Distinguished neuroscientist Bruce McEwen to speak on stress and health at sixth annual Center for Health and Behavior lecture April 3

Distinguished neuroscientist Bruce McEwen to speak on stress and health at sixth annual Center for Health and Behavior lecture April 3March 18, 2008Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

The Center for Health and Behavior (CHB) at Syracuse University has announced that distinguished neuroscientist Bruce McEwen, Alfred E. Mirksy Professor and head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University, will present the center’s sixth annual lecture. McEwen will speak on stress and health on Thursday, April 3, at 7 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public. Discounted parking is available in the Irving Avenue Garage.

“We are deeply honored to host Professor McEwen as the CHB Annual Lecturer,” says Michael Carey, CHB director and Dean’s Professor of the Sciences in the Department of Psychology in The College of Arts and Sciences. “He is an eminent and internationally recognized scientist, applauded for his groundbreaking work in the biopsychology of stress, and a world-class, passionate educator committed to science literacy. He has revolutionized our understanding of the physiological function of stress and his research has clear implications for reducing its harmful effects and optimizing health and well-being.”

McEwen has dedicated more than 30 years of his career to studying the effects of stress on the brains and hormones of animals. He is the author of “The End of Stress as We Know It” (Joseph Henry Press, 2002) and has written more than 800 journal publications. His current research includes the MacArthur Project on Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Health. McEwen works collaboratively with physicians, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists and economists in a network of the J.D. and C.T. MacArthur Foundation to begin to unravel the complexities of SES and health.

The CHB annual lecture brings to campus an outstanding scientist whose work illustrates the very best in health research and is designed to appeal to students, faculty, staff and the Syracuse community. For information about past lecturers, visit http://www.chb.syr.edu/lecture.php.

The CHB is a University-wide center that facilitates and encourages research on the behavioral and psychosocial aspects of health, including topics such as the health effects of aging, alcohol use, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, HIV, smoking and stress. Scientists in the center often develop and evaluate programs to promote health in children, adolescents, college students, adults and families. Research — in laboratories, hospitals, schools and community-based agencies and in collaboration with colleagues in the United States and abroad — is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and public and private sponsors. For more information, visit http://www.chb.syr.edu.