News & Media

October 1, 2008
Director's Corner - NEURO TIME CAPSULE, 2083

"What shall I build or write
Against the fall of night?"
A.E. Housman

Housman's thought as he walked the seashore - the quest for meaning and permanence in a Universe whose one constant is change - has pre-occupied the human mind for millennia.

Will we be remembered?

The chronicles of daily life illuminated on the cave walls of Lascaux, the secret internal chambers of the Egyptian pyramids, the Century Safe of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, The Time Capsule of Cupaloy (1938), the fictional Boo Radley's Indian Head pennies placed in a hollow tree, the inscribed gold disks within the Voyager spacecrafts, innumerable cornerstone repositories in European churches and municipal edifices - have a common element. They express a profound human need: Remember us at some distant point in time.

In Montreal, on October 6th, 1933, a sealed copper box - our original Time Capsule - was interred within the hollow cornerstone of the first MNI edifice on University Street. Within the box, appropriately catalogued, had been placed newspapers from that day, and various documents relating to McGill, the Quebec government, a biography of Sir Arthur Currie (then the Principal), all wrapped up in orange waxed paper and clear celluloid.

And that is exactly what we found, when on September 29th of this year, Claude Bernard, a master stonemason, removed the cornerstone so we could examine the contents of the box.

We (me, Bill Feindel, and fifty or so of our Sherlock Holmes-type colleagues) were delighted at the perfect preservation of handwritten letters relating to the creation of the MNI, all tied up with ribbons and crimson waxed seals, but at the same time, Bill and I had been hoping for just a few surprises - a scalpel maybe, or a spindly EEG needle, a tissue slice of a key pathological specimen - something not on the list. But no, our first Time Capsule was an academic and administrative testimonial.

I should not have been surprised at the predictability of the contents, of course.

In 1933, The Neuro was an embryo! A shell of a building, but no working teams in it as yet. It was still a collective dream experienced by "movers" like Currie, Osler, Gregg (of the Rockefeller Foundation), and many, many others. Penfield was the young visionary innovator who was to be the instrument by which the MNI would take shape. At least, that was the hope. The Neuro would only open it's doors in 1934, after all. In 1933, Penfield's brilliant and illustrious career lay ahead of him, as did the stunning and unforeseen successes of The Neuro over the past 75 years. So, in 1933, there just were no MNI curiosities to include in the box.

We will re-inter the 1933 contents, and we are now pondering what to place within our 2008 Time Capsule, to be opened (we can only suggest) in 2083. We now have a very full and rich history from which to select MNI items for posterity to examine and wonder about. Send me your thoughts.

Oh yes, there is one item that I am sure will be within the hermetically sealed copper box when it is put back within the cornerstone in a few weeks. It will be a private, handwritten letter from me to the Director of 2083, nicely dolled up with a red ribbon and a crimson wax seal.

Please send any comments about the Director's Corner to David Colman

---

Recent News & Events

Homage to Brenda Milner
Colleagues and former students of Brenda Milner discussed research on memory at the recent Brenda Milner Symposium, held to recognize her role as founder of the field of cognitive neuroscience.

Andre Delambre ALS symposium
Scientists from 7 countries presented their newest research at the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) symposium and were honored to meet Jacques Dion, President of the Andre Delambre Foundation and annual sponsor of the symposium, and members of the Delambre family. Animated discussion revealed the challenges of studying this disease and highlighted the importance of collaboration for scientific advances. ALS is a progressive neuromuscular disease that causes nerve cells to degenerate. About 3000 Canadians have ALS, which has no known cause or cure.

---

Upcoming events

MNI Cornerstone Commemoration, October 6, 2008
Join the festivities at 5 pm in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre on October 6 to mark the 75th anniversary of the laying of the MNI cornerstone. Come see what was sealed away so many years ago and hear reflections by David Colman, William Feindel and others from the James McGill Society.

