Lecture by Professor Šestan at the RBI
We cordially invite you to attend a lecture by Profesor Nenad Šestan of Yale University (USA) entitled "What Makes Us Human? Molecular Evolution and Development of Neural Circuits of the Cerebral Cortex". The lecture will be part of the series Eminent Scientists at the Ruđer Bošković Institute and held on Thursday, May 26, 2011 in the Auditorium of Wing III at the RBI, Bijenička cesta 54, Zagreb, starting at 3 p.m.
Professor Šestan’s research is focused on the formation of neural circuits in the human brain during development. The first objective of the research is understanding what is in our brains that make us human beings. People differ from other closely related species in brain development, especially in the way that the highly complex neural circuits of the cerebral cortex are "wired". The second goal is to investigate why people suffer from certain disorders of the brain. The development of the complex human cortex has given us extraordinary cognitive and motor skills but also increased our vulnerability to neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
Professor Šestan is the author of 27 scientific papers, which have been cited over 2,000 times. He is the recipient of several international awards, including the McDonnell Scholar Award, the James S. McDonnell Foundation (2008); Foster Bam Investigator, NARSAD Young Investigator Award (2006); Research Award, March of Dimes Foundation (2005); Research Award, the Whitehall Foundation (2005) and Research Award, the Tourette Syndrome Association (2003).
Distinguished Scientists at the Ruđer Bošković Institute is a lecture series that brings together scientists from the RBI and representatives of the wider Croatian scientific community, providing them with the opportunity of meeting with leading Croatian and world scientists.
