Dorothy Kozlowski, PhD

Dorothy Kozlowski is the Interim Dean of the College of Science and Health and Vincent DePaul Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at DePaul University.

Her teaching and research focus is in neuroscience.  Specifically, Dr. Kozlowski is interested in how the brain tries to repair itself following traumatic brain injury through neuroplasticity.  She, her students, and collaborators also study how to enhance brain repair through therapeutic approaches such as physical rehabilitation, stem cell transplantation or pharmacological agents.  Her lab is also interested in understanding why repeat concussions and subconcussions result in long-term neurological deficits. Her research has been published in a variety of journals and book chapters and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Defense.

Dr. Kozlowski teaches courses in neuroscience in the Biology and Neuroscience Departments as well as in the liberal arts program.  She received the Excellence in Teaching Award from DePaul in 2010 and the “Educator of the Year” award from the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, an international organization, in 2011.

In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Kozlowski works with DePaul students and the Concussion Legacy Foundation to offer concussion education presentations to youth in the Chicago area.  These presentations are designed to teach youth about the symptoms of concussion and how to play sports safely.  She is also actively working on bringing attention to the role concussions play in victims of domestic and interpersonal violence.

Peggy Mason, PhD

Peggy Mason received her BA in Biology in 1983 and her PhD in Neuroscience in 1987, both from Harvard. After postdoctoral work at the University of California – San Francisco, she joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 1992, where she is now a Professor of Neurobiology. For 25 years, Dr. Mason has worked on the cellular mechanisms of pain modulation. Since 2008, she has pioneered work on the biology of empathy and helping behavior.

Dr. Mason is committed to increasing interest in neurobiology through teaching. She taught medical students for 25 years during which time she wrote a textbook, Medical Neurobiology (Oxford University Press, 2011; 2^nd edition, 2017). Dr. Mason is currently the inaugural Director of the undergraduate major on Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. She also teaches a popular Coursera course that has attracted almost 175,000 students to date. She has received multiple awards for her teaching.

Janice H. Urban, PhD

Dr. Janice Urban earned her BS in Biology from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN and her doctoral degree from Loyola University’s Stritch School of Medicine in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. Dr. Urban completed Postdoctoral Fellowships at the University of Washington and Northwestern University. She then became a Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University in the department of Neurobiology and Physiology. She has advanced from an Assistant Professor in the Chicago Medical School at Finch University Health Sciences (currently Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science) to Professor and Chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. She is currently the Director for the Center of the Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders.

Dr. Urban’s current research program focuses on the neural processes that control stress response and the development of resilience. Her work also extends to complementary collaborative projects on traumatic brain injury and the co-incidence of anxiety-related disorders.

In addition to her research, Dr. Urban is involved in various mentoring activities within the university. She has served on study sections for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. As an active member of the American Physiological Society she has served on the advisory committee for the Central Nervous System Section, Awards Committee and currently sits on the Education Committee. More recently served as President for the Association of Chairs of the Departments of Physiology (ACDP) in 2017-18.

Moderator: Susan McMahon, PhD

Susan Dvorak McMahon is Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development for the College of Science and Health and Professor of Clinical-Community and Community Psychology at DePaul University. She has held many national leadership positions within the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA; Division 27 of APA), including President, Regional Network Coordinator, and Council of Education Chair, and she is a Fellow and recipient of the Outstanding Educator Award. Her research focuses on teacher and student experiences with violence, school climate, risk and protective factors at multiple ecological levels, school-based intervention and evaluation, and enhancing our educational systems.