Scientific Director:
Dr. Maria Bykhovskaia is a Professor and Chair of the Neuroscience Department in the Universidad Central del Caribe. She is a productive neuroscientist with a research program focused on synaptic mechanisms that has been supported continuously by the NIH R01 mechanism since 2000. Currently, Dr. Bykhovskaia’s research program is supported by grants from NIH (R01) and NSF. Dr. Bykhovskaia is strongly committed to graduate education and mentoring of faculty and students.
Administrative Director:
Dr. Neal Simon is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University. He has over 15 years academic administrative experience in multiple positions. At Lehigh, Dr. Simon has served as Assoc. Dean of Graduate Studies, Director of the Center for Molecular Bioscience & Biotechnology, was an American Council on Education Fellow in 1994-95 where he worked with the University President and studied higher education administration, and was the Founding Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, which brought together Neuroscience, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry in one unit. He has maintained a continuous record of significant external research throughout his career and over the past 12 years has had significant funding from NIH and industry for his work on the development of novel drugs for CNS disorders. He also has obtained major programmatic grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and the WM Keck Foundation for innovations in science education.
