2018-2019 Seminars and Colloquia in Neuroscience

Seminar and Colloquia dates subject to change.  Presentations are held in MSB 2.135 unless otherwise noted.

Seminar Series Coordinator: Michael Beierlein, Ph.D., Tel 713.500.5619
Colloquium Coordinator: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D., Tel 713.500.5710

Do Monte, D.V.M., Ph.D.Fabricio H. Do Monte, DVM, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
McGovern Medical School UTHealth
September 6, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.

“Overcoming Fear to Obtain Food: A Neural Circuit Study”

Marcelo WoodMarcelo A. Wood, Ph.D.
Chancellor’s Fellow and Chair
University of California, Irvine
September 13, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: John H. Byrne, Ph.D.

“HDAC3 Regulation of Circadian Gene per 1 Mediates Age-Dependent Memory and Synaptic Plasticity”

Alfredo KirkwoodAlfredo Kirkwood, Ph.D.
Professor
Johns Hopkins University
September 20, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Harel Shouval, Ph.D.

“Neuromodulation of Hebbian Plasticity in Visual Cortex”

komiyama, Ph.D.Takaki Komiyama, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of California, San Diego
September 27, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Fabricio H. Do Monte, DVM., Ph.D.

“Imaging Neural Ensembles in Flexible Behaviors”

Gregory QuirkGregory J. Quirk, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Puerto Rico
October 4, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Fabricio H. Do Monte, DVM., Ph.D.

“Avoiding Danger at all Costs: Prefrontal Calculations”

James KnierimJames Knierim, Ph.D.
Professor
Johns Hopkins University
October 18, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Neal Waxham, Ph.D.

“Spatial Coding and Episodic Memory in the Hippocampus”

Yin LiuYin Liu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
UTHealth McGovern Medical School
November 15, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.

“Integrative analysis of exosomal non-coding RNAs”

Jessica CardinJessica Cardin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Yale
November 29, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D.

“State-dependent Cortical Circuits”

Ben StrowbridgeBen Strowbridge, Ph.D.
Professor
Case Western University
December 6, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Shin Nagayama, Ph.D.

James M. TourJames M. Tour, Ph.D.
Professor
Rice University
December 13, 2018 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D.

“Nanotech Research.  Life’s Origin and Evolution:  Facts vs. Conjecture”

KristanWilliam B. Kristan, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
University of California, San Diego
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: John H. Byrne, Ph.D.

“Thinking like a Leech:  A Neuroethological View of Behavioral Choice”

Nuo LiNuo Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Baylor College of Medicine
Wednesday, January 16, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D.

“Neural Mechanisms of Movement Planning Motor Cortex and Beyond”

Tatiana SharpeeTatyana Sharpee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Salk Institute
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Andrey Tsvetkov, Ph.D.

“Mapping the Odor Space”

Nachum DafnyNachum Dafny, Ph.D.
Professor
UTHealth McGovern Medical School
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.

“Methylphenidate (Ritalin): Attention, Cognitive and Recreation Remedy or Addictive Danger”

Andrey TsvetkovAndrey Tsvetkov, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
UTHealth McGovern Medical School
Wednesday, February 6, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.

“The S1P Pathway in Neurons: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly”

G. KenyonGarrett T. Kenyon, Ph.D.
Professor
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: David Marshak, Ph.D.

“Making Deep Neural Networks more Neural: Temporal Dynamics, Top-Down Feedback and Synchronous Oscillations”

Zhuohao He, Ph.D.Zhuohao He, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research
Perelman School of Medicine – University of Pennsylvania
Monday, February 18, 2019 @ 2:00 p.m. MSB 2.135

“Studying Tau Pathology Transmission in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Neurodegenerative Diseases”

Penzo, Ph.D.Mario Penzo, Ph.D.
Chief
National Institute of Mental Health
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Fabricio H. Do Monte, DVM., Ph.D.

“Identification of an Arousal-Modulated Domain in the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Thalamus”

Pinar AyataPinar Ayata, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Fishberg Department of Neuroscience
Loeb Center for Alzheimer’s Disease
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Monday, February 25, 2019 @ 2:00 p.m. MSB 2.135

“Functional Specialization of Microglia in the Healthy Brain”

Rongyu Liu 2015 picRongYu Liu, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
McGovern Medical School UTHealth
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.

“Strategies for  Memory Enhancement”

Yili Zhang, Ph.D.Yili Zhang, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
McGovern Medical School UTHealth
Thursday, February 28, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.

“Computational Modeling of the Molecular Mechanisms Contributing to Long-Term Memory”

RoedigerHenry L. Roediger, III, Ph.D.
James S. McDonnel Distinguished University Professor
Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Distinguished Lecture in the Neurosciences – Thursday, February 28, 2019 @ 4:00 p.m.
Host: Neuroscience Research CenterMaking Learning Stick:  The Science of Successful Learning”

Cortes, Ph.D.Constanza J. Cortes, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Duke Center for Neurodegeneration and Neurotherapeutics
Senior Fellow, Duke Aging Center
Monday, March 4, 2019 @ 2:00 p.m., MSB 2.135

“Enhanced Skeletal Muscle Proteostasis as a Novel Determinant of CNS Aging and Disease”

AngelucciAlessandra Angelucci, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Utah
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Dan Felleman, Ph.D.

“Organization and Function of Feedback Connections in Early Visual Processing”

Vanisha Lakhina, Ph.D.Vanisha Lakhina, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics
Princeton University
Monday, March 18, 2019 @ 2:00 p.m. MSB 2.135

“Identifying Factors that Confer Regenerative Ability to Aging Neurons”

Daoyun JiDaoyun Ji, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Baylor College of Medicine
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: John Broussard, Ph.D.

“Spatial Memory Codes:  Normal Processes and their Breakdown in Neurodegenerative Diseases”

priyanka, Ph.d.Priyanka Narayan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Monday, March 25, 2019 @ 2:00 p.m. MSB 2.135

“Deciphering Mechanisms of Alzheimer’s Disease Risk”

Richard KramerRichard Kramer, Ph.D.
Professor
University of California, Berkeley
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Ruth Heidelberger, M.D., Ph.D.

“Chemical Photosensitization of Ion Channels and Receptors for Restoring Visual Function to the Blind Retina”

Jacob RobinsonJacob Robinson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Rice University
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D.

“Nanotech for Neuroscience:  Scalable and Minimally Invasive Neural Interfaces for Large and Small Animals”

NagayamaShin Nagayama, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
McGovern Medical School UTHealth
Wednesday, May 8, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.

“Odor Information Representation in the Medial/Lateral Symmetrical Maps in the Olfactory Bulb”

Ed ConnorEd Connor, Ph.D.
Professor of Neuroscience
Director, Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute
Johns Hopkins University
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D.

“Neural Basis of Object Vision”

lifshitz, ph.d.Jonathan Lifshitz, Ph.D.
Director, Translational Neurotrauma Research
University of Arizona
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Pramod Dash, Ph.D.

“Translational Approaches to Curtail Traumatic Brain Injury in all its Forms”

Tatiana Engel, Ph.D.Tatiana Engel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m.
Host: Valentin Dragoi, Ph.D.

“Discovering Dynamic States of Neural Populations”