WSU Hosts Neuroscience Day on May 20

Mary Dallman, Ph.D. (left), professor of physiology at the University of California-San Francisco, will be the keynote speaker at OMV-SfN’s 2011 Neuroscience Day on Friday, May 20, at Wright State University. Dr. Dallman’s research studies the effects of chronic stress on brain-pituitary-adrenal interrelationships.

“Chronic stress has a variety of effects on the organism, including changes in energy balance, behavior and responsivity to new stimuli,” she says. “These effects of chronic stress are probably mediated in large part by the central corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neuronal system and glucocorticoids secreted from the adrenal gland in response to drive from hypothalamic CRF. Moreover, all of these are affected strongly by circadian rhythms.” Read more.

Neuroscience Day also will feature student presentations and a poster session. See more program details.

Registration for Neuroscience Day is free for 2011 OMV-SfN members. Please register in advance so the organizers can plan accordingly for the attendance. If you are not an OMV-SfN member for 2011, please join now. You can also join OMV-SfN at Neuroscience Day on May 20.

The Ohio Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes neuroscience research and education in the southwest Ohio region. The chapter’s sponsoring institutions include Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, and Wright State University.

WSU Hosts Neuroscience Meeting on Jan. 28

Wright State medical students interested in neuroscience research are invited to attend the 2011 Winter Meeting of the Ohio Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) on Friday, Jan. 28, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in Room 101 White Hall (Gandhi Auditorium). The meeting will begin with 20-minute research presentations from faculty at OMV-SfN’s participating institutions:

• Zoe Hesp (Department of Zoology, Miami University)
  “Reinnervation of peripheral targets following axotomy of the superior cervical ganglion”
• Mark Baccei (Department of Anesthesiology, University of Cincinnati)
  “Pacemaker neurons in newborn spinal pain circuits.”
• James Lucot (Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Wright State University)
  “Development of a novel anti-emetic”

The chapter’s annual business meeting will follow the presentations, and WSU’s Michael Hennessy, Ph.D., will be installed as president for 2011.

You do not have to be a member of OMV-SfN to attend the presentations, although membership is necessary to vote in the business meeting. Student membership costs $5.00/year. Wright State also will host OMV-SfN’s 2011 Neuroscience Day in White Hall on Friday, May 20. Neuroscience Day is free to chapter members.

Translational Research Lecture Series Begins Sept. 30

“Framing Answerable Research Questions” is the theme of the 2010-2011 Translational Research Lecture Series presented by the WSU Medical Student Research Club. The first lecture is scheduled on Thursday, Sept. 30, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. in Room 120 White Hall. All BSOM faculty and students are invited to attend.

The faculty speakers will be Timothy Cope, Ph.D. (above left), professor and chair, and Mark Rich, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, in the WSU Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology, and Physiology. Last year they gave a dynamic talk to the Research Club about building careers based on the scientific method and asking measurable research questions. It inspired the theme for this year’s lecture series, so we have asked them for a repeat performance. You can read more about their neuroscience research collaborations in Vital Signs (PDF).

Dinner will be provided on Sept. 30. Please RSVP to Adam Deardorff (deardorff.2@wright.edu) if you plan to attend.

Jan. 27 Lecture Explores Translational Research in Neuroscience

The Research Club will present the fourth lecture in its series, “Translational Research: From Bench to Bedside,” on Wednesday, January 27, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in Room 101 White Hall (Gandhi Auditorium) on the WSU main campus.

The faculty speakers will be Timothy Cope, Ph.D. (above left), professor and chair, and Mark Rich, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, in the WSU Department of Neuroscience, Cell Biology, and Physiology. Read more about their research collaborations in Vital Signs (PDF).

Lunch will be provided on Jan. 27. Please RSVP to Adam Deardorff (deardorff.2@wright.edu) if you plan to attend.

WSU Hosts International Neuroscience Symposium

Wright State’s Comprehensive Neuroscience Center will host an international symposium on Mechanisms of Plasticity in Neuronal Connections on June 18-19, 2009 at the David H. Ponitz Center at Sinclair Community College in Dayton. The symposium honors the life’s work of neuroscientist Lorne Mendell, Ph.D. The program includes more than 40 presentations by researchers from throughout the world. To register, contact Kimberly Hagler (kimberly.hagler@wright.edu) at the CNC.

Howard Hughes Research Fellowships for Students

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute sponsors one-year, full-time medical research fellowships for  medical, dental, and veterinary students. The HHMI program includes  new joint initiatives with the Ivy Foundation for student researchers in the neurosciences, particularly neuro-oncology, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) for veterinary students. Fellowships provide an annual stipend of $27,000, an annual fellow’s allowance of $5,500, and an annual research allowance of $5,500.  Applicants must be enrolled in a U.S. medical, dental, or veterinary school and the fellowship research may be conducted at any academic or nonprofit institution in the United States, except the National Institutes of Health. Research may be conducted abroad if the fellow’s mentor is affiliated with a U.S. institution. The application deadline for the 2009 competition is January 11, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. See the HHMI web site for program details and application forms.