Neuroscience Chapter Announces 2012 Events

The Ohio-Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) has announced dates for its 2012 programming.

OMV-SfN’s  Winter Business Meeting will be held Friday, Feb. 17, at Miami University.  The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. with 20-minute research presentations from the chapter’s participating institutions. The business meeting will follow. Joyce Fernandes, Ph.D., of Miami University will be inducted as the chapter’s 2012 president, and a new officer-at-large from Wright State University will be nominated. The meeting is expected to end no later than 3:30 p.m. Meeting details (room/map/agenda) to follow.

Leslie Tolbert, Ph.D. (above left),  will be the keynote speaker at OMV-SfN’s 2012 Neuroscience Day on Friday, May 18, at Miami University. Dr. Tolbert is Regents Professor and Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology & Anatomy at the University of Arizona, where she also is vice president for research, graduate studies, and economic development.

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 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 University will host 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. 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.

James Olson Wins SfN Science Educator Award

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has presented its Science Educator Award to James E. Olson, Ph.D., professor of emergency medicine and neuroscience, cell biology and physiology, at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. The award was presented at SfN’s annual meeting Neuroscience 2010, held recently in San Diego.

The Society for Neuroscience founded the Science Educator Award in 2003 to recognize an outstanding neuroscientist who has made significant contributions in promoting public education and awareness about the field.

According to SfN, Olson has worked diligently to promote the inclusion of neuroscience topics in state and national Science Olympiad competitions. His efforts have introduced grade-specific neuroscience education to over 5,000 middle schools and high schools across the United States. He currently helps define health science and anatomy events as a member of Science Olympiad’s Biological and Life Sciences Committee, ensuring that neuroscience topics will be included in the Science Olympiad curriculum.

Olson rarely misses an opportunity to promote the study of neuroscience. In addition to serving as a research mentor for students and resident physicians in the medical school, he has delivered lectures for general audiences through Wright State’s Mini-Medical School program. What he enjoys most, however, is introducing young learners around the country to the wonders of neuroscience through his work with Science Olympiad.

An international nonprofit organization, Science Olympiad strives to interest K-12 students in science and improve science education. Each year, an estimated 150,000 students from more than 14,000 schools participate in Science Olympiad activities. At the middle and high school level, students form teams to compete in 23 fun, yet challenging, science-based events during local, state, and national tournaments.

As a Science Olympiad coach, Olson has worked with local middle and high school students for several years teaching cell biology and genetics. In addition, he created a program called “Neuroscience (This is your brain)” that was used in regional competitions across Ohio and adopted as a national trial event.

The Society for Neuroscience is an organization of more than 40,000 researchers and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.

“The science education awards are important for recognizing the outreach efforts of neuroscientists at all stages of their careers,” said Michael E. Goldberg, M.D., president of SfN.

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 on the WSU main campus. 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.

OMV Neuroscience Day Is May 10

Rajita Sinha, Ph.D. (left), will be the keynote speaker at OMV-SfN’s 2010 Neuroscience Day on Monday, May 10, at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Sinha is professor of psychiatry and director of the Yale Stress Center at Yale University. The title of her presentation is “Desire gone awry! Can the Neuroscience of Stress and Reward-seeking Provide Clues for Understanding and Treating Addiction?”

Neuroscience Day is free of charge for current chapter members. If you didn’t register in advance, you can register at Neuroscience Day and pay 2010 chapter dues, if necessary. See more details.

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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.

Held every spring at one of OMV-SfN’s participating institutions, Neuroscience Day is the chapter’s showcase scientific meeting. The program includes a keynote presentation by a leading neuroscientist, student and post-doc presentations, and a poster competition and reception.

Wright State and Premier Health Partners Establish New Neuroscience Institute

Updated 022510: Wright State University President David Hopkins announces the new initiative of the Wright State University and Premier Health Partners Neuroscience Institute on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at Beiser Auditorium in Miami Valley Hospital. [Photo by Jim Witmer/Dayton Daily News]

DAYTON – Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and Miami Valley Hospital announced today the formation of the Wright State University & Premier Health Partners Neuroscience Institute to speed the transfer of research discoveries from bench to bedside, improving the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders such as stroke.

This major public-private initiative partners the Dayton region’s strongest biomedical research institution with the clinical resources of the region’s leading hospital system to create the WSU & PHP Neuroscience Institute. Miami Valley Hospital has made a major investment of $4.35 million over five years to create a new Department of Neurology within the WSU Boonshoft School of Medicine. The investment includes long-term support for clinical neurologists who will form the nucleus for collaboration with the university-based neuroscientists in critical research in stroke and movement disorders. A national search is underway for the founding chair of the new department.

