SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael Merzenich, PhD., co-founder
and Chief Scientific Officer of Posit Science, has been elected to the
Institute of Medicine according to an announcement by the Institute today.
Dr. Merzenich is one of 65 newly elected members.
Members are elected through a highly selective process that recognizes
people who have made major contributions to the advancement of the medical
sciences, health care, and public health. Election is considered one of the
highest honors in the fields of medicine and health. There are currently just
1,736 members.
The Institute of Medicine is one of the membership branches of the
National Academies, which also includes the National Academy of Sciences and
the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Merzenich has previously been honored
by election to the National Academy of Sciences, making him one of a very
select group elected to more than one academy. All are private, non-profit
institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under
a congressional charter. New members are elected by current members of each
institution.
Most members of the Institute of Medicine are medical doctors. Dr.
Merzenich is not. His research work over the past three decades, at UCSF and
at companies he has founded, has focused on how the science of brain
plasticity can improve brain health. Dr. Merzenich co-founded Posit Science
in October 2003, with the mission of getting discoveries in the lab quickly
turned into products that can improve the lives of people.
Posit Science computer-based training programs are designed to enhance
cognitive abilities of people as they grow older. The technology used by
Posit Science has been shown to be effective in numerous randomized controlled
trials and has been reported on in more than 30 published papers.
More than 100,000 copies of the programs have been sold for home use, and
thousands of additional people use the programs daily in brain fitness classes
at hundreds of locations. The programs also are being used in a number of
clinical trials addressing neurological diseases and disorders and by more
than 200 medical doctors.
"Dr. Merzenich's life is a testament to the value of basic and
translational research," said Jeff Zimman, Chairman of Posit Science. "While
his previous election to the National Academy of Sciences underscored the
importance of brain plasticity research to science, this election seems to
underscore the coming of age of that research in the fields of medicine and
health."
Dr. Merzenich may be best known today for his featured role in the 2007
public television pledge drive special "The Brain Fitness Program," which has
aired more than 10,000 times on some 170 PBS stations. The television program
has been so popular that a sequel will air starting in November. However, Dr.
Merzenich has been known to his fellow researchers for decades, because of his
seminal and ongoing research into the "plasticity" or "malleability" of adult
brains.
He has been honored with many other awards, including the Ipsen Prize,
Zulch Prize, Thomas Alva Edison Award, Purkinje Medal, and Karl Spencer
Lashley Award. Dr. Merzenich has published more than 200 scientific articles.
Dr. Merzenich's work is also frequently covered in the popular press, in
books and on television. This includes coverage in national publications,
such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time,
Newsweek, Forbes, Business Week, Ladies Home Journal, O Magazine, AARP
Bulletin, Science, Discover and Wired, as well as on national news shows, such
as NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood and
Good Morning America. He holds more than 50 US patents and scores of foreign
patents.
About Posit Science
Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically validated brain
fitness products and services. The company works with more than 50 scientists
from prestigious universities around the world to design and test its
computer-based programs. More than 30 published studies show that the
company's patented technologies significantly increase processing speed,
improve memory, and enhance the quality of everyday life. Posit Science has
received numerous grants and awards from groups such as the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Society on Aging (ASA), and CNBC. For
more information, visit http://www.PositScience.com or call 1-800-599-6463.
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