Dr. James Koenig organized the 4th Annual Neuroendocrine Workshop which took place from June 18-20, 2000 in Toronto, Canada. The title of this year's workshop was "Estrogen, Growth Factors and Neuroplasticity." Approximately one hundred twenty five scientists from around the world attended and cutting edge knowledge about estrogen and its effects on the brain were discussed. Of particular interest were reports on the effects of estrogen on cognitive function and neuroprotection.

Dr. Koenig and Dr. William T. Carpenter organized a session at the 2nd International Congress on Hormones, Brain and Neuropsychopharmacology which took place in Rhodes, Greece from July 15-19, 2000. Their session was titled "Estrogen, Brain and Cognition." There were five presentations in their session, including a presentation on new findings on the effect of estrogen on glutamate receptor expression in the brain and its potential functional significance.

Dr. Greg Elmer organized a symposium at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics meeting in Boston, June 7, 2000. The all-day symposium was entitled, "Understanding the Behavioral Consequences of Gene Manipulations: Integration of Genetically Engineered Animal Models into Behavior Pharmacology Research." The purpose of this symposium was to provide a systematic orientation to issues important in the planning, analysis and interpretation of behavioral effects consequent to genetic manipulations.

Dr. Carol Tamminga organized a meeting on Brain Plasticity and Schizophrenia in Zinal, Switzerland on September 9-12, 2000. This is a workshop to develop new research strategies based on novel brain mechanisms in schizophrenia. She has been selected as the Research Lecturer of the Year by the University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Robert Schwarcz presented the keynote address at the opening of The Vienna Brain Research Institute. On September 19, 2000, Dr. Schwarcz presented a seminar at Harvard University for the Department of Neurology.

Dr. Brian Kirkpatrick was recently awarded a $100,000 Distinguished Investigator grant by The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) for his research to study possible neurobiological causes of the “deficit syndrome” of schizophrenia.

Dr. William Carpenter was awarded the Lieber Prize from National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.