Governor Ted Strickland designated the new institute as one of Ohio’s Centers of Excellence in Biomedicine and Health Care.

The Boonshoft School of Medicine has a talented cadre of NIH-funded neuroscientists, along with excellent core resources and equipment for cutting-edge laboratory research, including microscopic imaging, genomics, proteomics and electrophysiology. A primary focus of their research is nervous system disorders that affect movement. The PHP system has a large and diverse patient base that provides excellent opportunity for high-quality research and clinical trials.

The institute will be the critical centerpiece for conducting neuroscience research, and will promote ways to move the results of that research directly from the laboratory to the bedside, providing outstanding neurological clinical care to the community and creating a clinical and research enterprise that will be pivotal for the region’s economic recovery. Joint research activities and related investments will have direct economic impact on the community, amounting to tens of millions of dollars over the next five years. The emergence of a strong neuroscience institute through this collaboration will be a watershed accomplishment for the Dayton region. Read more.

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(Left) Architectural vision of the proposed Neurological Sciences Research Building at WSU.

Wright State University is in the process of raising funds for a new $22-million state-of-the-art laboratory building within its existing biomedical and engineering research corridor. The new 64,000-square-foot facility will feature sustainable design, interdisciplinary laboratories and shared core resources for more than 100 scientists, physicians, and student researchers. Read more.

Governor Announces 3 New Research Centers of Excellence at Wright State University

Governor Ted Strickland, together with Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric D. Fingerhut, today announced Ohio’s Centers of Excellence in Biomedicine and Health Care at a press conference at BioEnterprise, a Cleveland-based organization designed to grow health care companies and commercialize bioscience technologies.

The announcement included three BioHealth Innovation centers at WSU:

• Wright State University & Premier Health Partners Neuroscience Institute;
• National Center for Medical Readiness, and
• Knowledge-Enabled and Human-Centered Computing.

Statewide, centers at 14 universities are committed to focusing their academic and research activities on biomedical and health care to create jobs in Ohio and further strengthen Ohio’s international reputation as a leader in bioscience research and development. Ohio is already home to 775 bioscience-related companies, including the headquarters to two Fortune 500 companies–Cardinal Health and Procter & Gamble.

“Aligning Ohio universities with Ohio’s growing biomedical and health care industries will generate economic growth and new, hard-to-outsource jobs,” Strickland said.  “Biomedicine and Health Care in Ohio create high wage jobs, investments in facilities, research and development, and production. But much more than that, these industries bring forth medical breakthroughs that benefit citizens of Ohio and citizens of the world.” Read more.

OMV Neuroscience Day Is May 10 – Save the Date!

Rajita Sinha, Ph.D. (left), will be the keynote speaker at OMV-SfN’s 2010 Neuroscience Day on Monday, May 10, at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Sinha is professor of psychiatry and director of the Yale Stress Center at Yale University. Her research interests include “clinical neurobiology of stress and relaxation, emotion dysregulation, and their effects on desire and drug craving and addictive behaviors, such as, drinking, eating and drug use.” Read more.

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.

Held every spring at one of OMV-SfN’s participating institutions, Neuroscience Day is the chapter’s showcase scientific meeting. The program includes a keynote presentation by a leading neuroscientist, student and post-doc presentations, and a poster competition and reception. Neuroscience Day is free of charge for current chapter members, so join or renew your membership now!

OMV-SfN’s Winter Meeting Scheduled Jan. 29

The 2010 Winter Meeting of the Ohio Miami Valley Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (OMV-SfN) will be held Friday, January 29, from 10 a.m. – 12 noon at the University of Cincinnati’s Metabolic Diseases Institute/Genome Research Institute (2180 E. Galbraith Rd., Cincinnati 45237) in the Building A lecture room.

The meeting will begin with four 20-minute research presentations, one from each of OMV-SfN’s four participating institutions. The business meeting will follow and James Eliassen, Ph.D., will be inducted as 2010 chapter president. Scientific presentations include:

• Gale Kleven, Ph.D. (Wright State University)
  MR Spectroscopy and Behavioral Epigenesis
• Jennifer J. Quinn, Ph.D. (Miami University)
  Neurobiological mechanisms of long-term memory consolidation and stabilization
• Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, Ph.D. (University of Cincinnati)
  Stress-relieving properties of palatable foods
• TBD (University of Dayton)

Download 2010 Winter Meeting Agenda (MS Word), which includes travel directions to the meeting site. For more information, contact Jim Eliassen (513/558-5863; james.eliassen@uc.edu).