Brain awareness week is back! Join us for a series of talks during the week of October 26. All events are open to the public.
Brain Awareness Week is full of great speakers and student presentations that engage everyone in the medical mysteries of the mind.
The annual Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is a nationally recognized innovative academic outreach program at the College with the overall goal to educate and engage on broad issues of Brain, Mind, and Behavior.
BAW first began in 2003 and is collaboratively organized annually by the neuroscience student organizations Nu Rho Psi and SYNAPSE, with contributions by the Neuroscience Department, the Biology Department, and the Psychology Department. The National Society for Neuroscience recognized the 2010 Lake Forest College program with its first inaugural and annual Brain Awareness Week Award.
Brain Awareness Week runs from October 26–30, and features three keynote lectures along with the Ninth Annual Robert B. Glassman Memorial Brain, Mind, and Behavior Symposium.
2026 Brain Awareness Week
Monday, October 26
Opening Keynote Lecture
The Neuropolitical Social Contract: Neuroscience as the Foundation for Overcoming Dehumanization, Polarization and the Collapse of our Liberal Democracies
Dr. Liya Yu, Ph.D.
Visiting Fellow, Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University
Assistant Professor, National Chengchi, University in Taiwan
4:15 p.m., presented via Teams
Contact Professor Shubhik DebBurman (debburman@lakeforest.edu) for a Teams link.
Co-sponsors: Philosophy and Politics & International Relations Departments, Legal Studies Program
Tuesday, October 27
Psi Chi Keynote Lecture
Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical and Social Well-Being
Dr. Marc Berman, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of Psychology, University of Chicago
4:15 p.m., presented via Teams
Contact Professor Shubhik DebBurman (debburman@lakeforest.edu) for a Teams link.
Co-sponsors: Psychology & Environmental Studies Departments, Health Professions Program, Future Health Professionals, and Psi Chi
Wednesday, October 28
Nu Rho Psi Keynote Lecture
Understanding Autism through Studies of Families and Links to the X Chromosome
Dr. Molly Losh, Ph.D.
Jo Ann G. and Peter F. Dolle Professor of Learning, Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, School of Communication, Northwestern University
4:15 p.m., Tarble Room, Brown Hall
Co-sponsors: Health Professions Program, Future Health Professionals
Thursday, October 29
Robert B. Glassman Memorial Brain, Mind, and Behavior Symposium Day One
Faculty and Alumni Talks
All talks will be in Tarble Room, Brown Hall
- 6:30 p.m. Reception
- 7:00 p.m. Welcome Remarks, Synapse
- 7:05 p.m. Charles Alvarado ’16, Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Children Maltreatment Solutions Network, Department of Education, Penn State University, Looking Beyond the Page: The Role of Childhood Adversity in Learning To Read
- 7:25 p.m. Emily Dix, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Lake Forest College, Understanding the Recognition vs. Denial of Racial Discrimination
- 7:45 p.m. Trevor Buhr ‘18, PhD in Neuroscience, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, Investigating the Neurophysiological Underpinnings of Stress-Induced Physical Inactivity
- 8:05 p.m. Elisabeth Bacon ’19, PhD candidate in Neuroscience, Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, The Long and the Short of it: Neurons That Run Together Longer, Communicate Stronger
- 8:25 p.m. Sugata Banerji, PhD, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, Lake Forest College, Artificial Imagination: Teaching Computers to Dream
- 8:45 p.m. Closing Remarks, Synapse
Friday, October 30
Robert B. Glassman Memorial Brain, Mind, and Behavior Symposium Day Two
Undergraduate and Alumni Research Poster Session
4:00 - 6:30 p.m., Calvin Durand Hall, Mohr Student Center
4:00 p.m. Chicago Society for Neuroscience Reception
4:30 p.m. Welcome Remarks and Unveiling of Annual Neuroscience Sculpture
4:45 - 6:10 p.m. Poster Viewing
Enjoy posters and exhibits by current students and recent alumni of original student/faculty research conducted at Lake Forest, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, and several other Chicago area research universities and beyond.
6:10 p.m. Closing Ceremony
Introduction, Nu Rho Psi
Closing Remarks for Brain Awareness Week and Glassman Symposium
Recognition of student scholars and celebratory photo
The 2026 Brain Awareness Week Sponsors and Organizers
Brought to you by:
Departments of Biology, Economics/Business/Finance, Education, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Psychology, Programs in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Legal Studies and Public Policy, the Health Professions Program, and the Ethics Center.
Organized by:
Nu Rho Psi (Neuroscience Honor Society) in collaboration with Synapse (the neuroscience student organization).
Thanks to:
The Offices of Printing Services, Communication and Marketing, Parkhurst Dining, and Library and Information Technology.
Thanks to Rosemary Thomas ’18 for the logo design.
Contact Dr. Shubhik DebBurman at debburman@lakeforest.edu or 847-735-6040 with questions.
October 03, 2025
Glassman Symposium to showcase faculty, alumni, student research
