Barnstable steps down as Neural and Behavioral Sciences Department chair
Dr. Colin Barnstable has stepped down as chair of the Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine after serving in that role for 12 years. Dr. Sue Grigson, professor of neural and behavioral sciences, has been appointed interim chair.
Barnstable came to Hershey in 2006 as the inaugural chair of the department, where scientists study healthy brain and behavior and generate novel treatment strategies for brain-related diseases in humans such as addiction, autism, those involving the gut-brain axis, obesity, and a range of stress and inflammatory disorders. He recruited many talented neuroscientists during his years as chair and served as director of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience, while also conducting his own innovative research in the areas of neural and retinal cell development.
“Dr. Grigson is highly collaborative and solution oriented, often bringing together basic scientists, clinicians and clinician-scientists to address issues,” said Dr. Craig Hillemeier, dean, CEO and senior vice president for health affairs. “I am confident she will bring these skills to this important department to ensure that the work of its gifted neuroscientists continues to flourish, that the department continues to serve as the basic science hub for neuroscience research, and its faculty as a bridge for translation in the treatment of disease.”
Grigson earned her Master of Science degree and PhD in psychology at Rutgers University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Penn State College of Medicine and has served on its faculty since that time. Grigson directed the Graduate Program in Neuroscience for three years and last year, became the inaugural director of the Penn State Addiction Center for Translation. She also is co-chair of the advisory board for the newly established Penn State Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse.
Continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 28 years, Grigson’s research focuses on substance abuse and addiction. She has mentored eight graduate students and two postdoctoral fellows in successful National Research Service Awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and has published more than 90 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She is the recipient of an NIH MERIT award, which recognizes the top tier of research funded by the NIH.
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