FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Susie P. Gonzalez
Susie.Gonzalez@Trinity.edu

Oct. 31, 2008

James Roberts to Lead Neuroscience Program at Trinity University

Neuroscience, introduced in the 2005-2006 academic year as a major at Trinity, has grown from two majors to 20 students who have earned neuroscience degrees. Professor Roberts said neuroscience is the fastest growing undergraduate major in the country, edging out chemistry and biology, which focus on how the body works while neuroscience looks at how the brain works. “The challenge,” he said, “is that they don’t speak exactly the same language.”

David Ribble, professor and chair of biology at Trinity, said the University already has benefited from Dr. Roberts’ knowledge and expertise. “He is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist who will help lead the neuroscience program to prominence among undergraduate institutions,” Professor Ribble said. “Trinity is fortunate to have attracted him.”

Professor Roberts holds a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Oregon and a bachelor’s degree in the same field from Colorado State University. Before coming to Trinity, he was co-director of the San Antonio Life Science Institute and professor of pharmacology and deputy director of the Center for Biomedical Neuroscience at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He also was a member of the Barshop Center for Longevity and Aging at the Audie Murphy Veterans Administration Medical Center.   

Previously, he was a professor of biochemistry and director of the Neurobiology Graduate Training Program at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and was the longtime Regenstreif Professor of Neurobiology and co-director of the Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

Professor Roberts’ expansive research has touched on the molecular basis of neural gene expression, Parkinson’s disease and the biology of aging, the protective role of estrogen for women, and the effect of anabolic steroids on males entering puberty. He has served as an editorial board member on numerous scholarly journals, including Neuroendocrinology, DNA and Cell Biology, Journal of Reproductive Biology, and Molecular Psychiatry.

He also has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Veterans Administration, and the Ford, Mellon, and Rockefeller Foundations, among other agencies.

He said he came to Trinity because he saw the “awesome potential” of students on campus and that most juniors and seniors at Trinity are like freshmen in graduate school. “These students are bright,” Professor Roberts said. “Most neuroscience students are deep thinkers. They really care about how the brain works.”