About Us
The Friedman Brain Institute and the Neuroscience Graduate Program, presents the 17th Annual Neuroscience Retreat.
The Friedman Brain Institute hosts a Neuroscience Retreat held in the spring of each year. Neuroscience is multidisciplinary by nature and, reflecting this, the scientists and physicians that contribute to the neurosciences at Mount Sinai hail from a variety of departments and campuses. The Retreat provides an opportunity for everyone in the Neuroscience community at Mount Sinai – faculty, fellows, students, researchers and clinicians – to meet and discuss their work in order to increase awareness of ongoing research and approaches, to foster new interactions, and to generate novel ideas.
For additional information, please contact Vena Persaud at vena.persaud@mssm.edu or Veronica Szarejko at veronica.szarejko@mssm.edu
Visit the Riverside Church
Retreat Organizers
Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Neuroscience, Neurology, Pathology, Molecular and Cell
Herbert Wu, PhD
Assistant Professor, Neuroscience
Moderators
Priti Balchandani, PhD
Professor
Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology, Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Artificial Intelligence and Human Health
John F. Crary, MD, PhD
Professor
Pathology, Molecular and Cell Based Medicine, Artificial Intelligence and Human Health and Neuroscience
Jack Humphrey, PhD
Instructor
Neuroscience
Sarah A. Stanley, MBBCh, PhD
Associate Professor
Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease and Neuroscience
Opening Remarks
Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD
Director, Friedman Brain Institute
Paul J. Kenny, PhD
Chairman, Nash Family Department of Neuroscience
George Huntley, PhD
Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program
Keynote Speakers
Dayu Lin, PhD
Professor
Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Physiology
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Paul J. Kenny, PhD
Professor and Chairman, Nash Family Department of Neuroscience
Director, Drug Discovery Institute
Speakers
Cheen Euong Ang, PhD
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Erin Beck, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Neurology and Immunology & Immunotherapy
Joel Blanchard, PhD
Associate Professor
Jamie Carty
Graduate Student
Neuroscience
Jean C. & James W. Crystal Professor and Chair
Dept. of Genetics & Genomic Sciences
Director, Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s disease
Yasmin Hurd, PhD
Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience
Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai
Yun Soung Kim, PhD
Assistant Professor
Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology
Veronika Kondev, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Neuroscience
Christina Maher
Graduate Student
Cameron S. McAlpine, PhD
Assistant Professor
Medicine, Cardiology and Neuroscience
Zach Pennington, PhD
Instructor
Neuroscience
Scott J. Russo, PhD
Director, Brain-Body Research Institute – Professor,
Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Immunology & Immunotherapy
Sarah Williams
Graduate Student
Neuroscience
Retreat Administrators
Veronica Szarejko
Project Manager
Danny Roldan
Web Content Specialist
Vena Persaud
Executive Assistant
Jenny Rivera
Administrative Director
AGENDA
8:30 – 9:00 am
(South Hall Lobby)
Registration
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9:00 – 9:05 am
(Assembly Hall)
Coffee, tea, and water
Introduction
Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD and Herbert Wu, PhD
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9:05 – 9:20 am
Welcome Remarks
Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD on Friedman Brain Institute
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9:20 – 9:35 am
Paul J. Kenny, PhD on Nash Family Department of Neuroscience
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9:35 – 9:45 am
George Huntley, PhD on Graduate Student Program – “State of the Neuroscience Graduate Program”
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9:45 – 10:15 am
Keynote: Dayu Lin, PhD – “The Rise and Fall of Maternal Aggression”
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10:15 – 10:35 am
Coffee break
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10:35 – 11:30 am
Behavioral Neuroscience
Moderators: John F. Crary, MD, PhD and Jack Humphrey, PhD
10:35 – 10:45 am | Scott Russo, PhD – “Neural circuit mechanisms shaping social encounters”
10:45 – 10:50 am | Veronika Kondev, PhD (Nestler lab) – “Dopamine receptor 1-expressing cells in ventral hippocampus control drug-context memory”
10:50 – 11:00 am | Cameron S McAlpine, PhD – “Immunogenic control of sleep after myocardial infarction”
11:00 – 11:05 am | Jamie Carty (Stanley Lab) – “Bi-modal control of the stress response by the medial amygdala”
11:05 – 11:10 am | Zach Pennington, PhD (Cai Lab) – “A Hypothalamic Network Drives Stress Vulnerability”
11:10 – 11:30 am | Q&A and Panel Discussion
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11:30 am – 12:20 pm
(South Hall)
Poster Session I
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12:20 – 1:20 pm
Lunch & Networking
*All attendees must register prior to the retreat in order to receive a lunch ticket. Unfortunately, to maintain an accurate catering count, walk-ins will not be supplied a lunch ticket.
