Scripps Florida - The Scripps Research Institute Department of Neuroscience

As the founding Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Scripps Florida, I would like to welcome you to the Department. As you will read here, we have a rapidly developing and expanding program of discovery research on the brain, on diseases of the brain, and of therapeutics for these diseases. Our program began in earnest in September of 2009 when I was recruited to take the lead in developing neuroscience research at Scripps Florida. I was drawn to Scripps Florida because of the promise for building an outstanding Department of Neuroscience embedded within an outstanding and internationally recognized research enterprise – the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) – one of the country’s largest, private, non-profit biomedical organizations. TSRI has a remarkable and lengthy track record of major contributions to the betterment of health and the human condition. We are extending that track record in the Department of Neuroscience at Scripps Florida with a focus on brain function and brain dysfunction.

We have four broad goals. First, we seek to make fundamental discoveries about how the brain works through intensive, collaborative, and multidisciplinary basic research. Second, we seek to discover the biological basis for diseases of the brain. Third, we wish to develop new cures and therapies for the diseases that impair brain function. And fourth, we want to provide the most outstanding environment for the training of the next generation of brain scientists. The latter goal is particularly important because the brain and brain diseases are exceedingly complex problems. Complete solutions for these will require additional generations of well-trained and dedicated neuroscientists. You will find more information about training programs for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows under the link TRAINING PROGRAMS.

Our strategy for achieving these goals is straightforward: (1) Recruit the best and brightest faculty that are passionately engaged in their research. A description of our outstanding faculty and their interests are included at FACULTY. (2) Identify and recruit the best and brightest researchers including laboratory technicians, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows that have a burning desire to learn and contribute to the research projects of our faculty. (3) Provide our researchers with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to aid in their research programs. (4) Engage the public section in our endeavors. We are fortunate to have extremely strong support from the public in Palm Beach County and the state of Florida. This is incredibly important as cutting-edge science is filled with setbacks and some failures. The cheerleaders that we have in the public sector provide support and increased motivation to reach our goals. We thank them for their efforts and support. Giving opportunities are listed under the appropriate link.

BrainWaves is our newsletter that provides a condensed source of recent events and accomplishments of the Department of Neuroscience. We invite you to come back periodically and read BrainWaves. We are proud of our achievements to date and we anticipate many more in the future.

Again, thank you for your interest and visiting the Scripps Florida Department of Neuroscience.

Ron Davis
Chair
Scripps Florida | Department of Neuroscience