Brian Austin Nykanen, a junior neuroscience major and a Cadet in the Army ROTC at UAB, is a finalist for the Truman Scholarship.

Nykanen is also a member of the UAB Honors College’s Experiential Learning Scholars Program. This past semester, he was the Reserve Officer Training Corps Battalion Command Sergeant Major, which is awarded to the top cadet.

Truman Scholarships support the graduate education and professional development of outstanding young people committed to public service leadership. UAB has produced six Truman Scholars and eleven finalists.

The undergraduate neuroscience program, shared by the College and the School of Medicine, allows top students to work in the labs of world-class researchers. Nykanen has balanced his research time —first with circadian rhythm researcher Karen Gamble, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and now with MiYoung Kwon, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology — with the time demands of ROTC, which usually are 20 to 25 hours a week.

With Kwon, Nykanen will help study how the brains of glaucoma patients react to the loss of visual field and its effect on the visual pathway — from the optic nerve to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the brain, and then on to the brain’s visual cortical area.

Nykanen will find out the results of the Truman Scholarship competition in late April. Visit uab.edu/cas for updates.