“Some of the most fascinating and pressing problems open to science concern the structure and function of the human brain, that exceedingly complex organ believed to be the site of our thoughts, the storeroom of our memories, and the source of all human achievements, including science itself. A number of avenues are open through which scientists can approach and explore this intricate organ. Perhaps one of the most fruitful is to study equivalent structures in simple primitive invertebrates such as those living in the tropical waters near the Institute of Neurobiology.”
Prof. José del Castillo, 1978
The Institute of Neurobiology is a free-standing unit of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. Administrative oversight is provided by the Deanship of Academic Affairs.
The Institute was established in 1967 by Professor José del Castillo, Distinguished Professor of the University of Puerto Rico, as a multidisciplinary interdepartmental facility dedicated to the study of nervous system structure and function. The Institute is presently composed of eleven laboratories that utilize a variety of model systems to address some of the most challenging issues facing modern Neuroscience – ranging from synapse development and specification in Drosophila to the molecular basis of addiction. The Institute of Neurobiology houses a NeuroImaging Core (confocal, live imaging, electron microscopy), a shared Molecular Neurobiology Core, and a Neurogenetics Core. Facilities are available for short and long-term visits by scientists and students.