STATEMENTS from nominees running for FUN Office are listed below. Nominations for President-elect, Secretary, and Councilor were closed on September 8, 2003. Responsibilities for each office are described in the FUN Bylaws. Current officers are listed on the FUN Officers and Committees page. Many thanks to Mary Lou Caspers, Corey Cleland, Bruce Johnson, and Sarah Turgeon who have completed their terms as FUN councilors.

VOTER ELIGIBILITY AND BALLOT INFORMATION:

• Ballots will be sent by e-mail to all Regular FUN members who have submitted the on-line FUN information form . If you have not received voting information, please complete and submit the on-line FUN information form, or contact FUN Webmaster, Dr. Deborah Colbern , to confirm your e-mail information. (Sorry, student members are not eligible to vote - FUN Bylaws: Article III-Membership .) Ballots will be authenticated by matching the e-mail address on the ballot with the e-mail address listed on the previously submitted FUN information form. Information submitted via this form is the official source of FUN membership data.

Jean Hardwick - Nominee for President-elect
Ithaca College (Ithaca, New York)

B.A., 1983, Biochemistry, Smith College
Ph.D., 1988, Physiology and Biophysics, University of Vermont
Postdoctoral Training, Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Vermont

I am currently an Associate Professor of Biology at Ithaca College, where I have been since 1997. My primary teaching assignments are Animal Physiology and an upper level Neurobiology course. This year we will offer a new Neuroscience minor at the college, a project that has been several years in development. I have also mentored over 25 undergraduate research students in my time at Ithaca. My research focuses on the regulation of autonomic neurons, with both anatomical and physiological approaches.

Mary Lou Caspers - Nominee for Secretary
University of Detroit Mercy, (Detroit, Michigan)

B.S. 1972, Chemistry, University of Detroit
Ph.D. 1977, Biochemistry, Wayne State University, School of Medicine
Visiting Research Investigator in Neurology, University of Michigan;
Guest Researcher, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
Currently: Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Detroit Mercy

My teaching obligations include freshmen chemistry laboratory as well as undergraduate and graduate biochemistry courses. In the senior seminar course for biochemistry majors, I have incorporated a neurochemistry unit in which the students read review and journal articles from the current literature. My research projects deal with the distribution in brain of the three alpha subunit isoforms of the sodium/potassium ATPase. I mentor undergraduate students mainly in my laboratory.

I joined FUN in 1996 and have served as a councilor for two terms, as Chair of the committee to establish travel award criteria and, for the past two years, as Chair of the travel award committee. I would like to see FUN continue to grow by inviting faculty who mentor undergraduates to join as well as to increase the number of organizational members.

Shubhik DebBurman - Nominee for Councilor
Lake Forest College (Lake Forest, Illinois)

I am an Assistant Professor of Biology at Lake Forest College (Illinois), where I teach several courses in neuroscience and cellular biology. Originally from India, I received my BA from Wittenberg University (Ohio). While studying signaling during my neuroscience PhD at Northwestern, protein shapes began fascinating me. My postdoc at the University of Chicago involved chaperone influences on misfolded proteins. Since then, I have engaged twelve undergraduates in protein-misfolding research linked to neurodegeneration; all lab graduates are pursuing PhDs or MDs.

I believe that diverse students, when engaged in undergraduate research, will be skillfully trained to succeed in diverse scientific careers. In line with FUNs philosophy, I am deeply committed to their rigorous scientific training, integrating research with teaching, pedagogical collaboration, resource sharing, outreach, and public service. As councilor with Chicago SFN chapter, I organized the areas first undergraduate neuroscience research symposium and have thoroughly enjoyed leading >75 undergraduates to various local and national meetings. I disseminate innovations and undergraduate research at national meetings and have published in CBE. Currently, I am implementing NSF-supported curricular innovations, helping my institution strengthen neuroscience focus, and establishing local K-12 neuroscience outreach.

I would be honored to dedicate time, energy, and resourcefulness to FUNs diverse national advocacy efforts in undergraduate research and education.

Sonsoles de Lacalle
Councilor

I am currently an Assistant Professor of Biology at California State University Los Angeles, CA (CSULA). My previous academic experience includes graduate study at the University of Navarra, Spain (M.D., Ph.D., 1990), Fulbright Scholar at the University of Chicago where I completed postdoctoral work with Clif Saper (1990-1992), and faculty positions in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (1992-1999).

