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| 1999
Award for Education in Neuroscience |
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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.
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