aerial view of Western's campus at night, with golden lights surrounded by dark trees

Presentations March 5 to explain mind-brain-behavior relationships, Fulbright Scholar Program

John Allegrante of Columbia University will present a seminar talk march 5 titled “How many behavioral scientists does it take to change a light bulb?”

His talk will illuminate what he and his colleagues have been learning through their research about how understanding mind-brain-behavior relationships can help improve the behavioral management of chronic diseases and promote health. He will be describing work in two areas of research in which neuroscience is illuminating the effects of behavior on both education and health-related outcomes and the implications for practice in health and human service professions.

His presentation is from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, in Miller Hall Room 152.

Allegrante also will speak about the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program later that day in a presentation open to Western Washington University faculty.

The Federally sponsored Fulbright U.S. Scholar program provides opportunities for exchanges between U.S. faculty and international institutions. Allegrante’s presentation will focus on his experience as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and the benefits of participating in the Fulbright Program. Francisco Rios, dean of the Woodring College of Education and a former Fulbright U.S. scholar at the Pontifica Universidad Católica Valparaíso in Chile, will join Allegrante for the event.

That presentation will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in Miller Hall Room 258 on campus.

Allegrante is the senior professor of health education, Fulbright Student Program advisor and Fulbright campus representative at Teachers College, the graduate and professional school of education of Columbia University, in New York, where he has served as deputy provost and associate vice president for International Affairs. He now directs and is leading development of a new international institute for global engagement at Teachers College.

He was a Fulbright specialist from 2005 to 2010 and a Fulbright U.S. Scholar at Reykjavik University, Iceland, in 2007, where he developed an ongoing scientific collaboration with Icelandic colleagues to study healthy child and adolescent development. In 2012, Allegrante was names a Fulbright alumni ambassador, one of a select group of Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program alumni who serve as representatives for the Fulbright program at campus workshops and academic conferences across the United States.