SfN Neuroscience Scholars Program Wins Presidential Award
WASHINGTON, DC — The Society for Neuroscience’s (SfN) Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) has won a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). The award recognizes outstanding efforts of mentors in encouraging the next generation of innovators and developing a science and engineering workforce that reflects the diverse talent of America. SfN is the world’s largest organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of the brain and nervous system.
“The Neuroscience Scholars Program has encouraged generations of underrepresented graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to pursue careers in neuroscience, reinforcing the value of the participation of scientists from a diversity of backgrounds,” said SfN President Richard Huganir. “SfN is committed to supporting the global neuroscience community, and the training of well over 600 neuroscientists through this program owes largely to the demonstrated dedication of its principal investigators and advisory board in providing the resources necessary to prepare them to make contributions to the field that advance scientific progress.”
The award was presented at a ceremony this week held at the National Portrait Gallery by France Cordova, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Former NSP Principal Investigator Erich Jarvis of The Rockefeller University, accepted the award on behalf of SfN. Jarvis was a fellow who participated in the program in 1995 and has mentored hundreds of early-career neuroscientists.
Founded in 1982, the NSP is a two-year training program supporting neuroscience trainees’ scientific and professional growth through mentoring, networking, and professional skills development. Since 2012, the NSP has been co-directed by principal investigators Gina Poe, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Julio Ramirez (2009 PAESMEM Awardee), a professor at Davidson College, with the support of an advisory board comprised of leading neuroscientists who share a commitment to advancing the careers of underrepresented scientists. The program has been supported since its inception by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is an organization of nearly 36,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and the nervous system.
