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Archived News for the Department of Neurobiology
from 2005 and 2006
UAB
Evelyn F. McKnight Brain
Institute Announces Request for
Proposals
The UAB Evelyn F. McKnight Brain
Institute is seeking proposals
from UAB faculty that focus on
research related to learning and
memory during the natural aging
process. Principal investigators must have primary faculty appointments at UAB at the level of Instructor or higher. This program may be particularly useful to junior faculty in the early stages of their careers who have an interest in the neurobiology of learning and memory in animal models or humans. Senior faculty who are already established but who now wish to pursue learning and memory aging-related research may also apply.
Noon January 26, 2007 is the
deadline for submitting
proposals for the 2007. Click
here for detailed
information in the PDF format.
Drs.
Wilson and Miller
Receive Science Awards
from the UAB Civitan
International Research
Center (CIRC)
Neurobiology Assistant
Professor Scott Wilson
recently received the
annual McNulty Civitan
Scientist Award to
further his research
related to developmental
disabilities. The
award, which includes
financial support, is
provided in association
with the Chesapeake
District of Civitan
International and the
UAB CIRC. The
award is named in honor
of Civitan Tommy McNulty
and his family who
pioneered efforts in the
field of developmental
disabilities education. |
Dr. Scott
Wilson (left) receives a
plaque from Whit
Mallory, treasurer of
the Chesapeake District
of Civitan
International. |
| Dr.
Courtney Miller, Post
doctoral Fellow in the
lab of Neurobiology
Chairman, Dr. David
Sweatt, received one of
two Civitan Emerging
Scholar Awards with
financial support to
promote research.
The Civitan Emerging
Scholars Program Awards
are based on competitive
research proposals from
UAB post docs and
undergrads with a focus
on developmental
disabilities
research. The goal
of the program is to
promote innovation among
young scientists in the
field of developmental
disabilities research.
Also receiving a Civitan
Emerging Scholar Award
was Dr. Lars V.
Kristiansen in the lab
of James H.
Meador-Woodruff, M.D.,
Chairman of Psychiatry
and Behavioral
Neurobiology. Civitan
International, a
worldwide volunteer
organization
headquartered in
Birmingham, was
instrumental in founding
the UAB Civitan
International Research
Center and makes annual
financial contributions
to the CIRC. |
Dr.
Harald Sontheimer,
director of the UAB CIRC
and Professor of Neurobiology, presents
Dr. Courtney Miller,
with the Civitan
Emerging Scholar Award
for 2006-2007.
Civitan International
members around the world
raise funds to support
research education, and
service at the UAB
Civitan International
Research Center.
The Department of
Neurobiology was
formally located in the
UAB CIRC Building and
still maintains labs and
resources at that
location. |
Retreat
Focused Science and Team
building
More than 85
people attended the annual
Neurobiology Department Retreat
at the Alabama 4-H Lodge near
Columbiana, AL, September 14th
and 15th. Scientific
presentations, outdoor
recreation, poster presentations
and a presentation, “Molecules in Memory Formation: A Molluscan
Tale,” by keynote speaker
Dr. Thomas Carew, Ph.D., Bren Professor and Endowed Chair, University of CA – Irvine, Dept of Neurobiology,
were highlights of the event. Click
here for a photo album of some of the activities in the PDF
format (PDF is large so allow several seconds
for file to load).
Two
New Primary Faculty
Announced
The Department of
Neurobiology is proud to
announce the addition of
two new faculty members
– Jacques Wadiche,
Ph.D. and Linda
Overstreet Wadiche,
Ph.D. Prior to making
their decision to move
to UAB, they were both
at the Oregon Health
& Science
University, Vollum
Institute in Portland,
Oregon.
Jacques Wadiche is a
graduate of Northwestern
University with a B.A.
in Neurobiology and
Physiology. At
Northwestern he gained
an appreciation for
basic science research,
from there he moved to
Baylor College of
Medicine where he worked
on nicotinic receptors
before enrolling in
graduate school at the
Vollum Institute at
Oregon Health Sciences
University in Portland,
Oregon. He completed his
postdoctoral fellowship
in Craig Jahr’s
laboratory at the Vollum
Institute, prior to
joining the faculty of
UAB as an Assistant
Professor this year. His
laboratory will study
glutamate transporters
and their function in
synaptic transmission.
Linda Wadiche received
her undergraduate degree
from North Park
University in 1992 (B.S.
