H.W. Magoun Distinguished Lectureship 

H.W. Magoun Distinguished Lectureship 

The H.W. Magoun Lecture was instituted in 1989 as an annual lecture both to honor the BRI’s founder, Dr. Horace (Tid) Magoun, and to recognize outstanding achievements by BRI members. The lecturer is selected by a faculty committee, which evaluates nominations from the membership at large. More on H.W. Magoun and his legacy at the Brain Research Institute here.

YEARSPEAKERDATEAFFILIATIONSLecture TitlePHOTO
2023Weizhe Hong, Ph.D.Tuesday, October 31, 2023Professor

Departments of Biological Chemistry and Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Department of Bioengineering, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at UCLA

"The Neuroscience of Prosocial Behavior"
2023Itzhak Fried, M.D., Ph.D.Tuesday, June 06, 2023Professor

Departments of Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, and Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
"Memory Aid for the Human Brain: From Single Neurons to Neuromodulation"
2022Carrie Bearden, Ph.D.Thursday, September 22, 2022Professor

Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
"The 22q11.2 Locus as a Window Into Disrupted Neurodevelopment ”
2022Joshua Trachtenberg, Ph.D.Tuesday, October 18, 2022Professor

Department of Neurobiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
"The Evolution and Development of Experience-Dependent Cortical Plasticity in Early Postnatal Life”
2021Peyman Golshani, M.D., Ph.D.Tuesday, October 19, 2021Professor in Residence

Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Neural Network Dynamics Driving Arousal, Attention, and Memory”
2021Dean Buonomano, Ph.D.Professor

Departments of Neurobiology and Psychology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
"How Does the Brain Tell Time?"
2020 Michael V. Sofroniew, M.D., Ph.D.Tuesday, June 16, 2020Distinguished Professor

Department of Neurobiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
"Essential Astrocyte Roles in Protection and Repair After CNS Injury and Disease"
2019Edythe D. London, Ph.D.Tuesday, June 18, 2019Professor

Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Neural Systems, Dopamine Receptors and Stimulant Use: Brain Imaging to Guide Treatment”
2018David S. Eisenberg, D.Phil.Monday, May 14, 2018Distinguished Professor

Department of Biological Chemistry

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“The Amyloid State of Proteins: Reversible Functional Amyloid vs. Irreversible Pathogenic Amyloid”
2017Susan Bookheimer, Ph.D.Tuesday, June 20, 2017Professor

Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“The Uniquely Human Hippocampus: Evidence from Functional Imaging in Health and Disease”
2016Baljit Khakh, Ph.D.Tuesday, June 14, 2016Professor

Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
"Astrocyte Roles in Neural Circuits: New Tools, Findings and Concepts"
2015Istvan Mody, Ph.D.Tuesday, March 10, 2015Professor

Departments of Neurology and Physiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Inhibition in the Brain: Watching the Wheels go Round and Round”
2014Alcino J. Silva, Ph.D.Tuesday, June 3, 2014Distinguished Professor

Departments of Psychology and Neurobiology

University of California, Los Angeles
”The Exciting Road from Mechanisms of Learning to the Treatment of Cognitive Disorders”
2013V. Reggie Edgerton, Ph.D.Tuesday, April 30, 2013Vice Chair, Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology;

Professor Emeritus, Department of Neurobiology

University of California, Los Angeles
“Novel Principles of Motor Control: Shackled by Tradition, Released by Data”
2012Daniel H. Geschwind, M.D., Ph.D.Tuesday, May 29, 2012Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor. Department of Human Genetics

Professor, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Advances in Autism: The Path from Genetics and Neurobiology to Therapeutic Development”Daniel H. Geschwind, M.D., Ph.D.
2011Kelsey C. Martin, M.D., Ph.DTuesday March 8, 2011Chair and Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry;

Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Signaling Between Synapse and Nucleus During Neuronal Plasticity”
2010Ronald M. Harper, Ph.D.Tuesday, March 9, 2010Distinguished Professor

Department of Neurobiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Sleep, Breathing and the Heart”
2009Michael S. Fanselow, Ph.D.Thursday, March 19, 2009Professor