Denis Melançon Neuroradiology Lecture, October 16, 2008
Denis Melançon Neuroradiology Lecture, October 16, 2008 The Denis Melançon Neuroradiology Lecture was established this year by Donatella Tampieri to honour Dr Melançon’s dedication to patient care and commitment to training young neuroradiologists. The event will focus on the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors with presentations from 1:45 to 4:30 pm by MNI colleagues Andre Olivier, Richard LeBlanc and Marie Christine Guiot, and by McGill physicians David Roberge and Petr Kavan. At 4:30 pm, Professor Giuseppe Scotti, Chairman of Neuroradiology, Hospital and Institute San Raffaele in Milan, Italy, will deliver the keynote lecture, “Imaging of Brain Tumors: past, present and future”. For details, see the program.

Gairdner International Awards 2008 Lecture and Dorothy J. Killam Lecture, October 21, 2008
Stars at work will be the theme of the afternoon program in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre October 21. Princeton University astrophysics post-doc, Alicia Soderberg, will talk about her observations in “Birth of a supernova: X-rays mark the spot” in the Dorothy J. Killam Lecture at 2 pm. This MNI lecture recognizes the achievement of women in science.
At 3:15 pm, 2008 Gairdner International Award winner and McGill professor of biochemistry Nahum Sonenberg will talk on “Translational control in biology and medicine.” At 4:30 pm, Ulrich Hartl, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry and 2004 Gairdner Laureate, will speak on “Protein folding in the cell: Role of molecular chaperones in health and disease.” Since 1959, the Gairdner Award has been bestowed on 288 scientists and 70 of these have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in medicine or chemistry. All are welcome to this afternoon of stellar science and the reception that will follow.

Faculty and Staff campaign kick-off, October 22, 2008
Donatella Tampieri and Bruce Pike will launch the third annual faculty and staff campaign by greeting staff as they enter the Neuro on October 22. This initiative, Putting our Heads Together, is part of our ambitious $40-million Thinking Ahead Campaign to raise funds for the Neuro’s academic and clinical mission. Under the leadership of these co-chairs, enthusiastic volunteers will seek full participation from faculty and staff as this is the best message to donors about our commitment to the Neuro.

Epilepsy at the Cutting Edge: A symposium to honour Fred and Eva Andermann, October 23-25, 2008
More than 40 international experts will present scientific and clinical work, and the keynote lecture at 1:30 pm October 23 will be “Borderland of epilepsy: A clinical and molecular view 100 years on” by Dr. Sam Berkovic, Scientific Director of the Brain Research Institute and Director of the Epilepsy Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Registration is required but free for participants from the Neuro or McGill. Reservations for the symposium banquet at the Mount Stephen Club on Friday, October 24 must be made in advance. For details and to register, please see meeting website or contact Debbie Rashcovsky by email or telephone (514-398-6047).

---

Congratulations to…..

MNI faculty and staff Massimo Avoli, Monique Ledermann, Gabriel Leonard, Ghislaine Savard and Robert Zatorre, who were recognized by the McGill Quarter Century Club for 25 years of service.

Peter McPherson and colleagues whose recent article on the role of the COPI pathway in neurodegenerative disease was selected as a paper of the week and cover for the August 15 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.



Heather Durham and her lab who put some muscle into their work by raising over $2000 for the Tony Proudfoot Foundation to support research at the Walk for ALS.

---

Condolences to …

Daria Trojan and family who mourn the passing of her father, Myroslaw Trojan. Mr. Trojan was born in Ukraine and immigrated to the US in 1955 where he pursued a successful career as an engineer. He was also active in many community organizations. He is survived by his wife, four daughters, and six grandchildren.

---

Director - David R. Colman, PhD
Senior Management - Mark Angle, MD; Phil Barker, PhD; Rob Dunn, PhD; Tom Gevas; Marilyn Kaplow; Elizabeth Kofron, PhD; Patricia O'Connor; Catherine Rowe
Neuro News: Elizabeth Kofron, PhD & Sandra McPherson, PhD

Please send any items for the Neuro News to Sandra McPherson or Beth Kofron.

---