Neurodegeneration & Injury FAWG
Chair: Detlev Boison
Vice-Chair: Steven Levison
Leadership & Partnerships
BHI Executive Advisory Council
Following the recommendations from the BHI Five-Year Review, the BHI Executive Advisory Council has been restructured to include senior leadership from Rutgers and RBHS. The Chairs of BHI Working Groups also serve as ex officio members, contributing their expertise to guide BHI’s strategic development. We extend our gratitude to the new members for their commitment and thank the previous Advisory Board members for their invaluable service.
Andrew P. Thomas, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience, The Thomas P. Infusino Endowed Chair, Senior Associate Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at New Jersey Medical School
Carlos N. Pato, MD
Professor and Executive Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson and New Jersey Medical School
Denise Hien, PhD
Vice Provost for Research, Chancellor-Provost’s Office, Rutgers-New Brunswick; Center Director and Helen E. Chaney Endowed Chair in Alcohol Studies; Professor, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Frank Ginassi, PhD, ABPP
President and CEO for Rutgers Health University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC).
Mauricio Delgado, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, Rutgers-SASN, Newark
Michael E. Zwick, PhD
Senior Vice President for Research, Rutgers University
Reynold A. Panettieri, MD
Vice Chancellor for Translational Medicine and Science Director, Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science, Professor of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Suhayl S. Dhib-Jalbut, MD
Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology, RWJ Medical School and NJMS, Director, Rutgers Health RWJ Center for Multiple Sclerosis
William Green
Vice Chancellor for Development, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Building a Stronger, Collaborative Rutgers Neuroscience Community
The Brain Health Institute (BHI) serves as a unifying organization to advance neuroscience research across Rutgers. BHI supports the Rutgers neuroscience community by establishing essential core facilities, developing research centers that leverage existing strengths, fostering collaborative groups around shared research themes, recruiting faculty to address gaps in expertise, and enhancing communication among neuroscientists.
Areas of Partnership
- Partner with Rutgers Schools and Departments to recruit highly qualified faculty to complement and strengthen brain research in our four focus areas. To date, BHI has recruited more than 40 new tenured or tenure-track faculty to Rutgers.
- Support PhD and postdoctoral trainee programs to provide travel to scientific meetings, trainee recruitment, and educational opportunities.
- Host Postdoc Recruitment Events for PhD or MD/PhD students and current post-docs looking for postdoctoral training in basic, translational, or clinical research in neuroscience and connect them with Rutgers faculty.
- Provide Pilot grant funding for novel projects that have principal investigators from different Rutgers campuses and schools to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and help investigators convert pilot grant projects to larger projects funded by extramural awards.
- Hold an Annual Symposium that brings together faculty, post-docs, students, and staff from neuroscience labs at Rutgers and neighboring institutions.
- Host a Plenary Seminar series that brings prominent neuroscientists from other institutions to speak at various Rutgers campuses.
- Maintain a comprehensive website that is kept current with information and resources including a searchable faculty expertise directory, funding opportunities, upcoming neuroscience events, etc., and announce events and achievements on social media, and via a monthly newsletter.
- Organize focus area workshops that bring together neuroscientists across Rutgers to share their work and seek collaborations.
Focus Area Working Groups (FAWGs)
The Brain Health Institute recently underwent a 5-year review and received valuable feedback for our future development. One suggestion was to change our 4 Focus Areas to Focus Groups populated by leading investigators in each thematic area. To that end, we are creating Focus Area Working Groups (FAWGs). There will be a FAWG for each Focus Area (Neurodevelopment, Motivational and Affective Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Injury, and Cognitive and Sensory Neuroscience). We will also establish a Junior Faculty Working (JFWG) composed of tenure-track junior faculty. The goals of this reorganization are to:
- Engage Rutgers neuroscience faculty in BHI activities, including Plenary seminars, Symposia, Workshops etc.
- Promote collaborations to foster multi-PI, center, and institutional research grants.
- Build a supportive and collaborative Rutgers neuroscience community.
Each Working group is lead by a Chair and Vice-Chair and consists of 20 to 25 Rutgers faculty.
Neurodevelopment FAWG
Chair: Wayne Fisher
Vice-Chair: Maria Chiara Manzini
Motivational & Affective Neuroscience FAWG
Chair: Danielle Dick
Vice-Chair: Zhiping Pang
Cognitive & Sensory Neuroscience FAWG
Chair: David Zald
Vice-Chair: Tibor Rohacs
Junior Faculty Working Group (JFWG)
Chair: Miriam Bocarsly
Vice-Chair: Linden Parkes
Postdoctoral Alliance Working Group (PAWG)
Chair: Jaclyn Eisdorfer
Vice-Chair: Aysegul Gungor-Aydin
Meet Our Team
Get to know the dedicated staff driving the mission of the Brain Health Institute. Explore our team members and learn how their expertise supports groundbreaking neuroscience research.
