Symposium Speakers
Allan
Herbison, Centre for Neuroendocrinology,
Department of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand: Work in
the laboratory is focused upon understanding the properties and functioning of
the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons. These neurons are
responsible for the initiation of puberty and the subsequent maintenance of
reproductive function in adult males and females.
Jon
Levine, Department of
Neurobiology & Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: Research
focuses on the neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate neurosecretion of
gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and the molecular, cellular, and
physiological actions of gonadal steroids in the brain.
Robert
Steiner, Department of
Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Physiology & Biophysics, University of
Washington, Seattle: Research in the laboratory is directed at understanding
neuroendocrine mechanisms that govern reproduction, especially cellular and
molecular events that trigger the onset of puberty, the circadian signals that
are coupled to the preovulatory GnRH/LH surge, and the mechanisms that
orchestrate sexual differentiation of the brain. The laboratory is
investigating how regulation of metabolism and body weight are physiologically
coupled to reproduction.
Phyllis
Wise, Department of
Physiology & Biophysics, Biology, and Obstetrics & Gynecology; Provost
and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle: The
research program focuses on issues concerning women's health and gender-based
biology. Dr Wise is particularly interested in how estrogens influence brains
of males and females during development, adulthood and aging and how these
hormones protect the brain against neurodegeneration.
Sponsored by the Brain Research Institute and
the Department of Neurobiology,
with the Departments of Physiological Science,
and Obstetrics & Gynecology
The Sawyer
Scientific Symposium
and
Memorial Tribute
Charles H.
“Tom” Sawyer
1915-2006
UCLA
Faculty Center
October
20, 2006
Charles H.
“Tom” Sawyer
Neuroendocrinologist
UCLA Brain
Research Institute Founding Member
Former Chair
of the Department of Anatomy
Dr. Charles H. “Tom”
Sawyer, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Neurobiology at the University of
California, Los Angeles, passed away June 20, 2006 at the age of 91. He was a
pioneer in the field of Neuroendocrinology, his work fostering our
understanding of how the brain controls the pituitary gland and reproductive
function. His research contributed significantly to the development of
effective contraceptives and the management of infertility. His scientific
experimentation essentially started the intense study of monamines in neuroendocrine
and general brain activity, still a major experimental thrust in neurobiology
in terms of normal and pathological brain function. In his early
electrophysiological experiments he was among the first researchers to describe
REM sleep. Overall, as the hypothesis of the neural control of the pituitary
gland became known, the field of Neuroendocrinology was born, and Dr. Sawyer
can be considered one of the most influential pioneers in this burgeoning
field.
In 1951 he was invited
by Dr. H.W. Magoun to join the new Department of Anatomy at UCLA, where Dr.
Sawyer gave the first lecture at the new UCLA School of Medicine. Dr.
Sawyer was one of the founding members of the UCLA Brain Research Institute,
and was chairman of the Department of Anatomy at UCLA from 1955-1963 and again
in 1968. Dr. Sawyer was the recipient of numerous awards including the
prestigious Koch Award of the Endocrine Society in 1973. He gave the first
Geoffrey Harris Memorial Lecture in India, awarded by the International
Neuroendocrine Federation in 1974, received the UCLA Certificate of Teaching
Excellence Award in 1976, and won the Hartman Award of the Society for the
Study of Reproduction in 1978. He was elected to the National Academy of
Sciences in the Physiology and Pharmacology section in 1980 and received the
Henry Gray Award from the American Association of Anatomists in 1984. Dr. Sawyer received the Award of
Extraordinary Merit from the UCLA Medical Alumni Association in 1990. During
Dr. Sawyer’s long research career he published over 350 papers in distinguished
medical journals and taught Gross Anatomy to medical students for close to 60
years. Part of Dr. Sawyer’s legacy at UCLA is that he initiated an interactive
group of investigators studying and training in Neuroendocrinology. That legacy
still exists in the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology of the Brain Research
Institute, which remains at the forefront of research on the relationship
between hormones and brain development and function.
Dr. Sawyer has been
recognized for his scientific leadership, his research accomplishments, and his
good humor and patience.
Today, we celebrate the
life of Tom Sawyer – a glowing example of a scientist and a true gentleman.
Program
1:00 pm Welcome
Marie-Françoise Chesselet, Chair, Department of Neurobiology,
Charles H. Markham Professor of Neurology, UCLA
Gerald Levey, Vice Chancellor and Dean, David Geffen School
of Medicine at UCLA
Introduction to the Scientific Symposium
Paul Micevych, Professor of Neurobiology and the BRI,
UCLA
1:10 pm “Elucidating the Estrogen Positive Feedback
Pathway Underlying Ovulation with Transgenics”
Allan
E. Herbison, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
1:50 pm “A Time and a Kiss to Remember”
Robert
A. Steiner, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle
2:30 pm Coffee
Break
2:50 pm “The Daily Neural Signal for Ovulation -
Fifty Years Later"
Jon
Levine, Northwestern University
3:30 pm “Non-Reproductive Actions of Estradiol on
the Brain: A Potent Neuroprotective Factor”
Phyllis
M. Wise, University of Washington, Seattle
4:15 pm Reception
5:00 pm Memorial
Tribute
Master
of Ceremonies, Roger Gorski, Distinguished Professor
of Neurobiology (Emeritus) and the BRI, UCLA
Charles
Blake (former Sawyer graduate student)
Phil LaPolt (former Anatomy graduate student)
Ei
Terasawa (former Sawyer postdoctoral fellow)
Roger
Gorski (UCLA colleague)
Joan Sawyer Steffan (Dr. Sawyer’s
daughter)
6:30 pm Dinner
Open microphone for sharing memories