Adrienne Kirby '81 Distinguished Alumni Lecture - Dr. Julio Ramirez '77

Recovery of function after central nervous system injury remains one of the great mysteries in neuroscience and neurology. The brain is now understood to be a self-reorganizing system that is highly responsive to injury. Over the last 50 years, research focusing on the hippocampus and related structures, areas of the brain critical for learning and memory, has demonstrated that the hippocampus undergoes dramatic structural reorganization known as axonal sprouting after injury to the entorhinal cortex, the major cortical input to the hippocampus. Dr. Ramirez and his students have been exploring whether axonal sprouting contributes to the recovery of memory function after brain injury in rats. To date, they have shown that accelerating hippocampal sprouting can indeed enhance recovery of memory function after entorhinal injury. As part of this lecture, Dr. Ramirez will reflect on his personal journey to his life as a scholar and advocate for social justice.