On the strength of a $50 million contribution from the Penn Health System, the University launched the Penn Integrates Knowledge Neuroscience Initiative in September. The gift will be used to establish five new PIK professorships [“Proof of Concept,” Sept|Oct] in the School of Medicine and other schools of the University.
This is the latest in an aggressive series of investments in neuroscience research at Penn. Eighteen new faculty positions have been created in the discipline over the last three years. The Fisher Translational Research Center, which is scheduled to open in 2010, will contain dedicated neuroscience facilities, as will the recently announced Neural and Behavioral Sciences Building [“From College Hall,” Sept|Oct].
“With our commitment to integrating knowledge,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann, “and our formidable teaching and research capacity in medicine and the neural and behavioral sciences, Penn can drive progress in the path-breaking fields of brain science.”
—T.P.