Since arriving at CSULA in the fall of 1999, I have worked with faculty members in biology, philosophy, kinesiology, and psychology to develop a new interdisciplinary neuroscience program. As part of the program, I have developed a new introductory neuroscience course for non-science majors, and I have contributed to the design, approval, and implementation of three other courses: "Developmental Neuroscience", "Molecular Biology of the Brain", and "Molecular Determinants of Neuronal Morphology" (a graduate seminar). Additionally, I have an active neuroscience research laboratory at CSULA.

Among the successes of these past 3 years is a published undergraduate honors thesis (Neuroscience 2002;115(3):787-95 ) and three new graduate student theses (working on manuscripts right now!). My goals at CSULA are to continue development of the neuroscience program and neuroscience education at the university and to expand the research opportunities for undergraduates.

Website: http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sdelaca/brl/index.htm

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I began working with undergraduates on research projects while in graduate school at the University of Colorado at Boulder. As a member of the Psychology Department and the director of the Neuroscience Program at Connecticut College since 1999 I have had even more opportunity to work with undergraduates. I enjoy helping students design their curriculum, advising them on career paths, and encouraging them to get research experience. Our program has grown from 7 to 32 majors in the past 4 years, reflecting a growing and strong interest in neuroscience among our students. Our primary research focus is on the neural basis of anxiety, with a particular emphasis on how serotonin is involved. I have been able to incorporate this research into my courses and have sponsored numerous independent studies and honors theses. Some of our work has been presented as posters at SfN and at the North East Under/graduate Research Organization for Neuroscience (N.E.U.R.O.N) annual conferences. Given this positive experience at Conn, and my general interest in promoting undergraduate involvement in neuroscience research, I am eager to become more involved in FUNs initiatives and activities.

I view undergraduate work in neuroscience carried out in the research lab as my highest priority as Associate Professor in Biology and Psychobiology at Simmons College in Boston, MA. I have fostered and guided over 50 undergraduates through neuro projects and independent studies in my career and have facilitated their continuation into jobs, grad school, and medical school. Surprising to me, I have learned as much from them as they have from me. If I can support this kind of environment and this kind of opportunity for all young scientists it would be extremely fulfilling. My lab concentrates on the molecular mechanisms underlying transmitter release and has recently focused on the effects of beta amyloid protein aggregates (found in Alzheimer's Disease) on transmitter release and its regulation.

I received my B.A. from Douglass College at Rutgers University and my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Washington. I am currently the Rappolt Professor of Neuroscience at Lafayette College.

My research focuses on the neural and evolutionary mechanisms mediating the social behaviors of animals and I teach courses in Physiological Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Animal Behavior, and Advanced Neuroscience. During my 14 years as a faculty member, I have mentored approximately 100 students in my laboratory and have been honored to receive teaching and research awards from Lafayette College. In addition, I was selected the 1999 Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and was recently awarded a James McKeen Catell Fellowship. I was instrumental in creating Lafayettes Neuroscience Program and served as Chair for seven years, during which time I was successful in acquiring funds to support pedagogical initiatives.

Bill Pizzi - Nominee for Councilor
Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago, IL)

William J. Pizzi received his Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is currently Professor of Psychology at Northeastern Illinois University. Bill has been visiting professor at Northwestern University and visiting scientist at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He has held office as President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and member of Council in the Neurobehavioral Teratology Society; President of the Midwest Teratology Society; and member of council for the Midwest Regional Society of Toxicology. He is a past President and Fellow of the Faculty For Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN). Bill's research is carried out as part of an undergraduate program and is in the area of developmental neuropharmacology (Behavioral Teratology & Toxicology), especially of drugs administered during pregnancy. His laboratory is also conducting studies on sexual differentiation of brain and sexually dimorphic behaviors.

I have been teaching undergraduate students neuroscience for eight years. As a non-tenure track Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at Brown University (1995-2000), I taught undergraduate courses in Psychopharmacology, Techniques in Physiological Psychology and a senior seminar on the Neurobiology of Addiction. As an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at the University of Massachusetts-Boston (2000-present), I teach an upper-level undergraduate course called Neurobiology with two laboratory sections. My research program examines the neuropharmacology of the rat basal ganglia and I have mentored eleven undergraduate students in my laboratory many of whom have served as co-authors on my publications.

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