Welcome from the Chair

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine enjoys a unique structure in which basic scientists, clinicians, and clinical researchers coexist within one department. This model is in large part responsible for propelling UCSD forward by integrating basic and clinical disciplines.

The Department of Neurosciences is composed of 33 ladder-rank faculty members, 23 research and project scientists, and 27 faculty who hold adjunct and joint appointments. Additionally, there are 61 individuals outside the university who participate in our clinical teaching programs. We are proud that Neurosciences at UCSD ranks first out of 90 competitors in overall NIH grant funding.

The Department houses two major teaching programs. These include the Graduate Program in Neurosciences, which was ranked first in 1995 by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The Graduate Program is interdisciplinary and interinstitutional and draws upon faculty from eight other departments at UCSD, as well as faculty from the Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute, and Burnham Institute. Overall, 145 faculty members are involved in the teaching and education of an annual average of 70 graduate students. Students have access to more than 85 laboratories on the La Jolla Mesa.

The Department of Neurosciences also supports adult and pediatric residency training programs in neurology utilizing clinical facilities at the UCSD Medical Centers in Hillcrest and La Jolla, VA San Diego Medical Center, and Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego. Areas of particular interest include the diagnosis, management, and research of neurodegenerative diseases (in particular Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease), stroke, epilepsy, neuromuscular disorders, metabolic disorders, and neuro-developmental disorders, including autism. The Department maintains close ties with its neighboring institutions, including the Salk Institute, Scripps Research Institute, and Burnham Institute. The La Jolla Mesa has the greatest concentration of neuroscientists of any single area in the United States .

We welcome you to our web site and to the intellectual riches of Neurosciences in La Jolla .