Biology) and her
graduate degree from
Northwestern University
Medical School in 1997
(Ph.D. Physiology). Her
graduate work focused on
how neurons transmit
electrical signals via
excitatory synapses. She
was a Research Assistant
Professor at the Vollum
Institute in Gary
Westbrook’s laboratory
before joining the
Neurobiology Department
at UAB as an Assistant
Professor. Her
laboratory will study
how adult neural stem
cells become fully
functional neurons in
the normal and diseased
brain. |
Jacques
Wadiche, Ph.D.
Linda Wadiche, Ph.D. |
Summer
Program in Neuroscience Provides
Research Opportunities for
Undergraduates from Around the
Nation
Fourteen undergraduates from
universities around the nation
(and the world) have
participated in the 2006 edition
of the Summer
Program in Neuroscience
(SPIN) at UAB directed by Dr.
Lynn Dobrunz and Dr. Scott
Wilson. For more details
about this year and past SPIN
sessions be sure to visit the
program web
site. |
Erin Strong, SPIN
participant from Wheaton College
(Wheaton, IL),
explored her research project in
the lab of Dr. Yi Zhou. |
| Each
student works with a faculty
mentor to develop a research
project during the 8-week
program and presents the results
of the research at a campus-wide
poster session and a SPIN poster
session. This year 12
mentors from departments with
neuroscience research agreed to
participate in the program.
In addition to students from the
USA, two students from the
nation of Nepal studying in the
USA were participants. The
program provides unique
opportunities for students to gain
solid practical experience in
the field of neuroscience
research. |
The SPIN program
is not all work and no play!
Neurobiology students Brandon
Walters and James DeKay arranged
a white water rafting trip for
SPIN students who sought a bit
of adventure in their spare
time. For some pictures of
official
program activities click here
and for a high resolution PDF of
the 2006 SPIN student poster click
here. |
Birmingham
News and AL.com present feature article on
work of Dr. David Sweatt and Activities
of McKnight Brain Institute
A highly informative article on the
research activities of Dr. David Sweatt,
Chairman of the Department of
Neurobiology, and the mission of the UAB
Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute is
now online. Please
click here to go to the AL.com web
site article. The story is featured on
the June 22, 2006, front page of the
Birmingham News and is linked from the
home page at www.al.com.
UAB
Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
Selects Four Faculty
to Receive Research Grant Awards
The Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
in the Department of Neurobiology
recently completed selection of the
recipients of the 2nd Annual Evelyn F.
McKnight Brain Research Foundation
Research Grant Awards. Four excellent
projects were selected for funding from
a larger group of highly meritorious
applications. The awardees were Dr.
Graeme Bolger, Department of
Medicine; Dr.
Lynn Dobrunz, Department of
Neurobiology; Dr.
Lori McMahon, Department of
Physiology and Biophysics; and Dr.
Trygve Tollefsbol, Department of
Biology. These investigators are using a
wide range of cellular and molecular
methodologies to investigate basic
mechanisms of age-related declines in
memory and cognitive performance. For
more information please visit the UAB
Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute
home page news section.
Evelyn
F. McKnight Brain Institute
Formally Dedicated
Evelyn F. McKnight
Brain Institute at UAB was
formally dedicated at ceremonies
in the Richard C. and Annette N.
Shelby Interdisciplinary
Biomedical Research on April 24,
2006. Focusing on age-related
memory loss, the institute was
established with an initial $5
million gift from the Evelyn F.
McKnight Brain Research
Foundation, of Orlando, Fla.,
followed last November by an
additional $1 million to establish
the Evelyn F. Mcknight Endowed
Chair for Memory and Aging at UAB.
For the more information about the
new institute located in the UAB.
Department of Neurobiology please
visit the UAB
Evelyn F. Mcknight Brain Institute
web site. |
Dr. David Sweatt,
Chair of the UAB Department of
Neurobiology, receives a
plaque denoting his appointment to
the Evelyn F. Mcknight
Endowed Chair for Memory and Aging
at UAB from Dr. Robert Rich, UAB
Sr. Vice President and Dean of the
School of Medicine. |
UAB Evelyn
F. McKnight Brain Institute will benefit
from new construction
Phase
II of Construction Slated for Shelby
Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
Facility
(PDF
file from MSNBC and Birmingham Business
Journal)
Evelyn F. McKnight Foundation Awards an Additional $1-million in Funds For Brain Institute at UAB
The School of Medicine at UAB has received an award of $1-million from the McKnight Brain Research Foundation to further support research in age-related memory loss. The new award will establish the Evelyn F. McKnight Endowed Chair for Learning and Memory in Aging. This new grant compliments the original award of $5-million that established the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute which will be housed in the Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, scheduled to open in early 2006.