Department of Psychology

College of Life Sciences

University of California, Los Angeles
“The Dynamic Origin of Memory Systems in the Brain: Insight from Contextual Fear Conditioning”
2008Diane M. Papazian, Ph.D.Tuesday March 11, 2008Professor

Department of Physiology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Kv3.3 Potassium Channels and Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 13”
2007Richard W. Olsen, Ph.D.Tuesday, March 13, 2007Distinguished Professor, Department of Anesthesiology;

Professor Emeritus, Departments of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology;

Professor, Department of Neuroscience

University of California, Los Angeles
“GABA-A Receptors are Molecular Targets for Alcohol and General Anesthetics”
2006Jerome M. Siegel, Ph. D.Tuesday, March 14, 2006Professor

Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

DGSOM at UCLA
“How the Brain Coordinates Muscle Tone, Emotion and Alertness: From Magoun to Orexin”
2005Jack L. Feldman, Ph.D.Tuesday, March 15, 2005Distinguished Professor

Department of Neurobiology

DGSOM at UCLA
“A Lifetime of Breathing”
2004Allan J. Tobin, Ph.D.Tuesday, June 1, 2004Professor Emeritus

Departments of Physiological Science and Neurology

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
“Impatience and Serendipity in the Fight Against Huntington’s Disease”
2003Arthur P. Arnold, Ph.D.Tuesday, March 11. 2003Chair and Distinguished Professor

Department of Integrative Biology & Physiology

College of Life Sciences

UCLA
“What Makes a Brain Feminine or Masculine?”
2002Anthony T. Campagnoni, Ph.D.Tuesday, April 2, 2002Associate Director and Professor Emeritus

Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences

DGSOM at UCLA
“The Many Faces of the Myelin Basic Protein Gene: From Reverse Genetics to Cortical Development”
2001Debora B. Farber, Ph.D., D.Ph.hc.Tuesday, March 13, 2001Distinguished Professor

Department of Ophthalmology

DGSOM at UCLA
“Of Mice and Men: Molecular Studies of Retinal Degenerations”
2000S. Lawrence Zipursky, Ph.D.Tuesday, May 16, 2000Distinguished Professor

Department of Biological Chemistry

DGSOM at UCLA
“Wiring the Nervous System: A Molecular Genetic Dissection of Axon Guidance”
1999William M. Pardridge, M.D.Tuesday, March 16, 1999Professor

Department of Medicine

DGSOM at UCLA
“The Blood-Brain Barrier and Non-Invasive Drug Delivery to the Brain”
1997Lawrence Kruger, Ph.D.Thursday, December 11, 1997Professor

Departments of
Neurobiology and Anesthesiology

DGSOM at UCLA
“The Painful Quest of the Most Versatile Neuron or, Whither, Wither, the Wince?”
1996Lutz Birnbaumer, Ph.D.Tuesday, December 17, 1996Professor

Departments of Anesthesiology and Biological Chemistry

DGSOM at UCLA
“Capacitative Calcium Entry Into Cells: Molecular Basis and Properties”
1995Elizabeth F. Neufeld, Ph.D.Tuesday, February 21, 1995Chair and Professor

Department of Biological Chemistry

UCLA
“Understanding and Treating Mucopolysaccharide Storage Disorders”
1995Enrico Stefani, M.D., Ph.D.Tuesday, December 12, 1995Vice Chair and Professor

Department of Anesthesiology

DGSOM at UCLA
“Regulation by Voltage and Auxiliary Subunits of Ion Channels”
1994John C. Liebeskind, Ph.D.Wednesday, April 13, 1994Professor

Departments of Psychology and Anesthesiology

UCLA
“Pain, Stress, and Immunity”
1992Francisco Bezanilla, Ph.D.Tuesday, December 1, 1992Professor Emeritus

Department of Physiology

DGSOM at UCLA
“The Nerve Impulse: Ion Channels Gated by Electric Fields”
1991Joaquin Fuster, M.D.Monday, October 21, 1991Professor

Department of Psychiatry

DGSOM at UCLA
“A Glimpse of the ‘Engram’: Memory in Primate Cortex”
1990Arnold B. Scheibel, M.D.Tuesday, April 24, 1990Professor

Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Psychiatry

UCLA
“On Cortical Substrates of Human Cognitive Function”