Highlighted news about our faculty and students
- Dr. Michael Nader, Professor of Translational Neuroscience and Radiology, received the 2024 ASPET P.B. Dews Lifetime Achievement Award for Research in Behavioral Pharmacology.
- Michelle Mielke, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology and Prevention, was recently elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
- Dr. Erin Calipari, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Director of Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research at Vanderbilt School of Medicine was the 2024-2025 Neuroscience Program Distinguished Alumni Speaker. Dr. Calipari presented her seminar September 17, 2024 and met with students and faculty.
- Amy Leach won the 2024 Neuroscience Alumni Award for Outstanding PhD Student. The purpose of this award is to recognize the talent and accomplishments of Neuroscience Program students. The recipient of the award is recognized as making a significant contribution to our understanding of how the brain and the nervous system work, how they develop, and how they can be affected by the environment and by disease. The student is also recognized for her/his contribution to the Neuroscience Program, the Wake Forest Research Community, and Public Outreach.
- Dr. Drew Kiraly won Neuroscience Program's 2024 Best PhD Mentor Award.
- Dr. Rong Chen won Neuroscience Program's 2024 Best MS Mentor Award. On presenting the award, Dr. Chen's student Shannon Green noted: Rong is always available, offering unwavering support and treating her students like family, demonstrating a deep, genuine care for their well-being and growth. With a firm yet loving approach, she constantly pushes her students to reach their highest potential to see them succeed and thrive.
- Dr. Katie Holleran won Neuroscience Program's 2024 Best Teacher Award. On presenting the award, Alyson Curry as third year PhD student noted, "Dr. Holleran teaches in a way that inspires curiosity and eagerness to learn among her students. She is approachable and always has time to clarify topics learned in class or discuss new findings in the field. She has been one of the best professors that I've ever had, and I always leave lecture wanting to continue to learn more about the topic and see if I can find a way to link it to my own research. She is amazing!"
- Dr. Merideth Addicott, Associate Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience was the 2023-2024 Neuroscience Program's Distinguished Alumni Speaker. Dr. Addicott presented on her research and offered career advice at the Program's End of Year Celebration event in May 2024 where she also presented the 2024 Neuroscience Alumni Award for Outstanding PhD Student and met with students.
2023-2024 NRSAs awarded
- Jillian Lee received an NRSA from NIA (1F31AG087696) entitled, "The Impact of Early and Later-life Stress on Later-life Cognition and Plasma Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias." Jillian is working with Dr. Michelle Mielke, Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention.
- Mia Allen received a NIDA sponsored F31 NRSA (1F31DA060614) entitled, "The effect of ethanol self-administration on cocaine reinforcement in male and female monkeys." Mia is working with Dr. Michael Nader, Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience.
- Sarah Colbert Yates has been awarded her NRSA (1F31DC022149) entitled, "Development of Retronasal Smell Perception in Young Children and Relation with BMI." Sarah is working with Dr. Joost Maier, Associate Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience.
- Ben Williams has received his NRSA (F31 AA031625) entitled, "Role of beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the insula-BNST pathway in ethanol consumption and abstinence-induced negative effect." Ben is working with Dr. Sam Centanni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience.
- Olivia Ortelli has been awarded an individual NRSA (1F31AA032154) entitled, "Assessing the contributions of the ventral subiculum to the nucleus accumbens shell projection in a novel ethanol self-administration choice paradigm." Olivia is working with Dr. Jeff Weiner, professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience.
2023-2024 PhD Awardees
- Samuel Barth successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled, "Exploring the Effects of mTOR Dysregulation on the Molecular Framework of GABAergic Cortical Interneuron Synapses." Sam worked with Dr. Kim Raab-Graham, Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience. Sam was awarded an individual NRSA from NINDS (F31NS117096). He will be moving on for his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Ben Philpot in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at UNC Chapel Hill, where he'll continue to study neurodevelopmental disorders.
- Emily DiMarco defended her PhD dissertation entitled, "Examining Dopaminergic Modulation of Human Time Perception Using Parkinson's Disease as a Model." Emily worked with Dr. Ken Kishida, Associate Professor in the Departments of Translational Neuroscience, Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering. Emily will be starting as a Medical Student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine Fall 2024.
- Tugce Duran defended her PhD Dissertation entitled, "Cognitive Migration: Examinations of Multistate Transitions in Older Adults with Neuroimaging and Clinical Biomarkers." Tugce worked with Dr. Sam Lockhart in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Tugce has two first author papers from her PhD work and will be moving on to a postdoctoral fellowship with Drs. Susan Resnick and Keenan Walker at the NIA.
