One of the Navy's first female fighter pilots who currently studies artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is among the five internationally recognized neuroscientists who will deliver free public lectures during the University of Iowa's Health Sciences Research Week 2012.

The presenters will discuss a wide range of neuroscience research focused around Research Week's theme of the excitable brain: order and disorder in the nervous system. These topics include the genetic basis of epilepsy, mechanisms underlying learning and memory, and optogenetics, a new strategy using light to manipulate brain circuits.

The three-day event will take place Monday throughWednesday, April 2-4 in the Medical Education and Research Facility ( MERF) on the UI health sciences campus. In addition to the public lectures, the event will also showcase the work of UI students and junior researchers at a series of poster sessions.

Four of the public lectures will be held in the MERF. The fifth lecture will be at the Coralville Marriott and Conference Center and requires registration. A full listing of topics and times and additional information about Research Week can be found at www.medicine.uiowa.edu/researchweek.

The event is sponsored by the UI Carver College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Public Health, Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, and the Iowa City VA Health System.