VIRGINIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 36TH ANNUAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
For immediate release.
NR-10-06 (10/11/06) For more information, please call Sara Harris at (202) 962-4000 or sharris@sfn.org.
VIRGINIA PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE WIN TRAVEL AWARD TO SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE 36TH ANNUAL MEETING IN ATLANTA, GA
WASHINGTON, DC, October 11 - Two local educators -- a neuroscientist and a teacher -- are one of 10 pairs of international award recipients recognized for their commitment and innovative approach to bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
Timothy Donahue, an Advanced Placement Psychology teacher at Hermitage High School, and Dr. Joseph Porter of Virginia Commonwealth University, received a Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Travel Award to attend Neuroscience 2006, the 36th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, to be held in Atlanta, Ga., October 14-18.
Over the past several years, Donahue has been incorporating neuroscience research into his psychology curriculum at Hermitage with the help of Porter, an experimental psychologist at VCU. Porter has worked with Donahue on enhancing his psychology class by serving as a guest speaker and providing information on applicable research findings. Most recently the two have been working together to create a course in Biopsychology where students can receive dual credit at both Hermitage and VCU.
"Tim is one of the most enthusiastic proponents of neuroscience that I have met in a number of years," Porter says. "This travel grant…will allow him to be exposed to a large amount of information and current research…that he can bring back to his classroom."
"A chance to attend the Society for Neuroscience annual convention is truly an exciting and excellent opportunity to see and hear from the numerous researchers in the field so that I might bring their research back to my school," says Donahue.
Roughly 30,000 scientists from around the world will attend Neuroscience 2006 to present and discuss the latest advances in neuroscience research. The meeting will feature more than 14,000 presentations covering topics ranging from stem cell research to basic human behavior.
In addition to receiving unlimited access to the meeting's thousands of sessions and forums, the awardees have been invited to attend a number of special events. Porter, Donahue, and the other award recipients will also be honored at a gathering of the Society's Public Education and Communication Committee, which represents educational advocates from among the Society's membership.
The goal of the award program is to further partnerships between research and educational communities by bringing them together at a premier scientific meeting. "The travel award program is an example of the Society's commitment to explaining basic scientific processes -- how research leads to discovery and how discovery leads to treatments, cures and healthy choices at all stages in life," says Society for Neuroscience Public Education Director Colleen McNerney. "This program provides encouragement and visibility to the Society's members to embrace and contribute to this work, demonstrating the value of scientist and teachers working in partnership."
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 37,500 members, is the largest organization of researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
