By Michelle Koidin Jaffee
University of Florida neuroscience students came together Friday for the 13th annual conference of the North Central Florida Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. The daylong event featured a 53-poster competition, a data blitz, a panel discussion on careers in science and a keynote address by Timothy Allen, Ph.D., director of the Neurocircuitry & Cognition Lab at Florida International University.
Co-chaired by Janna Jernigan, a doctoral student in psychology and neuroscience, and Sabrina Zequeira, a doctoral student in neuroscience, the conference offered data-blitz presentations by:
- Rebecca Wallings, Ph.D., on the role of the peripheral immune system in GRN-related frontotemporal dementia
- Alejandro Albizu, a doctoral student in neuroscience, on artificial intelligence approaches for early detection of dementia
- Wonn Pyon, a doctoral student in neuroscience, on the role of dopamine in risk decision-making
- Marilyn Horta, Ph.D., on age differences in trust-related decision-making
- Rosa Mirabel, a graduate assistant in UF’s department of pharmacology and therapeutics, on the role of norepinephrine transporter in Lewy pathology progression in Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Timothy Allen giving his keynote presentation.
The topic of Allen’s keynote was “Nucleus reuniens transiently synchronizes memory networks at beta frequencies,” and he also participated in the panel discussion on careers in science, academia and industry. Other panelists were Malú Gámez Tansey, Ph.D., co-director of UF’s Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease; Gerry Shaw, Ph.D., owner and chief executive of EnCor Biotechnology Inc.; and Edgar Rodriguez, Ph.D., president and chief executive of Lacerta Therapeutics.
Sponsored by the McKnight Brain Institute and UF’s department of neuroscience, the conference was held in Communicore C1-011, the HNPN reception hall and the BMS lobby.
