existed, it would not require a leap of faith to believe in him.

D: Isn’t it interesting that you want to take that leap? Why do you want to take that leap? Why does our craving for God persist? It may be that we need it for something. It may be that we don’t need it, and it is left over from something that we used to be. There are lots of biological possibilities.”

Dennett serves on Krasnow’s Scientific Advisory Board.

The Economist has a wonderful story on the rebirth of the City University of New York (CUNY). It’s uplifting and it strikes me as perhaps enlightening for our own public university.

Jim

There are several other important other imaging modalities for an MRI–diffusion tensor (DT) imaging has the potential to allow for the in vivo imaging of tracts within the brain, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has the capability of imaging chemical compounds (such as neurotransmitter metabolites)–just to name two.

As we open our Krasnow brain imaging center, I hope that we’ll do more than fMRI. Ultimately I believe it will be a fusion of data that will yield the most important clues in the non-invasive human brain imaging field. Imagine the power of EEG data collected real time with the BOLD signal (the dependent variable in functional MRI) and simultaneously with MRS data related to glutamate and GABA….at that point you begin to force the brain to yield up something more than clues, no?

Jim

We had an interesting discussion the other day about two orthogonal approaches in faculty recruitment: in one, a department tries to distribute its expertise broad across a discipline so as to be able to teach a variety degree programs. In the other, a department focuses on one particular area, so as to become “the best place in the world” to do research on that particular set of research questions.

Interestingly, neither of those approaches works for an institute like Krasnow. Fundamentally, an institute for advanced study is about research that can change the paradigm–in any number of fields. You do that by hiring risk takers who think about science across disciplines.

Jim

Last week’s science retreat was an excellent opportunity to get a broad brush strokes picture of what we are doing as a whole. I was particularly impressed by the shear quantity of excellent new data from clearly well-conceived experiments across a large domains of science. One great addition this year, was allowing more junior investigators (eg. postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) to present as well as principal investigators. It’s great watching new scientists get excited about their experiments.

I was also very pleased because there is now real balance in the Krasnow science portfolio. With the addition of Claudio Cioffi’s Center on Social Complexity combined with Ken DeJong’s Adaptive Systems Laboratory, the Venn Diagram that was in the mind’s eye of our founders (an intersection of neuroscience, computer science, and cognitive psychology/behavioral biology) is considerably more reified. This allows us to approach the subject of “cognition” from multiple disciplinary directions at the same time and, I hope, will eventually lead to some very fruitful collaborative discoveries.

Jim

The image is of the official groundbreaking two days ago. Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA) and Mason President Alan G. Merten played key roles in the ceremony along with Advisory Board Members Virginia Pomata and William Nitze. It was a grand time for all.

Yesterday, for those of you who watch News Channel 8 in the Washington DC Metro area, you would have seen a story about Krasnow along with footage of our annual science retreat which was held yesterday. The quality of the presentations was excellent! But it was also clear to me that 15 minutes per presentation simply isn’t enough. So we’re going to brainstorm up a way to allow folks more time to present their science, in a venue that is in addition to the annual retreat–perhaps a brownbag series.

Jim

Things are moving (from an approval standpoint) faster than we anticipated. Clearing is expected to commence in the next several weeks (which puts us in late January).

Latest news will be on the right margin of this blog above the copyright.

Jim

Today is the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Krasnow addition. I’m extremely pleased with all the distinguished visitors who will be celebrating with us and I hope to have some pictures of the event in the not too distant future. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank two individuals:

Harold Morowitz was the first director of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study from 1990 until 1998. He is one of this country’s most distinguished biochemists and it is certainly his vision which is largely being realized today with the expansion project. We’re all very grateful to him for his service and dedication.

William Nitze has been instrumental in supporting this project from it’s earliest days, when he provided crucial planning dollars to allow us to begin to conceptualize the new space. He has also served on the Krasnow Board of Trustees and subsequent to the merger with Mason, on the Krasnow Advisory Board. We’re extremely grateful to Bill for making today possible also.

Jim

Just a quick note that the Krasnow Expansion Project received the approval of the Commonwealth Architectural Review Board this past Friday. Another milestone!

Jim