Sex Steroids & The Brain Symposium

Join us for an interdisciplinary symposium hosted by the Kavli Foundation and UCSB Brain Initiative. The panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Ken Kosik, Harriman Professor of Neuroscience at UCSB, will feature:

Roberta Diaz BRINTON - Vanderveen Chair in Therapeutic Discovery and Development at the University of Southern California and Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering and Neurology. Dr. Brinton has elucidated the mechanisms by which sex hormones control bioenergetic and regenerative aging in the brain. Her work has led to new, personalized clinical interventions in Alzheimer's disease. For this pioneering work, Dr. Brinton was awarded the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation Scientist of the Year and "Science Educator of the Year" by the Society for Neuroscience. She was recognized as one of the "Ten Best Minds" by US News and World Report. For her decades of commitment to science education for inner city youth of Los Angeles, Dr. Brinton received the Presidential Citizens Medal. Her research has appeared in the New York Times and more than 100 other media outlets including ABC, CBS and Science Friday.

John H MORRISON - Professor of Neurology at UC Davis School of Medicine and Director of the California National Primate Research Center. Dr. Morrison's research focuses on the neurobiology of aging and neurodegeneration. His lab develops models of neural connections and determines how these connections change with healthy and abnormal aging, as in Alzheimer's disease. Among other transformative research projects, he directs a large NIH-funded program project on "Estrogen & the Aging Brain." He is one of the most highly cited investigators in neuroscience.

Emily Goard JACOBS - Asst. Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB. Dr. Jacobs' research elucidates the effects of estradiol on the structure and function of the human brain. Using human brain imaging, endocrinology, and imaging genetics, she determines the unique aging patterns of the female brain, addressing a major gap in women's health. Dr. Jacobs was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at UCSF. Next, she joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School in the Dept. of Psychiatry with a National Institutes of Health “BIRCWH” Career Development Award. She is a recipient of the Stuart T. Hauser Clinical Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Berkeley's Patricia Goldman-Rakic Fellowship for Women in Neuroscience and the Elizabeth Roboz Einstein Fellowship in Neuroscience. In 2016 she was named a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow.