Director 2002 - 2011
Dr. David R. Colman (1949 - 2011) was the Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and the Wilder Penfield Professor of Neuroscience at McGill University. Dr. Colman received his Bachelor of Science (Biology) with minors in English and Geology from New York University (1970) and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the State University of New York (1977).Prior to becoming the Director in 2002, he was the Annenberg Professor of Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, the Vice-Chairman for Research in the Department of Neurology, and the Scientific Director of The Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis of The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Dr. Colman's research focused on problems related to myelination, spinal cord injury, and nerve cell development and regeneration. His laboratory has made major contributions to our understanding of how nerves are protected and nurtured by the myelin sheath in the brain and in the peripheral nervous system and how nerve cells communicate with each other across the synapse. Under Dr. Colman's leadership, The MNI was re-integrated with the MNH as The Neuro. We launched a $40 million capital campaign and were named one of the first Canadian national Centres of Excellence in Research and Commercialization. He has worked with colleagues to develop McGill's Neuroengineering Program and the Integrated Program in Neuroscience, and is working with the National Film Board of Canada on an IMAX film about neuroscience, "Neuropolis."