VT College of Science Quarterly August 2014 Vol. 2 No. 1 | Page 16

Friedlander
honored by
University of
Alabama,
Birmingham
with First
Annual
Undergraduate
Neuroscience
Society
Distinguished
Scholar Award
by

Paula Brewer Byron

VT Carilion Research Institute

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College of Science Quarterly

Nearly a decade after leaving the University
of Alabama at Birmingham, Michael Friedlander will be honored by the university’s
undergraduate neuroscience society.
Friedlander, founding executive director of
the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute,
will receive the First Annual Undergraduate
Neuroscience Society Distinguished Scholar
Award of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The award caps 25 years of Friedlander’s
achievements at the university. In addition
to serving as the first
endowed Evelyn
McKnight Neuroscience Professor of
Memory in Aging,
Friedlander founded
the university’s Neurobiology Research
Center, Department
of Neurobiology, and
Neurobiology Graduate Program.
Also at the University of Alabama
at Birmingham,
Friedlander developed cross-campus
neuroscience initiatives in education and
research. As director of the university’s Civitan
International Research Center, he coordinated
intellectual disability programs that spanned
the entire university and engaged the Birmingham community.
Friedlander also contributed to the development of undergraduate initiatives in neuroscience, including classes that he directed and
taught on the evolution of the vertebrate brain
and the mind-brain interface. He co-developed
the university’s undergraduate Summer Program in Neuroscience (SPIN), which received
National Science Foundation support to
provide intensive research opportunities for
undergraduates across the country.
“I am greatly honored to receive this award,
especially from the undergraduate neuroscience students at UAB,” Friedlander said.
“Working with such talented and dedicated
students has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I’m particularly
proud of how many of them have not only
excelled in academia and research, but are
also having a substantial impact on the world’s

health through policy, service, and business
innovation.”
In 2005, Friedlander joined the Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston where he
served as chair of neuroscience and director of
neuroscience initiatives. He led a neuroscience
training program supported by the National
Institutes of Health and directed courses that
included Baylor graduate students and Rice
University undergraduates.
At the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Friedlander has initiated a special fellowship program for graduate
students and provided
opportunities for undergraduates to gain research
experience. As senior dean
for research at the Virginia
Tech Carilion School of
Medicine, he oversees the
school’s research curriculum. And as a professor of
biological studies and of
biomedical engineering
and sciences, he lectures
to undergraduates in
biochemistry, biological
sciences, and biomedical
engineering.
Virgina Tech’s associate
provost for health sciences
since 2013, he recently led the development of
the new university-wide program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, which he
now co-directs with Audra Van Wart. The program, targeted to doctoral students, provides
undergraduates with opportunities in several
health-related focus areas, including neuroscience. Friedlander is now working closely
with faculty across multiple College of Science
departments and the Academy of Integrated
Science to help develop the university’s new
undergraduate neuroscience program.
Friedlander said he remains committed to
contributing to the growth of neuroscience at
Virginia Tech, and he sees a bright future for
undergraduate and graduate students who
choose to study at the university.
“Virginia Tech has outstanding faculty and
students across many fields that are key to
modern neuroscience,” Friedlander said.
“The university’s culture of innovation will
help students make major contributions and
become leaders in the rapidly evolving field of
neuroscience.”