In A Strategic Plan for the Race to Excellence, 2015- 2025, FAU President John Kelly named neuroscience as a pillar that will define the institution’s programs and create knowledge that benefits society. The FAU Neuroscience Building is a key facet in that endeavor. The building will house FAU’s Brain Institute, and include laboratories, lecture halls and inspiring spaces for creativity and discovery as teams of scientists from various disciplines will tackle complex brain problems. Take a sneak peek at the new facility, including regularly-updated construction photos, here.

FAU’s Institute for Human Health and Disease Intervention (I-Health) recently launched its first edition of Journey to Health, an online magazine. Click here to read the issue.

Students from universities spanning the country are conducting studies with FAU Jupiter and Scripps Research researchers this summer as part of the federally funded FAU REU Summer Integrated Neuroscience Experience (SINE). They will present the culmination of their work later this summer. FAU Faculty Alex Keene, Ph.D., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and Johanna Kowalko, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, lead the program... Learn More

Students at FAU Jupiter have launched their Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) summer experience. Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), this program aims to promote diversity in biomedical science by engaging students in a customized research-intensive undergraduate experience. U-RISE is held on FAU's Jupiter Campus in coordination with the Wilkes Honors College. Students from all campuses and majors related to biomedical research are encouraged to apply.

Alex Keene, Ph.D., a professor of biological sciences in FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Rod Murphey, Ph.D., associate vice president for academic affairs of FAU Jupiter and Evelyn Frazier, Ph.D., in FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science were awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant in 2020 to fund U-RISE. U-Rise prepares sophomore students for matriculation into research-based graduate programs. Students accepted into this program receive an annual stipend of $11,000 and are admitted into research-intensive U-RISE courses and workshops, and receive funding that covers tuition, travel, and lab supplies... Learn More

FAU Jupiter was a proud sponsor of the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce’s annual Education Awards event. Outstanding local educators and students were honored for their achievements. Wilkes Honors College Dean Justin Perry provided remarks for this special occasion... Watch

"We had 81 exceptional applications this year from worthy organizations, each outlining a special project to help those in need," said Elizabeth Truong, 2020/2021 Co-Chair of Impact the Palm Beaches. "All of these nonprofits deserve funding, but these four proposals were outstanding in their sustainability, innovation, and potential to transform the community. All of them will have a positive impact, and we are proud to support them."... Read More

The annual Arbor Day Celebration in the Robert J. Huckshorn Arboretum recognized FAU’s Jupiter 11th year as a “Tree Campus,” faculty, staff and supporters remembered a beloved colleague and friend, Dr. Bhagyashree “Shree” Kundalkar, with the dedication of a bench in her memory. Click here for an event highlights video. Click here to view event photos.

A centerpiece of the Robert J. Huckshorn Arboretum is the Chastain Gazebo named for benefactor Thomas M. Chastain. This gift was installed in an empty space and spurred the development of the arboretum. Beginning in Fall 2021, Thomas J. Chastain Foundation funds will support “Thrive Outside,” a series of student and community activities designed around outdoor learning in this unique space on campus.

Keith Jakee, Ph.D., associate professor of economics at the Wilkes Honors College, recently presented a talk titled “This Time is Different…Debt, Deficits, and Government Expansion” to the Palm Beach North Chamber’s Executive Trustee Council. His research focuses on entrepreneurship and political economy.

Brandon Lubin, an undergraduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was awarded FAU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Summer Research Fellowship. The award will assist Brandon’s research on “the role of methionine sulfoxide reductase in Alzheimer’s disease pathology,” and is funded by the I-BRAIN and I-HEALTH Pillars.

Osei and Suthakaran Among 2021 3MT^® Competition Award Recipients

FAU Graduate Neuroscience Training Program student Claudius Osei won the “Championship Runner-up” award at the 2021 Three Minute Thesis (3MT^®) Competition, receiving $1,500. His presentation was titled “Embodied Cognition: How cognitive behavior is not solely a construct of the brain but involves the entire body.” Watch here.

Integrative Biology student Nirthieca Suthakaran won the “Championship Second Runner-up” award, receiving $1,000. Her presentation was titled “The Effects of STXBP1 in Infant Epilepsy.” Watch here.

Congratulations to the student scientist winners from the 2021 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium! Wilkes Honors College is proud of its winners in the Basic Sciences, Cross Disciplinary, Environmental, Ecological & Marine Sciences categories. Learn more and see the winners.

At the center of the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College’s educational model are team-taught interdisciplinary classes. These classes are an integral part of the education of all students at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College. The newest addition to this series is Ethnotechnology, a course co-taught by Jacqueline Fewkes, Ph.D., professor of anthropology and Annina Ruest, M.F.A., associate professor of art.

Supported by the Robin B. Smith Innovation Fund, the two professors set out to foster appreciation of the anthropological perspective on technology. In the class, students made anthropology-infused technology works that critically process and reflect on our society’s beliefs of what technology is and the role it plays in humanity. The students’ final projects examined how humans influence technologies and how technologies in turn influence humans and human societies. Here are videos from three of the students who were enrolled in the Spring 2021 course, including one by Honors College 2021 Valedictorian Chelsy Davis.

In “Graduation Liminality,” Wilkes Honors College 2021 Valedictorian Chelsy Davis combines her anthropological studies with technological skills to produce a creative and thoughtful reflection on college graduations, particularly during the COVID pandemic.

Kiana Slimak documents a machine artwork that reflects on human emotions and relationships. The artwork draws on readings from Anthropology about machine animism.

In “Electronic Page Turner - The Art of Being an Efficient Human!,” Ewa Barnas-Lionarons abstracts a human process, flipping the pages of a book, into a machine process.

Iris Segura-García, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in integrative marine and coastal ecology at FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Wilkes Honors College. Learn more about her work here.

Jon A. Moore, Ph.D., FAU Wilkes Honors College professor of biology, was among FAU Harbor Branch, UF and Loggerhead Marinelife Center researchers who conducted a comprehensive health assessment of gopher tortoises at two sites in southeastern Florida, which provides important baseline information on this vulnerable species... Read More

Deborah “Missy” Williams, Ph.D., lead author, in FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science conducted a study with Kate Detwiler, Ph.D., senior author and an associate professor in FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, have confirmed that the non-native monkey species, Chlorocebus sabaeus, found currently living in Dania Beach, was originally released from a Dania Chimpanzee Farm in 1948, a facility that also tested the development of the polio vaccine on the animals. Itzel Sifuentes-Romero, Ph.D., an FAU post-doctoral fellow and a member of the FAU Brain Institute was a co-author on this study... Read More

Explore key Jupiter campus locations and learn about life as a Wilkes Honors College student without leaving your home! Our new virtual tour takes visitors throughout the John D. MacArthur Campus, our world-class research facilities and the beautiful Jupiter community with nearby beaches... Tour

FAU Brain Institute’s ASCEND Program recently launched Lab Bench Lessons: Directly from the lab bench, scientists bring you short, fun lessons with downloadable, hands-on activities to spark your interest in neuroscience!... Watch