Category: News

Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Regenerative Bioscience Center have developed Brain Glue, a substance that could one day serve as a treatment for traumatic brain injuries,

or TBIs.

Lohitash Karumbaiah, assistant professor in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, led the team that designed and created Brain Glue. The main difference between Brain Glue and other synthetic hydrogels, according to the team, is the variety of possibilities to trap neural stem cells, improve integration and reduce the likelihood of rejection.

Read the full article on Karumbaiah, a current University of Georgia neuroscience faculty member, on UGA Today.

Sadie Nennig, a Neuroscience PhD student, recently published the article “The Role of NFkB in Drug Addiction: Beyond Inflammation” in Alcohol and Alcoholism. Nennig is

 a 3rd year PhD student under the mentorship of Dr. Jesse Schank, assistant professor in the program. The Schank lab researches the neural circuitries of alcohol abuse and the impact of stress on these processes.

Role of NFkB in Drug Addiction: Beyond Addiction

Through the guidance of her Kinesiology adviser, Patrick J. O’ Conner, Kristen Johnson is laying the foundations for her own research on the effects of exercise on treatment of epilepsy patients. Johnson’s research was featured in a 2015 news article in the Athens Banner Herald.

Below is a link to the Athens Banner Herald article that details her efforts in research thus far.

http://onlineathens.com/features/2016-12-05/finding-movement-treating-epilepsy

Neuroscience faculty member, Dr. Patrick J. O’Conner published “The effect of histamine on changes in mental energy and fatigue after a single bout of exercise” in Physiology &

Behavior. The purpose of the research was to determine if histamine influences changes in feelings of energy and fatigue or cognitive test performance after acute exercise.

To read the full article, go to the link below:

https://bilab.uga.edu/neuroscience/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2017/02/Loy_and_OConnor_2015_Acute_exercise_fatigue_and_histamine_receptors_blocked_via_doxapine_Physiology__Behavior.pdf

A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Georgia has developed a new mouse model that closely mimics fetal brain abnormalities caused by the Zika virus in humans.

This model, described in a paper published recently in the journal Development, may help scientists better understand how the Zika virus affects different cell types in the developing brain, which could hasten the creation of new treatments and diagnostics.

“A lot of the discussion about Zika has focused on microcephaly, and while that is certainly important, we found that the virus causes additional devastating damages to the developing brain as well,” said Jianfu “Jeff” Chen, an assistant professor of genetics in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information, go to: UGA Today

LEADing the Way 

Two years after she received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, Rachael Hart Earls, a current Neuroscience PhD student, was excited to return to her alma mater to begin her doctoral studies. But as she prepared for life in a laboratory as a neuroscientist, she worried that she would feel isolated and wondered if there was a way to create synergies between her academic

goals and her desire to work with people outside of the lab.

She found the answer in Graduate Scholars LEAD (Leadership, Engagement and Development), a program launched this summer by the Graduate School. Funded by a $495,000 Innovations in Graduate Education grant from the National Science Foundation, the program fosters the development of critical thinking skills, teamwork, communication and leadership.

For more information, please visit: LEADing the Way

Brain trust: Unlocking the mysteries of the mind was the feature article in the Spring 2016 issue of the University of Georgia Research, the online and print magazine published by the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Georgia. Dr. James Lauderdale, the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience PhD Program Graduate Coordinator, and Dr. Philip Holmes, the BHSI Division of Neuroscience Chair, among other Neuroscience faculty at the University of Georgia were featured in the article.

Nu Rho Psi UGA Chapter welcomed new members, Elizabeth Bogue, Leah Caplan, Branson Byers, Lillie Tien, Michelle Sequeira, Camila Ortiz, Lauren Noblitt, and Olivia Treston, on May 4, 2016.

Nu Rho Psi membership provides recognition of verified academic excellence in the interdisciplinary field of neuroscience. Membership is by invitation and is open to undergraduate and graduate students who are making the study of Neuroscience one of their major interests and who meet the other academic qualifications. Students who become members of Nu Rho Psi are selected based on their superior scholarly accomplishments as well as their excellent work in the laboratory.

The official mission and purpose of Nu Rho Psi is to: (1) encourage professional interest and excellence in scholarship, particularly in Neuroscience; (2) award recognition to students who have achieved such excellence in scholarship; (3) advance the discipline of Neuroscience; (4) encourage intellectual and social interaction between students, faculty, and professionals in Neuroscience and related fields; (5) promote career development in Neuroscience and related fields; (6) increase public awareness of Neuroscience and its benefits for the individual and society; and, (7) encourage service to the community. Prominent honorary members include Dr. Larry Squire (University of California – San Diego), Dr. Robert Sapolsky (Stanford University) and His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.