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Eric Newman is a co-investigator on an international collaborative $6 million grant from the Leducq Foundation in Paris, France. Led by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University College, London, the six-member team is examining how blood flow is changed in different disease states. Understanding the mechanisms of alterations in blood flow may prove critical in developing new treatments for disorders such as stroke.

Professor Virginia Seybold is co-author of an article that appears in an October 2008 issue of a Journal of Neuroscience (A decrease in anandamide signaling contributes to the maintenance of cutaneous mechanical hyperalgesia in a model of bone cancer pain). The data provide evidence that manipulation of peripheral endocannabinoid signaling is a promising strategy for the management of bone cancer pain.

Professor David Redish’s paper about addiction was published in the Behavioral Brain Sciences journal in August 2008 (“A unified framework for addiction: vulnerabilities in the decision making process”). During the fall semester he was featured in an article in the Minnesota Daily (“Professor develops theory about how addicts’ brains work,” October 16, 2008). He believes that addiction can arise from ten key vulnerabilities inherent in the decision-making system within the brain. Different drugs, different behaviors, and different individuals are likely to access different vulnerabilities. The research suggests that addiction treatment could improve if clinicians could identify patients’ vulnerabilities.

Anh Tran, a senior majoring in neuroscience and psychology, has received three awards for her achievements as a student leader: the 2008 President's Student Leadership Award, the Donald R. Zander award for Outstanding Student Leadership, and the 2008 Howard R. Swearer Student Humanitarian Award.  She is involved in numerous student organizations and has helped organize the Biology Without Borders group.

Professor Robert Miller received the 2008 Proctor Medal from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.  The award, the association's highest honor, is presented annually for outstanding research in basic or clinical sciences as applied to opthamology.  He was chosen for his seminal discoveries on the basic mechanisms through which nerve cells of the retina communicate.

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