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1994 Education Award in Neuroscience
Dr.
Floyd Bloom
 Dr.
Floyd Bloom was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1936. He
attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where
he received an A.B. degree cum laude and then an M.D. degree
from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. During his
student years, he had an interest in pharmacology and, after
completing an internship at the Barnes Hospital, he sought
further training in this field at the National Institute of
Mental Health's Clinical Neuropharmacological Research Center.
Here, in association with a number of other talented
investigators, Floyd Bloom initiated his correlated pharmaco-physiological
studies of fundamental mechanisms of the nervous system.
An innovative neuroscientist with a broad-based concept of
structure and function of the nervous system, Dr. Bloom became
one of the major architects of modern neuroscience. He was the
first to appreciate the necessity for in-depth study of
comprehensive neurotransmitter systems at the anatomical,
physiological and pharmacological levels. His early correlative
studies of the noradrenergic innervation of cerebellum and
cerebral cortex stand as classic examples of the value of such
an approach. Dr. Bloom was also one of the first neurobiologists
to utilize modern molecular biological techniques in a search
for molecules of importance in brain function and the
characterization of brain specific genes. Recognizing the value
of computers in neuroscience, he pioneered their application to
neuro-anatomic investigations and the development of a neuro-anatomic
data base. His work has found considerable applicability to many
enigmatic disorders of the nervous system, such as the addictive
states, the dementias, and the major psychoses.
Dr. Bloom is
presently Chairman of the Department of Neuropharmacology at The
Scripps Research Institute. He previously was Director of
Behavioral Neurobiology at The Salk Institute and Chief of the
Laboratory of Neuropharmacology of NIMH. A member of the
National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, he
has received numerous awards, including the Pasarow Award in
Neuropsychiatry and the Hermann von Helmholtz Award, as well as
a number of honorary degrees from major universities. Beginning
May 1, 1995 he is the new Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine.
Dr. Bloom has always
maintained the highest standard of excellence in scientific
research and has trained many neuroscientists that have gone on
to develop their own laboratories that reflect the
interdisciplinary approach to brain research as formulated and
developed by him. |
