We benefited from an enlightened post-war period in the United States: Our National Institutes of Health have enthusiastically and generously supported basic research.
The circadian neurons are one of the few circuits in neurobiology where we have a chance to understand at multiple levels how different sets of neurons communicate with each other - including understanding the wiring rules, the biochemical rules, and the functional behavioral rules.
The same biological clock ticks away in humans and fruit flies, which underscores the importance of circadian timing to life on this planet.
You've got to go for what you love and not look back 30 years, 40 years later and say, 'I never tried.' You got to try.
Shift work, where the body clock is continuously changed, is really deleterious on many levels - from psychology to physiology.
I don't drink alcohol too late in the evening; I read a good book.
I was a difficult kid and a somewhat indifferent student but realized somehow that a new start at a good place, and far from home, was important.
I try not to take sleep medication.
I won't start quite at the beginning... but the emigration of my parents from Nazi Germany and their new life in the U.S.A. A one sentence summary of these events is that after some years of trouble and considerable hard work, my parents established a satisfactory if not comfortable life for themselves and their two children.
I stand on the shoulders of giants.
Scientific careers rely on inheritance, environment, and random events, like all biological phenomena.
Most important for the circadian field was the pioneering work of Ron Konopka in Seymour's lab.
It's been overlooked for a long time as a real public health problem. All of western society is a little bit sleep-deprived, and when I say a little bit, I mean chronically.
This is the western world; if somebody can make a buck, they're going to try to do it.
It was always intriguing that flies had two peaks of activity, in the morning and evening, with a siesta during the day and not very much activity at night. There are several ways to explain that, but one possibility was that there were two clocks running - one governing the morning peak and one governing the evening peak.
Immigrants and foreigners have always been an indispensable part of our country, including its great record in scientific research.
I am grateful to my colleagues at Brandeis and to the unusual environment here that allows researchers to explore without boundaries while also engaging students in the process of discovery. This is a very special - perhaps unique - university.
