新澳门六合彩内幕信息

Among the Academies: Creating His Own Path

John Morrison Has Become an Expert on Neuroscience and Aging

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John Morrison stands in lab
John Morrison, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, is an expert in the field of neuroscience. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

John Morrison was such an early expert in the field of neurobiology that the major didn鈥檛 even exist at his university when he was an undergraduate. Now at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, he鈥檚 a leader in the field and continues to play a central role in the research community.

Morrison, a core faculty member and former director at the California National Primate Research Center, is a distinguished professor of neurology in the School of Medicine and professor in the Center for Neuroscience. An expert on aging and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, Morrison was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2016, a year after joining 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.

Answering lifespan questions

鈥淚 came here so that I could get involved in areas of nonhuman primate research that you simply can鈥檛 do without a primate center,鈥 Morrison said. The center has over 4,500 primates across all age groups, he explained, 鈥渁nd it allows us to look at the lifespan and relate that to the human lifespan and human vulnerabilities in ways that really would not have been possible.鈥

AMONG THE ACADEMIES

新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis has more than 50 faculty members who belong to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in research. The academies are among the most prestigious membership organizations in the world.

Each month, Dateline 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis will profile one of these faculty members in honor of their contributions to scientific research and knowledge.

The COVID-19 pandemic seemingly targeted the elderly and those with greater vulnerability and weaker immune systems. Working alongside peers in virology, researchers at the primate center studied aged members of a monkey colony with Type 2 diabetes 鈥渢o show that the viral invasion of the brain and the neurobiological complications of COVID were much more severe in the aged Type 2 diabetic monkeys than in the young models,鈥 he explained.

They are now researching 鈥渨hether or not that neuro-invasion in the aged Type 2 diabetic monkeys overlaps with the pathologic patterns of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. And would it leave humans more vulnerable to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease?鈥

A leading institution

Morrison believes infectious disease will continue to be a subject of great focus and research in the future, with 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis standing 鈥渧ery strong鈥 in the field. Across the Department of Neurology and the Center for Neuroscience, Morrison has 鈥渂een able to get entrenched in the neuroscience community here.鈥

Alongside academia, Morrison has also seen his field grow through the Council for the Society for Neuroscience, of which he鈥檚 been a member since 1976, when he was a graduate student.

Creating his own major

The field was much smaller then 鈥 no undergraduate neuroscience degree was offered at Johns Hopkins University, where he studied. Instead, Morrison 鈥渒ind of created one of my own鈥 by taking biology, chemistry and every brain-related course he could find. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of become a neurobiology major: two years of biology, two years of chemistry, and a bunch of specialized neuroscience courses. Now at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, it鈥檚 a very popular major.鈥

Morrison has been able to watch the field of neuroscience grow into a discipline, but also 鈥渙ne of the major areas of emphasis at American universities and schools of medicine.鈥

Morrison is focused on telling the next generation of researchers about issues they will face and ways for them to tackle these big issues in their careers.

鈥淥ne of my goals always has been to expose not only my trainees but all the trainees at the Society for Neuroscience to nonacademic career opportunities,鈥 Morrison said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much, much harder for these young people now than it was for me.鈥

Still, his work on campus is where his passions have aligned for himself and the community Morrison has helped grow.

鈥溞掳拿帕喜誓谀恍畔 Davis has a very well-developed, outstanding neuroscience community,鈥 Morrison said, 鈥渁nd being at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis has been very rewarding.鈥

Media Resources

Jos茅 Vadi is a writer for Dateline 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, and can be reached by email.

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