Oswald Steward, PhD, founding director of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at UCI has been selected for the Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship, an annual award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Steward was also recently appointed incoming president of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), the largest neuroscience professional society in the world.
The award was named in honor of former NINDS Director Dr. Story Landis, and was given to six faculty members who have shown dedication to superior mentorship and rigorous scientific training in neuroscience research.
“Our steering committee was unanimously impressed by Dr. Steward’s thoughtful approach to mentoring, and the notable impact he has had on his trainees,” said Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “We are grateful his contributions to neuroscience and for furthering the careers of his trainees.”
He is well known for his research on how nerve cells create and maintain their connections with each other, and how these synapses are modified after injury. Steward has also conducted research on how genes influence nerve cell regeneration, growth and function and how physiological activity affects nerve cell connections
Steward received his B.A. in psychology from the University of Colorado, and his PhD in psychobiology from UCI. He then went on to become assistant-full professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Physiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, as well as founding chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Harrison Foundation Professor of neuroscience and neurosurgery at the University of Virginia.
He returned to UCI in 1999 to be the founding director of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center and the Reeve-Irvine professor in the School of Medicine Departments of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurobiology & Behavior, and Neurosurgery.
At UCI he has served in a number of important roles including as senior associate dean for research in the UCI School of Medicine from 2012-2017. He was also a major driving force behind the UCI Brain Initiative, which is now in its third year.