Message from the Executive Director

For more than four decades the Downstate community has been privileged to include among its faculty Dr. Robert F. Furchgott - an eminent scholar and scientist and a cogent and gentle educator whose modesty contrasted with his monumental accomplishments. It is in recognition of both his personal and scientific attributes that we are honored to have the Center bear his name.

The Robert F. Furchgott Center for Neural and Behavioral Science at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University could not have been established at a better time. Neural and behavioral science is already flourishing with internationally recognized investigators actively conducting research in many areas including learning and memory, RNA translation, navigation, epileptogenesis, stroke and the genetics of alcoholism. The Furchgott Center was created to expand, conduct, and facilitate these research efforts and to foster collaborative and translational research among our investigators. Additionally, the Center supports neuroscience education across the four year medical student curriculum and the creation of the medical student Clinical Neurosciences Pathway further enriches and expands academic opportunities for medical students and facilitates their intellectual and social interaction with faculty.

The research and educational activities of the Center already underway have been highly successful. The extraordinary intellectual and human qualities of our esteemed colleague Robert F. Furchgott - Distinguished Professor and Nobel Laureate - will remain an inspiration that enables us to advance these endeavors, and the Center will continue to grow as a vital institutional resource to enhance interdepartmental and interdisciplinary scientific and educational collaboration throughout the campus.

Sincerely,

Todd C. Sacktor, M.D.
Distinguished Professor