The Gill Center for Biomolecular Science at Indiana University provides the field of neuroscience with a unique platform for innovation. Powered by the extraordinary vision and commitment of Linda and Jack Gill, together with the College of Arts + Sciences, the Gill Center brings together world-class scientists and state-of-the-art facilities in an atmosphere of unimpeded experimentation. The result is real and rapid progress on understanding issues such as pain, addiction, stress, and dementia. The Gill Chairs, recruited from outside the university in order to promote the expansion of IU’s neuroscience community, are selected not only for their individual records of excellence, but also for their ability to contribute to and influence ongoing center research.
Meet the Gill chairs and facultyInterdisciplinary approach + Innovation + Collaboration = The Gill Center
Together, we’re better!
Putting leading neuroscientists with different backgrounds in close proximity allows for incredible intellectual exchanges. We have purposefully built a group with both shared values and complementary approaches, so the work we do together goes beyond what any researcher could accomplish alone. These shared values center on a commitment to improving lives by uncovering the core processes of the nervous system. We don’t just want to see what goes wrong in the nervous system. We’re committed to understanding at a fundamental level how the system works and how we can support it.
Learn more about our researchFeatured news
$1.9M award supports study of nociception
BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 16, 2023
Dan Tracey's research program strives to understand the molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms underlying nociception, with the hope of eventually contributing to better treatments for pain.
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Can Opioid Use without Addiction become a Reality?
RESEARCH IMPACT - JANUARY 18, 2023
Indiana University researchers have potentially discovered a new way to block the brain’s reward response to opioids, reducing their potential for addiction without reducing their therapeutic aspects.
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Stellar Billiards: Should we fear universal collisions?
STELLAR BILLIARDS - NOVEMBER 09, 2023
The universe is a dynamic environment where collisions and close encounters play a significant role. Are there any hidden dangers we can expect in the future? Let's find out as we hear from Dr. Vaclav Pavlik.
Science Cafe details
2022 Symposium to explore current research on cannabis
BLOOMINGTON, IN -- SEPTEMBER 6, 2022
The focus of this year's symposium on cannabis is particularly apt as the Gill Center and IU Bloomington are among the world-leaders in cannabinoid research.
Details about the Symposium
Btown Science Cafe to hit hurricanes and climate change head-on
HURRICANES AND CLIMATE CHANGE - AUGUST 10, 2023
Dr. Chank Kieu, assoc professor in IU's Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will share the latest understanding about hurricanes and climate change, then invite questions.
Join the discussion
IU neuroscientists to study effects of marijuana use during adolescence with $2M NIH grant
NEWS AT IU - JULY 5, 2022
The legalization of marijuana in several states brings with it the greater possibility early teens will use marijuana. Gill Center researchers seek to learn the impact on critical brain development.
Understand the researchScientist & local coffee shop stimulate great conversations
POPULAR SCIENCE CAFÉ RESUMES - JUNE 2022
At Hopscotch Coffee each month, people sip drinks and eat snacks while enjoying an event that’s different from the concerts, films, and comedy shows that one often finds in Bloomington.
Science, Coffee & Conversation
IU neuroscientists improve data analysis through new partnership
RESEARCH IMPACT - MAY 19, 2022
Sensory processing disorders, which can make people overly sensitive to certain stimuli, tend to go hand-in-hand with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia.
Learn more about Dr. Lu's project
Opioid overdose detection patch under development, funded by NIDA
NEWS AT IU - MAY 10, 2022
Indiana University researchers are developing a wearable device to detect and treat an opioid overdose in real time, thanks to a National Institute on Drug Abuse grant expected to total more than $3.8 million over three years.
Read about Dr. Mackie's research
Can cannabinoids unlock a better understanding of our bodies and brains?
Discover Magazine—February 1, 2022
When neuroscientists began to investigate the chemical effects of marijuana, they stumbled upon a natural system that is present in all humans, regardless of their propensity for pot smoking. According to Dr. Hui-Chen Lu, Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Director of the Gill Center at Indiana University Bloomington, "There's very clear evidence that running produces more endogenous cannabinoids [than marijuana]."
Read more about ECS
Q&A with Dan Tracey
Current Biology—January 24, 2022 (Volume 32, Issue 2)
A Q&A with Dr. Dan Tracey, Gill Chair of Neuroscience and Professor in the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington: Interviewed by Maxine Herman-Oakley Mills. Learn more about Dr. Tracey including what sparked his interest in biology, his fondness for Drosophila and what he thinks he might have done if not for science.
Learn more about Dr. Tracey
Prenatal exposure to THC, CBD affects offspring's responsiveness to fluoxetine
IU NEWS—JUNE 30, 2021
Scientists at IU have found that significant amounts of the two main components of cannabis enter the embryonic brain of mice in utero and impair the mice's ability as adults to respond to fluoxetine - a drug commonly used to treat anxiety and deression.
Read more about this research