Director, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (MNI/H)
Wilder Penfield Professor of Neuroscience, McGill University

Dr. Colman received his Bachelor of Science (Biology) with minor concentrations in English and Geology from New York University (NYU) in 1970, and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the State University of New York in 1977.  After completing post-doctoral training with Dr. David D. Sabatini, Dr. Colman became an Assistant Professor of Cell Biology at NYU School of Medicine.  In 1987, he joined the faculty of The Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons as an Associate Professor of Cell Biology, where he received several prestigious awards, including an Irma T. Hirschl Career Development Award, the Harold and Golden Lamport Award, the Basmajian Award for Teaching and Research, as well as a Jacob K. Javits Neuroscience Award from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke.  In 1993, he moved to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, where 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 September 2002 he moved to Montreal to become Director of the MNI/H.

Dr. Colman's research focuses on problems related to myelination, spinal cord injury, and on nerve cell development and regeneration.  Dr. Colman's 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. Most recently, scientists working with Dr. Colman have discovered novel ways by which nerve cells communicate with each other across the synapse.

Dr. Colman is on the editorial boards of major journals in the field of neuroscience, and is a member of the scientific boards of several international foundations and societies dedicated to finding cures for nervous system diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Disease.