NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Vanderbilt psychologist Jon Kaas has received approval and sponsorship from the National Academy of Sciences to host a special research colloquium Nov. 16-18 at the Beckman Center of the National Academies in Irvine, Calif.
The title of the colloquium is “The New Comparative Biology of Human Nature.” “The primary goal of the symposium is to consider the relevance of animal research on the brain and behavior to human health and disease,” Kaas said. “As current researchers focus on an ever-shrinking number of animal model species in trying to understand humans, this colloquium will consider the usefulness of a broader comparative approach that might helps us identify those aspects of the human brain that contribute to our remarkable abilities, and those that make the human brain susceptible to debilitating diseases.”
The colloquium is part of the Sackler Colloquia series, which comprises four to six two-day events each year on scientific topics of broad and current interest spanning multiple disciplines. The series is sponsored by the family of Arthur M. Sackler, a noted physician and philanthropist to the arts and sciences. Sackler died in 1987.
In addition to Kaas, Todd Preuss, associate research professor, Emory University; John M. Allman, Frank P. Hixon Professor of Neurobiology, University of Chicago; and Susan M. Fitzpatrick, vice president of the John S. McDonnell Foundation, will co-organize the colloquium.
Kaas is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development investigator. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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