Professor Emeritus Richard Nichols of the School of Biological Sciences has been awarded the 2025 Bernstein Prize by the International Society of Motor Control (ISMC). This prize, the highest honor bestowed by the ISMC, recognizes significant contributions to the field of motor control and learning in the spirit of the Russian neurophysiology pioneer Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bernstein.
“This is a meaningful prize that honors the longstanding impact of two Russian scientists, Anatol Feldman and Mark Latash. They founded the ISMC and were influential in building a community of scientists in the United States and Canada focused on motor systems research following in the tradition of Bernstein,” says Nichols, who retired from the School of Biological Sciences in 2023. “Receiving this prize is thrilling. It’s a cap on my career.”
Nichols will receive the award during ISMC’s biennial meeting this summer.
From basic research to potential treatments
Nichols began his decades-long career researching the spinal cord, a key component of the central nervous system that relays information between the brain and periphery (muscles, joints, skin, etc.). He notes that the spinal cord is more than a simple communications highway; it contains neural networks that can exert some control.
“When we walk across the room, the spinal cord — not the brain — generates and sends detailed messages to our muscles. The brain simply says, ‘It’s time to walk across a room and avoid this or that obstacle.’ The spinal cord contains the machinery to do so,” explains Nichols.
Nichols' research initially centered on understanding how sensory information from the periphery is used by the spinal cord and brain to control movement. More recently, his focus shifted to possible real-world applications of his findings.
For example, Nichols collaborated with Dena Howland of the University of Louisville on research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that are centered on understanding spinal cord injury.
“Had it not been for my collaboration with Dena over the past 11 years, my work would have remained limited to the fundamental science of how the spinal cord and brain function. Our translational project has broadened the scope and impact of my research,” he adds.
According to Nichols, the NIH and VA grants were synergistic: the NIH grant focused on spinal cord function, while the VA grant centered on rehabilitation strategies following spinal cord injury. Through this complementary research, the team uncovered insights about the spinal cord — potentially revealing new treatment pathways to aid motor control recovery after spinal cord injury.
Nichols retired from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2023 after 16 years of service. Before joining the Institute in 2007 as chair of the School of Applied Physiology (now the School of Biological Sciences), he chaired the Department of Physiology at Emory University. Nichols received a B.S. in Biology from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Physiology from Harvard University.
