Dr. Ramirez has received numerous awards and recognition for his work including a 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring presented by President Obama.
Fairfield University’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences will host renowned expert Julio Ramirez ’77, PhD, for a lecture entitled, “Broken Brains and Breaking Barriers: Lessons from the Hippocampal Formation and Life,” on Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. in the Aloysius P. Kelley Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.
A Class of 1977 alumnus, Dr. Ramirez was featured in a 2015 FairfieldNews article that described how as a child growing up in Bridgeport, Connecticut, his interest in learning – and particularly in science – was supported by not only family, but by teachers and community mentors.
“I was deeply moved to see how someone who wasn't a relative of mine might be concerned for my well-being,” Dr. Ramirez told FairfieldNews at the time. “During one experience that stands out when I was 15, I had just spoken in a large group meeting about some difficulties I saw that our community program was having. Eddie Rodriguez, a student from Fairfield University, pulled me to the side after the meeting to encourage me to consider going to college. He was a huge fan of Fairfield, as I would eventually become.”
Eddie Rodriguez Jr. ’72 went on to become a superior court judge for the state of Connecticut, serving from 1992 to 2016.
As a professor, Dr. Ramirez pays the mentorship he received forward, working closely with students in his lab at Davidson College to create opportunities for them to develop their careers. “My introduction to the power of hands-on learning actually occurred at Fairfield under the mentorship of Drs. Ron Salafia and Jack Boitano," he said. "During my junior and senior years I had that honor of working on several projects with Ron, which we eventually published. When liberal arts students are immersed in scientific work, they are confronted with complex problems that require well-honed critical thinking skills, the ability to think rapidly and fluidly, and the ability to express themselves orally and in writing. The preparation I got at Fairfield served as a model for me.”
Dr. Ramirez is the Stuart Dickson Professor of Psychology and Director of the Neuroscience Program at Davidson. He has received numerous awards and recognition for his work including a 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring presented by President Obama, the 2011 Society for Neuroscience Award for Education in Neuroscience, the 2014 American Psychological Association Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology Award, and the 2024 Association for Psychological Science Lifetime Achievement Award for Mentoring.
In his Sept. 19 lecture at Fairfield, titled “Broken Brains and Breaking Barriers: Lessons from the Hippocampal Formation and Life,” Dr. Ramirez will discuss the remarkable adaptability of the human brain and the significant challenges neuroscientists face when trying to understand the ways in which the central nervous system recovers from injury. Research over the past 50 years has concentrated on the hippocampus and associated areas critical for learning and memory. Studies have revealed that the hippocampus undergoes substantial structural changes, such as axonal sprouting, following damage to the entorhinal cortex, its primary cortical input. Dr. Ramirez and his team have been examining whether this axonal sprouting aids in the restoration of memory function after brain injury in rodents. Their research indicates that promoting sprouting in the hippocampus can indeed improve memory recovery post-injury.
In his upcoming lecture, Dr. Ramirez will also discuss his personal experiences as both a scholar and a social justice advocate.
