Hooks Institute Board Welcomes Detlef Heck

August 25, 2020 - The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis welcomes Detlef Heck to its Board. The Board assists the Institute in the strategic development and implementation of its mission and programs. Members have included community activists, attorneys, engineers, corporate, public relations officials and clergy.

About Detlef Heck
Dr. Detlef H. Heck is a professor of Neurobiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center where he heads a research group that investigates the brain. He studied neuroscience at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and conducted his PhD research at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen.

Heck is best known for his work on how nerve cells in different brain areas cooperate to generate normal brain function and how these interactions break down in brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease or autism. More recently, Heck has begun to investigate the age-old question of mind-body interaction. His group pioneered research into the influence of breathing brain function, a finding that has broad implication for mind-body interactions and our understanding how breath-focused meditation techniques change the brain. His research activities have resulted in over 80 publications in scientific journals and books and made him a highly sought-after expert for reviewing research applications nationally and internationally for government and private organizations in the U.S. and around the world.

“Since I moved to the USA from Germany in 2003, I have been able to benefit from unique opportunities provided to me by this great country,” said Heck. “I am grateful to the Hooks Institute Board for inviting me to join as it gives me a chance to help others take advantage of those opportunities as well.”

About the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute implements its mission of teaching, studying and promoting civil rights and social change through research, education and direct intervention programs. Institute programs include community outreach; funding faculty research initiatives on community issues; implementing community service projects; hosting conferences, symposiums and lectures; and promoting local and national scholarship on civil and human rights. The Hooks Institute is an interdisciplinary center at the University of Memphis. Contributed revenue for the Hooks Institute, including funding from individuals, corporations and foundations, is administered through the University of Memphis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit memphis.edu/benhooks.