This morning, Chris presented his dissertation titled, “Motor Unit Integrity in Pathophysiological States and the Assessment of Potential Neuroprotective Therapeutics”.

Chris graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Classics. As a graduate student in Dr. Stephen Kolb’s lab, Chris’s work focused on the motor unit and how different pathophysiological stresses can impact its integrity. He has co-authored several papers (with a first-author in review), presented at multiple national and international conferences, and was awarded Travel Awards from both the American Academy of Neurology and the Neuroscience Research Institute. Chris served as Neuroscience Graduate Program student representative from 2015-2017 and in 2016 helped establish the Neuroscience Graduate Student Organization, serving as founding president. Following graduation, Chris will continue to study motor unit integrity and therapeutic strategies in the labs of Dr. Kolb and Dr. W. David Arnold at Ohio State.

Happy birthday to all our NGP friends born in July. Pictured from left to right: Kelley Jordan and Shane O’Neil. Not pictured: Susan Xu, Jackie Anderson, and Matthew Heard.

Happy birthday to all our NGP friends born in June. Pictured from left to right: Randall Carpenter, Sam Powers, Kristina Witcher, and Rim Yoseph.

Happy birthday to all our NGP friends born in May! From left to right: Zoe Tapp, Ren Yin, Abby Zalenski, Seemaab Ali, Chloe Page, Kyle Sullivan, and Nicki Pukos.

Yesterday, Jason successfully defended his dissertation titled, “Hypothalamic Gene Therapy by an Autoregulatory BDNF Vector to Prevent Melanocortin-4-Receptor-Deficient Obesity”.

This past Monday, Kaitlin presented and defended her dissertation titled, “Regulation of hippocampal memory by the cell-autonomous hippocampal circadian clock”.

Kaitlin graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Neuroscience. As a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Karl Obrietan, Kaitlin studied the modulation of learning and memory by the hippocampal circadian clock. Kaitlin has authored four publications (two first author), with an additional first author paper soon to be submitted. She was awarded multiple fellowships, including a University Fellowship and a Presidential Fellowship. Following graduation, Kaitlin will go on to a postdoctoral position in the lab of Michael Nitabach at Yale University, studying learning in the nematode C. elegans.

In March, Anzela defended her dissertation titled, “Blood-borne factors regulate monocyte function during psychosocial stress: a case of corticosterone and IL-6”.

Anzela completed her undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Bates College, Maine. She worked as a research assistant at University of Maryland, College Park before joining the neuroscience graduate program at OSU in 2013. As a graduate student in the laboratories of Dr. John Sheridan and Dr. Jonathan Godbout, Anzela studied the mechanisms underlying central and peripheral immune response to psychosocial stress, and their implications for behavioral deficits following stress. Following graduation, Anzela will start her postdoctoral research on communication across the blood-brain barrier in the lab of Dr. William Banks at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

Happy birthday to our NGP friends born in March! From left to right: Kia Adams, Davin Packer, & Liz Stone.

Next week, on Thursday February 22nd, NGSO will be hosting a fundraiser at The Three Legged Mare from 5pm-9pm. 15% of all food and alcohol sales goes to us to fund future workshops, social events, and professional development opportunities. Happy hour is until 8pm so bring everyone you know down to the Arena District. More information can be found on the flyer which you must bring with you and present to your server in order for a portion of your dollars to go yo our organization!

Happy birthday to our NGP friend born in February: David Phenis.