1999 Education Award in Neuroscience

Dr. Michael Zigmond

Michael Zigmond received his undergraduate degree from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in chemical engineering in 1963. He then was trained in neuroscience at the University of Chicago (Ph.D., 1968) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the faculty of University of Pittsburgh in 1970. He now holds the position of Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry in the School of Medicine.

Dr. Zigmond's research interests focus on the survival, death, and adaptation of neurons, particularly those that utilize catecholamines as neurotransmitters. His work is related to several psychiatric and neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He is the co-director with Robert Y. Moore of the National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence in Parkinson's disease at the University of Pittsburgh and directs a NINDS-sponsored Program Project on basal ganglia and parkinsonism. He also is supported by NIMH through both a MERIT award for work on the neurochemical effects of acute and chronic stress and a Research Scientist Award.

Dr. Zigmond has been actively involved in interdisciplinary training in neuroscience for some time. In 1984, he was appointed the first director of the University of Pittsburgh university-wide neuroscience training program and served in that capacity until 1979. He continues to serve as the program director for several NIH-funded training grants. He also is the co-director of the University's Survival Skills and Ethics Program with Beth Fischer, which seeks to provide students with training in professional skills such as written and oral communication, teaching, and obtaining a job and funding for research, and in responsible conduct.

Dr. Zigmond also has been active in educational programs at the national and international levels. For example, He serves on the Society for Neuroscience committee for Minority Education, Training, and Professional Advancement and chairs that society's Social Issues Committee. In 1990-91, Dr. Zigmond was president of the Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs, and this year received that organization's award for contributions to education. He currently serves on the Training Grant and Career Development Review Committee of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

In 1991-95, Zigmond provided training in professional development as part of an NIMH-funded Minority Fellowship Program at Marine Biological Labs. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Student National Medical Association, an organization dedicated to promoting the interests of medical students of color, and is the chair of the International Advisory Committee of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa, a group responsible for organizing workshops in neuroscience and in professional skills for African trainees and researchers. In 1998, Dr. Zigmond was the organizing editor for Fundamental Neuroscience, a new textbook published by Academic Press.