News

The Graduate School and Office of the Chancellor are hosting the inaugural year of the SIUE Speaker Series. This year’s SIUE Speaker Series will present three speakers addressing various subjects of public interest from their particular area of expertise. The first of the year’s speakers, Distinguished Research Professor Faith Liebl, PhD, will present her research “A Lifetime of Change: How the Brain Rewires Itself” at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Legacy Room at Morris University Center.

Liebl was promoted to Distinguished Research Professor of Biological Sciences for her significant achievements in the field of biological sciences and resounding peer recognition from top scientists in the field.

She is the recipient of three NIH grants totaling more than $913,000 over the last eight years.

Liebl’s teacher-scholar research at SIUE explores how the brain makes connections and how those connections go awry in neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Identifying the mechanisms responsible for aberrant connections may help identify novel mechanisms and treatments for affected individuals. Her courses cover cell and molecular biology, molecular genetics, and neuroscience.

"I have always been fascinated by the brain. How billions of cells work together to produce consciousness, abstract thought, and learning is a great mystery of neuroscience,” said Liebl. “I'm excited to talk about how my research with undergraduate and graduate students has contributed to our understanding of how connections between brain cells change with experience."

“Kicking off the SIUE Speaker Series program with a talk that illuminates how our brains work, change, and produce the conditions for creating knowledge in our world strikes us as an ideal place to begin a long-term public speaker series committed to sharing wide-spread research impacts with our communities,” said Elizabeth Cali, PhD, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies.

The scheduled presentations for academic year 2026-27 are as follows: 

“A Lifetime of Change: How the Brain Rewires Itself” 
Faith Liebl, PhD 
4 p.m. 
Thursday, Nov. 12 
Morris University Center, Legacy Room
 
Kristine Hildebrandt, PhD 
Thursday, Jan. 28, 2027 
Morris University Center, Legacy Room 

Henry L. Roediger, III, PhD 
Tuesday, April 6, 2027 
Morris University Center, Meridian Ballroom

Cali adds, “The Graduate School is excited to have the opportunity to support an avenue through which remarkable scholars and researchers, both internal and external to SIUE, take center stage on campus to share their expertise on subjects of deep local, national, and global significance.”

The SIUE Speaker Series is a lecture with an accompanying networking reception. All SIUE and surrounding community members are welcome to attend. 

For the Nov. 12 event, please RSVP no later than Friday, November 6.   

PHOTO: Distinguished Research Professor Faith Liebl, PhD, SIUE Speaker Series inaugural lecturer