md+My+Madison+Adventure

The adventure that I want to share with you here surrounds the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I chose this topic because the two trips I took this spring to that campus deserve a lot of reflection that I simply haven't taken the time to unpack through writing beyond pencil scribbles and notes.

First, I want to share with you how my relationship with this incredible place was formed. I did not go there for my undergraduate degree, and I don't even have any close friends or family that attended this university. I chose it with the help of my librarian brother Charles, searching for one of the top laboratories that research depression. This condition was one that plagued my husband in his youth, and he often told me how trapped it made him feel and dependent on medications that physicians don't even understand how they work. When my beloved husband James died in a crash on August 14, 2008, I decided that one of the ways I was going to honor him was by creating a scholarship for graduate students at a top university to study depression as the neuroscience level. When I realized that Madison is one of only four places in the world to have as much equipment as they do to study depression and anxiety under one roof, I knew that James would be fascinated with the brain imagery techniques that are uncovering why people stay "stuck" and how the neuroplasticity of the brain allows us to change.

There are several links below which I now present for you to explore.

(1) The story of my incredible 13 month marriage to James Davis I will present pictures and share moments from the happiest time in my life, including a wedding video.

(2) The Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience I toured these laboratories with in March. The research and publications from these spaces are some of Madison's greatest accomplishments, and where my scholarship in James' name is housed. //* This connects to two others links: a guest lecture and pictures from my trip.//

(3) The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds This is a new center within the Psychology Department that opened the weekend of May 15, 2010 with a lecture from Jon Kabat-Zinn and a public dialogue between Director Dr. Richie Davidson and His Holiness The Dalai Lama.

(4) Additional Resources

(5) HOME