Duke Professional News: November 18, 2003
Michael Ehlers | Ralph Snyderman, M.D. | The Philanthropic Collaborative for Integrative Medicine | Houston Baker | Eric Meyers
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
For his study of neurons in the brain and how they change, Michael Ehlers, assistant professor of neurobiology, has been awarded the 2003 international Prize in Neurobiology by the journal Science and Eppendorf.
The Eppendorf & Science Prize in Neurobiology recognizes outstanding neurobiological research by a young scientist. The grand prize winner receives $25,000 from Eppendorf, and the winner's essay will be published in the 31 Oct. 2003 issue of Science. His research, as described in his prize-winning essay, explains the molecular mechanisms by which neurons in the brain respond to stimuli such as memory and learning.
Ralph Snyderman, M.D., chancellor for health affairs at Duke University Medical Center, is the inaugural recipient of the Bravewell Leadership Award.
The award recognizes innovators of integrative medicine for their efforts to transform the culture of health care by establishing better methods of treating the whole person -- mind, body and spirit.
The award, sponsored by the Minneapolis-based Philanthropic Collaborative for Integrative Medicine, confers a prize of $100,000. It was presented by Walter Cronkite at a ceremony held at the Regent Wall Street Hotel on Thursday, Nov. 13.
Snyderman plans to use the award to further the area of "prospective health planning," an initiative currently underway at Duke Medical Center.
"I am so honored to be the first recipient of the Bravewell Leadership award," Snyderman said. "I was very pleased to be selected as a nominee and had outstanding company in my fellow nominees. The field of integrative medicine continues to grow rapidly and I plan to continue my support of this important area of health care not only at Duke but at other centers throughout the U.S."
The Philanthropic Collaborative for Integrative Medicine develops and implements initiatives that are designed to strategically advance the field of integrative medicine. The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, a group of 18 academic health centers in the United States, including Duke Medical Center, is one of their largest benefactors.
Houston Baker has been named the 2003 recipient of the Jay B. Hubbell Award for lifetime achievement, which is given annually by the Modern Language Association's American Literature section.
The award, the association's top honor, is named for Hubbell, who taught at Wake Forest, Southern Methodist and Duke universities and who founded and edited the journal American Literature. Houston Baker is the Susan Fox Beischer & George D. Beischer Arts & Sciences Professor of English and Professor of African and African American Studies.
Eric Meyers, Bernice and Morton Lerner Professor of Religion, and Luk Van Rompay, professor of religion, received one of only nine national post-doctoral awards ($134,000) to fund a summer seminar for college and university teachers in "Aramaic in Post-biblical Judaism and early Christianity." It will be held at Duke from June 14-July 23. Meyers and Paul Flesher of the University of Wyoming are co-directors of the seminar.
During this six-week seminar, participants will study the Aramaic language and literature of post-biblical Judaism and early Christianity. For more information, see www.duke.edu/web/nehdas/