Memory expert to direct MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
14 October 2010
Professor Susan Gathercole has been appointed as the new director of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBSU) in Cambridge. She is currently the Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of York, and will succeed Professor William Marslen-Wilson in January 2011.
Professor Gathercole’s research experience spans 30 years and focuses on memory and learning, in both children and adults. On her appointment, she said:
“It is a great privilege to take on the stewardship of the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at this truly exciting time in which cognitive science is generating ground-breaking advances in many aspects of health, disease and disorder, as well as in younger and older age.”
“The mission of the CBU over the next decade is to harness the full potential of the field to improve human health. This will be achieved through innovative cognitive theory and cognitive neuroscience of the highest quality, coupled with an ambitious translational programme dedicated to propelling fundamental science through to practical benefits for health, medicine and education.”
The MRC will award Professor Gathercole an MRC Research Professorship to be held at the University of Cambridge to support the strategic partnership between the university the Unit. The Regent House of the University will be asked to establish the Professorship from the date of her appointment as Director.
William Marslen-Wilson, out-going Director of CBSU, said:
"This is an excellent appointment for the Unit. Sue Gathercole has just the right combination of scientific distinction and managerial vigour to take the Unit forward to meet the exciting challenges of this new decade. We are all delighted at the outcome".
Ends
