Byrne receives national neuroscience education award

In honor of his outstanding contributions to research, education, and a distinguished career in the neurosciences, Dr. John Byrne, chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, has received the Association for Neuroscience Departments and Programs (ANDP) Award for Neuroscience Education.

Since 1991, the ANDP has bestowed the Award for Education in Neuroscience to an individual in recognition of exemplary education that shapes the discipline of neuroscience. Such recognized figures as author Dr. Oliver Sacks and Dr. Donald Kennedy, editor in chief of Science, have received this notable award.

“It is a real honor to be among such distinguished people,” said Byrne, holder of the June and Virgil Waggoner Chair.

Byrne was nominated by Dr. Jack Waymire, Levit Family Professor of Neuroscience, with a letter of support from mentor Dr. Eric Kandel, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000. “I did my graduate and post-doctorate work with Dr. Kandel at NYU and Columbia,” Byrne added.

Kandel wrote that Byrne was a “superb scientific leader” and a “remarkable educator.”

“Jack is, without doubt, the most thoughtful and effective biophysicist in the country working on problems of behavior,” Kandel wrote. “Beyond that, he is also a remarkable administrator and an outstanding scientific leader. He has built one of the best centers in the world for the study of learning and memory in Houston.”

Kandel’s letter cited Byrne’s educational activities, including training 21 graduate students and 29 postdoctoral fellows, organizing Brain Awareness Week activities for the public for 12 years, and as director of the Neuroscience Research Center, creating the Distinguished Lecture Series, bringing 27 of the country’s leading scientists to the UT Health Science Center as guest speakers.

“We are impressed with your efforts to communicate with the lay public and with students, and delighted that you have produced an online textbook in neuroscience. These are remarkable and valuable contributions to neuroscience education,” wrote the awarding committee.

The online textbook has been in the works five years, according to Byrne. Two of the four sections are online and may be found here http://nba.uth.tmc.edu/neuroscience/index.htm

“It’s not just a dry textbook, it has a lot of animation and interactive material, and it’s gotten a tremendous response all around the world. It’s accessible not just for medical students but also for undergraduates,” he explained.

The ANDP is an organization of more than 250 member departments and programs from academic institutions in North America. Since 1981, this group has assessed the nature of neuroscience training and fostered information exchange and enhancement of education in this discipline.

“Historically, neuroscience wasn’t a discipline of its own, but now there are neuroscience majors at colleges and universities,” Byrne said, adding that the field is highly multidisciplinary, involving physiology, psychology, engineering, neurobiology, and physics.

Byrne will receive the award Nov. 3 at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting.

-D. Brown