Working with the American Legion
A collaborative effort
The endowed University of Minnesota Brain Sciences Chair was created out of the effort and generosity of the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, and Sons of The American Legion, who raised over 1 million dollars in the late 1980's. This gift was matched by the University of Minnesota and the Chair was dedicated in a 1991 ceremony at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. Shortly thereafter, the Brain Sciences Center at the VAMC was established as the seat of the Chair.
Under the direction of Dr. Apostolos P. Georgopoulos, researchers at the Brain Sciences Center are studying Alzheimer's Disease, schizophrenia, alcoholism, and areas of the brain involved with movement, timing and cognitive processes.
In addition, national and international collaborations of Center staff, seminars by neuroscience experts from this country and abroad, the organization of international meetings, and the annual American Legion Brain Sciences Lecture, have made the Center an exciting place to work and advance brain research.
Brain Sciences Scholarship Award
The Brain Sciences Scholarship was created in 1997 to recognize the outstanding academic achievements of students, involved in brain research, at the University of Minnesota and Brain Sciences Center. The award was created by the American Legion family’s Brain Science Foundation who presents it, each year, to aide in the educational pursuits of these exceptional
2010 American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary Brain Sciences Awards
(l-r) Bill Peters, American Legion; Lloyd Schaeffer, American Legion; Nancy Day--award recipient, Graduate program in Neuroscience; Tiffany Schmidt--award recipient, Graduate program in Neuroscience; Jim Kellogg, President, American Legion Brain Sciences Foundation; Teresa Nick, Nancy Day's advisor; Paulo Kofuji, Tiffany Schmidt's advisor
The 2010 American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary Brain Sciences Awards have been presented to University of Minnesota graduate students Tiffany Schmidt and Nancy Day. The awards, given each year to two University of Minnesota scholars in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements, were presented by American Legion Brain Science Foundation President Jim Kellogg during the October 13th ceremony at the University's Phillips Wangensteen Auditorium. Each recipient received a check for $1,000.
American Legion/University of Minnesota Medical School Lecture in Brain Sciences
Dr. Andrew Schwartz and a neural prosthetic arm at the University of Pittsburgh's Motorlab
The 16th Annual American Legion/University of Minnesota Medical School Lecture in Brain Sciences was held Wed., October 13th in the Phillips Wangensteen Auditorium Room 2-470. Andrew B. Schwartz, PhD, University of Pittsburgh spoke on "The Power of Neural Populations".
Dr. Schwartz and his colleagues are interested in the temporal correspondence between neural activity and behavior. Their current research projects include neural prosthetics, neural decoding of grasping and perception to action.
Legion National Commander Marty Conatser, Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos
and Department of Minnesota Commander Jim Copher
American Legion National Commander Visits Brain Sciences Center
Legion National Commander Marty Conatser, of Illinois, visited the Brain Sciences Center during his tour of Minnesota in January, 2008. Department of Minnesota Commander Jim Copher, and about a dozen Legion officials, accompanied Commander Conatser to listen to American Legion Brain Sciences Chair Apostolos Georgopoulos talk about his lastest research involving the MEG brain imaging instrument. The BSC tour was part of Commander Conatser’s five-day stop in Minnesota that included visits to the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis, the Veterans home in Luverne and many Legion posts through-out the state.
