This spring, with a donation from Israeli business leader and philanthropist Sami Sagol, the University created a new research program focused on promoting healthy brain aging. The Sagol Brain Longevity Program is based at Columbia’s Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, an interdisciplinary hub where scientists study the fundamental principles of brain function in health and disease.
The gift also establishes a new endowed chair, the Sagol Professorship of Brain Science, whose first recipient is Nobel laureate neuroscientist Eric Kandel, a University Professor and codirector of the Zuckerman Institute.
“I am committed to helping scientists deepen our understanding of the brain to better treat and prevent illnesses and prolong healthy brain aging,” says Sagol. “I am delighted to do so at the Zuckerman Institute, given the caliber of its faculty. I can think of no better inaugural chair than Eric Kandel, one of the world’s foremost neuroscientists, whose pioneering discoveries have influenced my passion for the field and laid the foundations for our current understanding of memory.”
