This year marks the 100th anniversary for the Neurological Institute (NI).

To mark this occasion Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons hosted a Centennial Symposium in September.  The auditorium was filled with Neuroscientists and Neurosurgeons from all over the world who came to hear members of the Columbia University and NI teams speak. Two of the speakers were Nobel Prize winners, Dr. Eric R Kandel and Dr. Richard Axel .

Dr. Eric R Kandel won the Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine in 2000.  He is a University Professor and Kavli Professor of Brain Science at Columbia University and Senior Research Scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute.  He is best known for the study of the physiology of memory. He has also recently published the book: Memory: From Mind to Molecules.

Dr. Richard Axel won the Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine in 2004.  He is also a University Professor at Columbia University and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His work is notable for paving the way to the genetic and molecular study of olfaction (that is our sense of smell).

The day long Centennial Symposium featured many other notable neuroscientists and neurosurgeons.  At the end of the day the Neurological Institute had been true to their long standing tradition as stated by Dr. Lee Goldman,  “The Neurological Institute is more than just a building- it is important to our medical center because of its stellar faculty who educate the next generation of neurologists and neurosurgeons, and who continue to lead developments in addressing some of the most devastating neurological diseases that affect our population.”

Axel  See Dr. Richard Axel’s Interview with Charlie Rose