Fall 2012 - Villanova University

ulty in his own department, he has teamed up with experts atprestigious universities nationwide.But Dr. Matell finds that Villanova’s commitment to bothteaching and research creates a healthy environment in whichto operate. Here, faculty are free to balance the two areas inways that work for them. They also are encouraged to developtheir strengths and pursue their passions.“I enjoy coming up with ideas and applying for funding to seewhere those ideas will go,” Dr. Matell says, “but I don’t feel theconstant pressure faculty at other schools might feel to bring ina certain number of grants or else.”Villanova also is a place where undergraduate students canget in on cutting-edge research, and Dr. Matell welcomes suchpartners in his lab. As a senior, Nicholas Petrosino ’12 A&Sco-developed a research project that proved to be Dr. Matell’sfirst one involving humans, not rats, as subjects: the effect ofdepressed moods on the judgment of time duration.“It was fantastic to be in conversation about specific andchallenging research with someone so knowledgeable and soimmersed in the field,” he says.Samantha Cerasiello ’12 A&S assisted Dr. Matell with thetemporal-averaging experiment, as well as a project on theeffects of serotonin on timing. She appreciated her mentor’sfinely tuned talent for knowing when to step in and when tostep back.“Dr. Matell challenged me to learn and explore on my own,but he never let me feel frustrated or alone in the process.”True, faculty must carve out time from already packedschedules to train and nurture their young assistants. But thepayoff, in Dr. Matell’s opinion, is worth the investment.“Doing research as an undergraduate exposes students to the‘noise’ inherent in real-life science and is the best preparationfor graduate school.”That’s a long-term reward no one at Villanova discounts. Start of Something BigFor four decades, how stimulant drugs affect neuralactivity in the brain has been one of the researchareas of another Villanovan: George Rebec, PhD, ’71A&S, Chancellor’s Professor of Psychological and BrainSciences, and director, Program in Neuroscience, atIndiana University Bloomington.Dr. Rebec and his colleagues focus on the neuralmechanisms underlying one of the most vexing issueswith addiction: relapse. Why do so many users, despitetheir best efforts, go back? A big problem seems to bethat cues associated with the drug in the person’s mindcan trigger craving.Using rat models, Dr. Rebec studies not only whichneurons in the brain respond to these cues but why.The answer may be the buildup of the neurotransmitterglutamate. Figuring out how to remove or prevent thisexcess could lead to treatments for drug relapse.Dr. Rebec’s curiosity about all things biopsychologicalwas piqued during his undergraduate days at Villanova.Courses with professors Ingeborg Ward, PhD, and ByronWard, PhD, were especially influential in setting thePsychology major on a course of study that included adoctoral degree at University of Colorado Boulder anda postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California,San Diego.In April, Dr. Rebec returned to his Villanova rootsfor the Department of Psychology’s 50th anniversaryThe Department of Psychology, chaired by Thomas Toppino, PhD(right), honors George Rebec, PhD, ’71 A&S (center) with thedistinguished alumnus award named for former chair Daniel J.Ziegler, PhD, ’60 A&S (left).celebration. He presented a talk on his research onHuntington’s disease and was one of the recipients ofthe Daniel J. Ziegler Distinguished Alumnus Award.Honored and humbled by the recognition, Dr. Rebecsaid he was “happy to come back to where it all started.”villanova.edu 29