The Alumni Day and Collins Lecture are both important parts of each year's scholarly activities of the UCLA Department of Neurology. As an academic department of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA we are dedicated to understanding the human nervous system and to improving the lives of people with neurological disease. Education represents one of the most important aspects of the department's mission. The department currently trains over 200 neurology and neuroscience residents, fellows and post-doctoral students. Each year we ask the alumni of the department's training programs to return to campus for an update on department activities and to participate in the annual Collins Lecture and poster presentations by current trainees.
Alumni Day usually takes place the last Wednesday of May each year and, in addition to the Collins Lecture and poster presentations, includes a reception and dinner with an after dinner speaker from a field outside of neurology.
Robert C. Collins, MD was Chairman of the UCLA Department of Neurology from 1988-2002. His dedication to the academic pursuit of scholarship in research and education was the hallmark of his tenure. During Dr. Collins' chairmanship, 91 doctors completed residency training and 55 others completed clinical fellowships. At the same time, many individuals received their PhDs and postdoctoral fellows participated in training experiences in the many laboratories of the department. Under Dr. Collins' leadership, the department grew enormously, both in size and scientific stature. Throughout the course of his 15 years of leadership, the quality of education in the department advanced to where we now compete for trainees with only the finest institutions in the United States. At the time of his stepping down as Chair, the department established the Collins Lecture in honor of his unwavering commitment to scholastic excellence in neurological research and education.
Currently, Dr. Collins and his wife Valerie are enjoying retirement by spending the winter months in Indio, California and the summer months in Sisters, Oregon. Dr. Collins is pursuing his interests in literary matters by writing novels and enjoying his two grandchildren.
Robert C. Collins Lecturers