- Hailey Egido-Betancourt successfully defended her PhD dissertation entitled, "Investigating Voltage-Gated Calcium Ion Channel Dysfunction in a Preclinical Model of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex." Hailey worked with Dr. Kim Raab-Graham, Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience. Hailey has two publications, one as co-first author and a first author publication under review. Hailey was a Neuroscience Scholars Associate, appointed to the NIDA T32, received a minority supplement from NINDS, and was the recipient of a SACNAS NiDSTEM Conference Travel Award Hailey will be moving on to a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Farr Niere at NCA&T.
- William Flood successfully defended his PhD Dissertation entitled, "Changes in Heart Rate Variability and Neural Correlates Accompanying Non-Concussive Head Trauma." Will worked with Dr. Christopher Whitlow, Professor and Chair, Department of Radiology. Will also earned his MBA degree from WFU School of Business in our joint PhD/MBA program. He has accepted a a position with Beghou Consulting in Durham, NC.
- Allison Goldstein successfully defended her PhD dissertation entitled, "Revealing the Interactions between Exogenous and Endogenous Control During Urgent Decision Making." Allison worked with Drs. Emilio Salinas and Terry Stanford, Professors in the Department of Translational Neuroscience.
- Rachel Jones defended her PhD dissertation entitled, "Quantifying Feelings in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression Before and After Electroconvulsive Therapy." Rachel worked with Dr. Ken Kishida, Associate Professor in the Departments of Translational Neuroscience, Neurosurgery and Biomedical Engineering. Rachel's PhD Dissertation work investigated the brain and behavioral characteristics of patients with depression who do not respond to antidepressant therapies and how electro-convulsant therapy alters brain function in these patients. Rachel's work resulted in six publications with two as first author. Rachel will be starting Medical School at the Brody School of Medicine at ECU.
- Mohammad Kawas successfully defended his PhD Dissertation entitled, "Changes in Cognition and Resting State Functional MRI Measurements of Neural Activity and Connectivity after Concussion-Free Participation in a Season of High School Football." Mohammad worked with Dr. Christopher Whitlow, Professor and Chair, Department of Radiology. Dr. Kawas will continue as a fellow with the research group.
- Amy Leach defended her PhD dissertation entitled, "Individual Differences in Dopamine Signaling in a Rodent Model of Substance Use Disorder Vulnerability." She worked with Dr. Mark Ferris, Associate Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience. Amy's dissertation research showed that individual differences in acetylcholine and nicotinic receptor modulation of mesolimbic dopamine signaling plays a critical role in conferring vulnerability to acquisition of cocaine addiction and relapse. Amy has won numerous awards including the Daniel T. O'Connor Young Investigator Award for Experimental Biology from the Catecholamine Society, was appointed to the T32 from NIDA and an individual NRSA from NIDA (F31DA053114). As a PhD student she has four publications, two as first author with additional publications anticipated as her dissertation work is finalized and undergoes peer review. Amy will be completing a medical writing internship with PRECISIONscientia and moving into a career in science writing.
- Hope Peterson-Sockwell successfully defended her PhD Dissertation entitled, "From cues to consumption: Unraveling the complex relationship between desire for alcohol, the influence of the autonomic nervous system, and neurobiological function during abstinence in heavy alcohol consumers." Hope worked with Dr. Paul Laurienti, Professor in the Department of Radiology. Among Hope's numerous awards and publications, she was a recipient of a D-Span Award (F99NS125832). Hope will be moving on to a postdoctoral fellowship with Jessica Cohen, PhD in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Michaela Price successfully defended her PhD dissertation entitled, "Examining the Sex-Dependent Effects of Chronic Intermittent Ethanol and Withdraw on Basolateral Amygdala Neurons that Project to the Nucleus Accumbens and Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis." Michaela worked with Dr. Brian McCool, Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience. Michaela was appointed to the NIAAA T32 and was awarded an individual NRSA from NIAAA (F31AA029933). She has published a review article and two publications, one as first author with five additional publications in preparation or submission. Michaela will be moving on to do a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Zoe McElligott at the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at UNC-CH.
- Ayse Uneri defended her dissertation entitled, "Common mechanisms underlying mTORopathies: evidence for the disruption of a wide network of proteins mediated by aberrant DJ-1 and FMRP expression." Ayse worked with Dr. Kim Raab-Graham, Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience. Ayse has four publications with one being a co-first author paper with two additional first author papers in preparation or submission. Ayse was the 2021 Alzheimer's Association International Conference Neuroscience Next, SENDCon Lighting Presentation Round Winner. She will be moving on to a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Christina Hugenschmidt in the WFUSM Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.