Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system—including the brain, the spinal cord, and networks of sensory nerve cells, or neurons, throughout the body. The human body contains roughly 100 billion neurons that communicate with each other by sending electrical signals long distances and releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters. Physicians who specialize in the neurosciences advance the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that affect thought, motion and behavior.
Penn Medicine is dedicated to understanding, diagnosing and treating diseases and injuries to the brain, spine and nervous system. The Penn Comprehensive Neuroscience Center (CNC) promotes collaborations among clinical specialists, basic science and clinical researchers, and the educators who train the future generations of neuroscience physicians and scientists. It helps bring ground-breaking research from the laboratory into clinical trials and, ultimately, into clinical practice to benefit patients.
Patients suffering from neurological problems—conditions such as headaches, strokes, mood disorders or brain tumors—no longer have to search for the correct physician or department for treatment. The CNC brings all neurosciences together in one center. It includes many disciplines and encourages interdepartmental coordination in order to be more patient friendly.
Departments and services represented within the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center include neurology, neuroscience, neurosurgery, psychiatry, neuro-anesthesiology, neuro-ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology: head and neck surgery, neuropathology and neuroradiology.
The creation of the CNC was the next step in a long history of excellence at Penn. Penn’s neurosciences programs are widely and frequently recognized as among the best in the region and across the country. In 1870, Penn became home to the first department of neurology in the United States and it was one of the three original neurosurgery centers from which the field originated. And the “father” of American psychiatry, Benjamin Rush, is one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
“The Comprehensive Neuroscience Center provides an organizational home to promote planning for integrated clinical, research and educational programs while maintaining departmental and center integrity and initiatives,” said Rosellen Taraborrelli, executive director. “Ultimately, it creates a linked clinical structure that provides outpatient, inpatient, diagnostic and surgical care.”
The Penn CNC also facilitates neuroscience research at all levels—from basic science studies to identify cells and molecules, to understanding how processes work, to clinical trials in patients.
“We are involved in many areas of neuroscience research,” said Amita Sehgal, PhD, professor of neuroscience and co-director of the CNC. “We are focused on neurodegenerative disorders; sensory disorders; behavior, learning and memory studies; addiction; autism; schizophrenia; brain imaging; and sleep disorders to name a few.”
Dr. Sehgal is currently involved in sleep research, studying the genes that cause sleep in fruit flies. The team found a gene mutation that results in short sleep times, that has been named “Sleepless.” Future work will focus on finding and isolating the human equivalent of the Sleepless gene to help understand mammalian sleep and to help identify possible treatments for insomnia.
The structure of the Penn Comprehensive Neuroscience Center also fosters the receipt of grant money for research projects as well as recruiting the best and brightest physicians and researchers. The CNC has been selected to participate in the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) program to recruit five faculty members whose expertise and appointments span across schools within the university. All of the new faculty will have appointments in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and at least one other college, such as the School of Engineering and Applied Science or the College of Arts and Sciences.
In the future, the Penn CNC will continue to focus on key areas for research and recruitment and fostering the development of those areas. According to Dr. González-Scarano, that includes investigating new technologies such as neuroengineering and implantable prosthetics. The field is still in the early research stages but holds promise for treatment in areas such as severe spinal cord injury.
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