Anatomy chair candidate visits campus Richard Nowakowski, New Jersey Professor of Spinal Cord Research and professor of neuroscience and cell biology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, N.J., is a candidate for the position of chair of anatomy at SMHS. He will visit the campus and present a research seminar Thursday, June 1, at noon, in the United Hospital Lecture Hall, Room 1370. Nowakowski's topic is "System Biology Approaches to Neurostem Cell Biology.” The primary focus of Dr. Nowakowski’s research is that neurostem cells produce the neurons and glia of the brain. During development neurostem cells are charged with the task of producing the most diverse organ in the body. In the adult nervous system, two populations of neurostem cells persist to produce a small number of neurons that integrate into the circuitry of the adult brain. We are using combined genomic and genetic approaches and integrating the data with systems biology based methods. This novel approach can be used to gain entry into an understanding of the molecular controls that regulate neurostem cells and their ability to produce a regionally appropriate diversity of neurons. An understanding of these molecular control mechanisms is an essential prerequisite for the future engineering of neurostem cells to effect repair of the CNS after it is damaged by trauma, stroke or degenerative diseases. -- Joshua Wynne, M.D., Executive Associate Dean and Chair Anatomy Search, Academic Affairs, jwynne@medicine.nodak.edu, 777-2515