Grantee: Mark Laudenslager, PhD

Mark Laudenslager, PhD

• University of Colorado - Denver

Dr. Mark Laudenslager, winner of the 2013 Norman Cousins Award from PNIRS

BBPSB grantee, Mark Laudenslager, PhD won the 2013 Norman Cousins Award from the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society (PNIRS). PNIRS is an international organization that brings together researchers in a number of scientific and medical disciplines, including psychology, neurosciences, immunology, physiology, pharmacology, psychiatry, behavioral medicine, infectious diseases, endocrinology and rheumatology. It is comprised of those that are interested in interactions between the nervous and immune systems, and the relationship between behavior and health. The society aims to conduct basic research that can be translated into clinically relevant health applications.

Having been a part of PNIRS since its inception, the Cousins lectureship is a real honor by allowing me to stand among the giants who created this field and whose ideas and concepts were central to much of my work, Dr. Laudenslager explained. I am excited to begin the next decade with the same enthusiasm I had many years ago at our PNIRS early meetings.

Dr. Laudenslager is the Director of the Behavioral Immunology and Endocrinology Laboratory at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. His research reflects a number of interests addressing the impact of early developmental challenges on immune and endocrine regulation.

The Norman Cousins Award is the highest honor given by the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society to an individual for outstanding contributions to research in psychoneuroimmunology. Norman Cousins was an articulate spokesman and advocate for Psychoneuroimmunology, whose support and generosity has facilitated the career development of many investigators in this interdisciplinary field of endeavor. To contribute to the advancement of knowledge in psychoneuroimmunology, Ellen Cousins, Norman''s wife, created the Norman Cousins Memorial Fund, and the California Wellness Foundation provided the endowment for the Norman Cousins Memorial Award and Lecture to be delivered as a highlight of the annual meeting of the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society.