The Future of Neuroscience: In Their Own Words

The future of Neuroscience will be determined by the resolve of those in the field. This is part of the catalyst behind the success of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. “I think it is critical to teach and train the next generation of scientists. Science is really made up of new ideas and individuals who bring new perspectives. The minute it stagnates then there is no progress,” said Ania Majewska, Ph.D., program director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program.

Kathleen Miller-Rhodes

4th year Neuroscience Ph.D. student

“What I love about Neuroscience is that it is so interdisciplinary. Many neuroscientists are also immunologists and physiologists – their discipline lies not only within the brain, but also in understanding other peripheral systems. I believe that to truly improve outcomes for patients, neuroscience research needs to evaluate how the periphery can influence the brain (and vice versa). In learning how the brain interacts with the rest of the body, we can develop therapeutics that globally improve outcomes."

Humberto Mestre, M.D.

5th year Neuroscience Ph.D. student

“There is a recent effort in trying to understand what each cell in the brain is doing. This is uncovering an incredible amount of heterogeneity and diversity in terms of the variety of different cells in the brain and speculating about their individual function. I am excited to see how neuroscience will begin to construct a more complete view of how the microscopic components scale up to the macroscopic correlates, with the goal of ultimately generating a multiscale view of how the brain works and how it interacts with other organ systems.”

Evan Newbold

Incoming student, Neuroscience, B.S., Lafayette College

“I think neuroscience and the brain are scarcely understood relative to other body or organ systems, and while that means there is so much to learn it also means that there is so much improvement to be made in our understanding. There are so many smart people dedicating their lives to solving problems in neuroscience and I’m so excited to see all the discoveries that will be made and the solutions that are produced.”

Victoria Popov

Incoming student; Biomedical Sciences, B.S. and Professional Studies, M.S., RIT

“I am most excited to observe the impact recent wide range technological breakthroughs will have. Particularly in computational work to translating between neural mechanism and cognitive function. For instance, UR is at the forefront of our future through the Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory’s use of Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI). I aspire to utilize MoBI to develop a rehabilitative system that will improve cognitive functioning in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders who are hearing, D/deaf, or hard-of-hearing.”

Originally published in NEUROSCIENCE Volume 6.