This profile is part of a series to highlight the researchers who will be honored at a ceremony for UNMC’s 2015 Scientist Laureate, Research Leadership, Distinguished Scientist and New Investigator Award recipients.
The New Investigator Award
New Investigator Awards go to outstanding UNMC scientists who in the past two years have secured their first funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense or other national sources.
New Investigators also had to demonstrate scholarly activity such as publishing their research and/or presenting their findings at national conventions.
- Name: Tony Wilson, Ph.D.
- Title: Associate professor of pharmacology/experimental neuroscience & neurological sciences, scientific director of the MEG Center
- Joined UNMC: 2009
- Hometown: Borger, Texas
Research focus:
Human brain function
Describe your research briefly in layman’s terms.
We try to figure out how the brain works. Basically, each region of the brain is specialized to perform a specific function and in my lab we work to identify and map each region’s “specialty” in healthy people. We then understand disease (e.g., Alzheimer’s) by identifying alterations in these maps of brain function.
How does your research contribute to science and/or health care?
By understanding how the brain works, we can develop treatments to alleviate brain disorders.
What is the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you, professional or personal?
That motivation is the ultimate equalizer.
List three things few people know about you.
- I had a very “dirty job” in the oil fields throughout my teens.
- I started racing dirt bikes (motocross) at age 4 and was Texas state champion for my age group during adolescence.
- I play pattycake at least once a day.
Congratulation's Tony!
– Brian Hovey