Irwin Levitan, Ph.D. Selected as Recipient of Paul C. Brucker, M.D., Professorship in Neuroscience Research
Irwin Levitan, PhD
Irwin Levitan, PhD, founding chair of the
department of Neuroscience at
Jefferson Medical College and director of the
Farber Institute for Neurosciences of Thomas Jefferson University, has been selected as the recipient of The Paul C. Brucker, MD Professorship in Neuroscience Research.
The Professorship was created in 2006 by longtime Thomas Jefferson University trustee and former Board Chairman Jack Farber, in support of a faculty member within the Farber Institute for Neurosciences who is engaged in Alzheimer’s disease, neurodegenerative diseases or other related neurodegenerative research fields. It is named for Dr. Paul C. Brucker, President Emeritus and Professor of Family and Community Medicine.
“In recognition of his distinguished record as an investigator and faculty leader, we are proud to honor Dr. Levitan with this professorship,” says Mark L. Tykocinski, MD, Dean, Jefferson Medical College; Senior Vice President, Thomas Jefferson University; and President, Jefferson University Physicians. “Our medical college and university have greatly benefitted from his expertise and vision. He is well-deserving of this achievement.”
Prior to joining Jefferson, Dr. Levitan served as David Mahoney Professor and Chair of the department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. In addition, he was director of Penn’s campus-wide Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences.
He received his BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Biochemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Gothenburg and the University of California at San Diego, he was a Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel, where he began investigating the regulation of neuronal excitability in the marine mollusk Aplysia. He then continued his studies at Brandeis University, where he was Professor of Biochemistry and founding Director of the Volen Center for Complex Systems.
Founded in 1824, Jefferson Medical College is one of the largest private medical schools with among the largest living alumni group in the nation. It offers both traditional medical education and innovative joint degree programs to its enrollment of more than 900 students each year and has awarded more than 29,000 medical degrees. Approximately one fourth of all medical school applicants throughout the country apply to Jefferson.
Media Only Contact:
Jennifer McGowan-Smith
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 8/8/2011