Sad news. Renowned Neuroscientist Dies at 66, ironically, of complications of head trauma after struck by a car while crossing a street in her hometown. Dr Goldman-Rakic was one of the teachers who had a formative influence on me in medical school; she was extremely important to the elucidation of the functioning of the frontal lobe and the prefrontal cortex, the newest (arguably most distinctively human) part of the brain and one which plays an underacknowledged part in severe mental illness. ‘ “Pat Goldman-Rakic was one of the most distinguished neuroscientists of her generation,” said Richard C. Levin, Yale’s president. “We grieve her tragic loss in the knowledge that her important contributions will live on.” ‘ NY Times

My thoughts are with her husband, Pasko Rakic, also on the Yale medical faculty; her colleagues and students; and all those deeply touched by this tragic untimely loss.