FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON March 25, 2006
Medical College of Georgia Professor to be Honored for Research in Neural Processes with Mitchell Award
St. Paul, Minn., -
Shyamal H. Mehta, MD, PhD, of the Medical College of Georgia, will be honored with the 2006 S. Weir Mitchell Alliance Award for his work in neural processes. Mehta will receive the award during the American Academy of Neurology’s 58th Annual Meeting in San Diego, held April 1 – 8. The S. Weir Mitchell Alliance Award is designed to encourage basic research in neuroscience by physicians in clinical neurology training programs. The development of our nervous system is precise and highly choreographed. Neurons send processes to specific targets and these processes interact with each other to form functional bundles. Mehta’s research found that the bundling of neural processes appears to be an intrinsic property among young neurons. “In tissue culture, we were able to duplicate the bundling,” said Mehta. “Remarkably, the precision and timing of the bundling process are retained. Our finding also confirms that complex molecules, found outside of neural cells, play a role in the bundling and the neural processes reaching their respective targets appropriately.” In the last few year, neuroscience research about the human nervous system has increased significantly. As scientists learn more about how the brain has the capacity to compensate for injury, Mehta believes the future is bright for this type of research. “Stem cell therapies may one day be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases,” said Mehta. “This research and future research may enable us to modulate and control the behavior of the neurons and yield new therapies for many neurological diseases that currently have no treatments.” The 58th Annual Meeting takes place in the San Diego Convention Center. It is the world’s largest annual gathering of neurologists.