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1:20 – 1:50 pm
Keynote: Paul J. Kenny, PhD – “Cells and circuits in opioid addiction”
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1:50 – 3:00 pm
Tools in Neuroscience
Moderators: Priti Balchandani, PhD and Sarah Stanley, PhD
1:50 – 2:00 pm | Cheen Euong Ang, PhD – “Cellular reprogramming and spatial omic toolboxes to understand gene regulation in health and disease”
2:00 – 2:05 pm | Sarah Williams (Nan Yang Lab) – “Investigating non-coding autism de novo variants in human stem cell-derived neurons”
2:05 – 2:15 pm | Joel Blanchard, PhD – “Advancing Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery Using Bio-engineered Mini Human Brains”
2:15 – 2:20 pm | Christina Maher (Radulescu & Saez Labs) – “Intracranial recordings uncover neuronal dynamics of multidimensional reinforcement learning”
2:20 – 2:30 pm | Yun Soung Kim, PhD – “A Forehead-Wearable EEG Patch for At-Home Brain Activity Monitoring”
2:30 – 2:40 pm | Erin Beck, MD, PhD – “Advanced MRI techniques for imaging brain structural changes in health and disease”
2:40 – 3:00 pm | Q&A and Panel Discussion
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3:00 – 3:20 pm
Coffee break
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3:20 – 4:00 pm
Paths in Science
Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Alison M Goate, DPhil, Yasmin Hurd, PhD
Moderator: Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD
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4:00 – 4:50 pm
(South Hall)
Poster Session II
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4:50 – 5:10 pm
Awards
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5:10 – 6:00 pm
Social Hour
Awards
Our awards ceremony is one of the highlights of the retreat. We are thrilled to honor the outstanding students, postdocs and faculty that make up the Friedman Brain Institute membership.
Doft Family Postdoctoral Innovator Award – ($25k)
Sangjo Kang, PhD (Zou lab) and Tadaaki Nishioka, PhD (Morishita lab)
Arnold Family Postdoctoral Innovator Award – ($25k)
Zhen Wang, MD, PhD (Kim lab)
Philip Hausfeld Memorial Scholarship Award ($4,000)
Ashley Cunningham (Nestler / Maze Labs)
Klaudiusz Weiss Outstanding Junior Faculty Award ($2,000)
Joseph M Castellano, PhD and Joel Blanchard, PhD
Brain Award ($1,000):
Isabel Paine (Hof Lab) and Sarah Claypool (Kenny Lab)
Neuroscience Mentorship Distinction Award (NMDA) ($500)
Rita Goldstein, PhD
Best Question Award – ($100 each)
AshleyCunningham (Nestler lab / Maze lab)
Daniele Mattei (Raj lab)
Crystal Diei
Best Talk Award – ($200 each)
Postdoc – $100 each – Zach Pennington, PhD
Student – $100 each – Sarah Williams
Best Poster Award – ($200 each)
Postdocs – $200 each – Kevin Braunscheidel and Lailun Nahar
Students – $200 each – Rachel Fischer-Foye and Swati Gupta
Best Images
1st Place ($200) – Sarah Murphy – Roussos Lab – Psychiatry
2nd Place ($100) – Oriol Narcis – Raj Lab – Neuroscience
3rd Place ($50) – Hao Chang – De Araujo Lab – Neuroscience
Most “Liked” Social Media Image
1st Place ($200) – Lauren Dierdorff – De Rubeis Lab – Psychiatry
2nd Place ($100) – Neha Ahmed – Voloudakis Lab – Psychiatry
3rd Place ($50) – Konstantina Psychogyiou – Roussos Lab – Psychiatry
