The Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute is sponsoring a new free series of scientific talks, called the Distinguished Visiting Scholars Series, that will feature experts from around the country throughout the academic year. Each lecturer will give two talks, one for the general public and one more technically geared. The series will kick off Sep. 8 with Ron Davis’s lecture, “You Must Remember This: The Principles of Memory Formation,” on how the brain forms and stores memories. Other lectures include “The Development of the Criminal Mind,” “Seeing What the Nose Tells the Brain: Imaging the Sense of Smell,” “What is Addiction?” and more. Here’s the full news release from Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute:

The biology of the criminal mind, the development of childhood obesity, and the mechanisms of chronic pain are among the many topics that will be explored in a new series of scientific talks in Roanoke. Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, the Distinguished Visiting Scholars Series will feature top experts from across the country throughout the academic year.

In the season kickoff event on September 8, Ron Davis, Ph.D., one of the nation’s leading experts on the biological basis of learning and memory, will discuss how the brain forms, stores, and retrieves memories. On September 29, Nora Volkow, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, will explore how the brain becomes addicted. And on October 6, Matt Wachowiak, Ph.D., a neurobiologist at the University of Utah’s Brain Institute, will follow with a presentation on understanding our relationship with the world through our sense of smell.

Other topics will include the development of children’s minds; the role of science in informing morality; the genetics of autoimmune diseases such as lupus; innovations in treating psychiatric and neurological disorders; molecular signaling in the heart during cardiac arrhythmias; the use of stem cells in regenerating damaged body parts; new treatments for cystic fibrosis; gene interactions in seizures; and the evolution of the immune system.

Each visiting scholar will present two lectures—one tailored to the public, on Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and a second, more technical one on Fridays from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. The public is invited to the free lectures, which will take place at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute at 2 Riverside Circle in Roanoke.

“The Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute is bringing some of the world’s leading medical researchers and scientific thought leaders to Roanoke as part of our mission to engage the community in the excitement and promise of scientific research,” says Michael Friedlander, Ph.D., executive director of the institute and host of the seminar series. “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to share the insights of such highly sought after experts in such a range of fascinating topics. We’re also very proud to introduce these speakers to the new partnership that Virginia Tech and the Carilion Clinic have forged for bringing the future of medical science to the Roanoke region.”

SELECTED PUBLIC LECTURES

You Must Remember This: The Principles of Memory Formation
Ron Davis, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience, Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida
September 8, 2011, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

What Is Addiction?
Nora Volkow, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Maryland
September 29, 2011, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Seeing What the Nose Tells the Brain: Imaging the Sense of Smell
Matt Wachowiak, Ph.D., Associate Professor, The Brain Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
October 6, 2011, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. [time change for this lecture only]

How the Mind Makes Morals
Patricia Churchland, B.Phil.
University of California Presidential Professor of Philosophy and UC Merced Distinguished Cognitive Neuroscientist, University of California, San Diego
October 13, 2011, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Executive Functions and Prefrontal Cortex: Genetic and Neurochemical Influences, Gender Differences, and Practical Activities and Approaches to Help
Adele Diamond, Ph.D.
Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of British Columbia
December 1, 2011, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Evolution and Development of the Immune System
Max Cooper, M.D.
Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and of the Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine
January 19, 2012, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Neural Circuit Stimulation Approaches to Treating Psychiatric Disorders
Helen Mayberg, M.D.
Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine
February 16, 2012, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Development of the Criminal Mind
Adrian Raine, Ph.D.
Richard Perry University Professor of Criminology, Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
March 8, 2012, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Future of the Human Genome in Cancer and Neurological Diseases
Richard Gibbs, Ph.D.
Wofford Cain Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics and Director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine
April 5, 2012, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Growing New Muscles with Stem Cells
Amy Wagers, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University
May 10, 2012, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.