Jane Paulsen, PhD, professor of psychiatry, neurology, psychology and neurosciences, has been named the Roy J. Carver Chair in Neuroscience.

The $2 million fund endowing the chair is a gift from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine, Iowa, made through the University of Iowa Foundation in order to establish the chair. A faculty chair is the highest honor given by the university to an outstanding member of the faculty.

Paulsen is co-director of the University of Iowa Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence and has been an active and internationally renowned Huntington disease researcher for over 25 years. Her main area of research is the neuropsychological features of Huntington disease and she is focused on improving the promise of new treatments for Huntington disease. She joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1996.

"It’s a great honor to receive the Roy J. Carver Chair in Neuroscience," said Paulsen. "I look forward to helping to advance Mr. Carver’s legacy of visionary support for research at the University of Iowa."

Paulsen is principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health funded PREDICT-HD study, the largest study of presymptomatic Huntington disease in the world with 27 active study sites around the world. She is also principal investigator of the Juvenile Huntington Disease Natural History Study, which examines the rare, devastating form of Huntington disease that affects children. Paulsen was given the 2012 Juvenile Huntington’s Disease Award from the Huntington’s Disease Society of America for her contribution to the understanding of this disease.

She credits her colleagues at the University of Iowa Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence for helping to provide opportunities for those in the Huntington disease community to participate in research and receive specialized care at the University of Iowa Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence.

"This chair is recognition of the outstanding work done by our entire team here at the Center of Excellence,” said Paulsen. “Our faculty and staff members’ commitment to improving the lives of those affected by Huntington disease is second to none."

Paulsen received a bachelor of science degree with honors at Simpson College in 1983, and a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Iowa in 1989.

She completed an internship in clinical psychology at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, California, from 1988 to 1989. Paulsen completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the University of California, San Diego, from 1989 to 1991. She received the Iowa Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence in 2008.

The University of Iowa Foundation is the preferred channel of support for private contributions to all areas of the University of Iowa. Foundation staff work with alumni and friends to provide funds for facilities improvements, scholarships, professorships and other forms of support for the University of Iowa.