J. David Sweatt, Ph.D., incoming Chairman of the Department of Neurobiology, has been named recipient of the Evelyn F. McKnight Endowed Chair.
J. David Sweatt,
Ph.D., is the new Chairman of the UAB Department of Neurobiology
J. David Sweatt, Ph.D., an internationally recognized expert on the biological mechanisms underlying learning and memory, has been named chair of the UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Department of Neurobiology. He
succeeded the department’s interim chair, John J. Hablitz, Ph.D.,
in February 2006. A native of Montgomery, AL, Sweatt, 44,
served as professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston,
from 1989 until February 2006. He
was director of Baylor’s Neuroscience Graduate Program, and from 1995 to 2004, chaired that school’s Neuroscience Ph.D. Program Curriculum Committee.
He
authored an internationally recognized textbook, Mechanisms of Memory,
that deals with contemporary molecular and cellular approaches to
understanding learning and memory. “David Sweatt is a highly accomplished, thoughtful and energetic researcher and teacher,” said Robert R. Rich, M.D., vice president and dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “His chosen field is one of the most exciting in bioscience today. We all look forward to many fine contributions to scholarship that will continue to emerge from UAB’s Department of Neurobiology under Dr. Sweatt’s leadership.” |
J. David Sweatt, Ph.D.
Click here for the official UAB News media release about Dr.
Sweatt.
Dr. Sweatt is also the recipient of the Evelyn F. McKnight Endowed Chair
for Learning and Memory at UAB.
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Lucas
Pozzo-Miller Receives Civitan McNulty Scientist Award
Lucas Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D., Assistant
Professor in the Department of Neurobiology, was recently named
a Civitan McNulty Scientist through an award made possible by
the Civitan Chesapeake Foundation and Civitan
International. Presentation of the award was
coordinated through the UAB
Civitan International Research Center (CIRC) at ceremonies
presided over by UAB President Carol Z. Garrison, Ph.D., and
CIRC Director, Harald Sontheimer, Ph.D., Professor
(Neurobiology). The purpose of the
award is to promote innovative research in fields related to
developmental disabilities. The award includes financial
incentives and access to other resources at the CIRC.
Civitan International is an international service organization
active in more than 20 nations. The UAB CIRC is the
flagship project of Civitan International which has pledged to
raise $20-million to support research on developmental
disabilities. |
Dr. Lucas Pozzo-Miller (right) receives congratulations from
Civitan Whitfield Mallory, Treasurer, of the Chesapeake District
Foundation. Civitan International through it's clubs and
foundations has contributed more than $12-million towards
research on developmental disabilities at the UAB CIRC. Not
shown here but also receiving a McNulty Civitan Scientist award
was Bart Hodgens, Ph.D., Psychologist at UAB Civitan-Sparks
Clinics.
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Hua Yu Sun
and Jennifer Larimore named Civitan Emerging Scholars
The UAB CIRC Program
for Emerging Scholars in Developmental Disabilities which
supports innovation and research
by trainees at the doctoral or postdoctoral level has named Hua
Yu Sun, Ph.D., post doctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Lynn
Dobrunz, and Jennifer Larimore Neurobiology Graduate Student in
the lab of Dr. Anne Thiebert, to receive awards of $25,000 each
to support their research in 2005-2006. Dr. Hua Yu Sun
will be conducting studies that will shed light on regulation of
the hippocampus during normal postnatal development, and changes
that may occur in animal models of developmental disorders and
epilepsy. The project proposed by Jennifer Larimore will
characterize a gene believed to play a role in autism
susceptibility. Autism is a heritable syndrome that is
expected to have a complex interaction between multiple genes
which may be influenced by as yet unknown factors.
Larimore and mentor Anne Theibert, Ph.D. (Neurobiology),
believe identifying the developmental, regional, and subcellular
expression of this gene is key to determining its function in
autism susceptibility. Click
here to go to the Emerging Scholars web site for more
information.
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Hua Yu Sun receives the Civitan Emerging Scholars
Award from CIRC Director Dr. Harald Sontheimer.
Jennifer Larimore receives the Civitan Emerging
Scholars Award from Dr. Sontheimer.
|
Students Volunteer During Parents of Infants and
Children with Kernicterus National Conference
Graduate students from the Department of Neurobiology
recently took part as volunteers during the National Conference of
Parents of Children and Infants with Kernicterus (PICK) which was
co-sponsored by the UAB Civitan International Research Center and
Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital. They especially enjoyed the
opportunity to work with the diverse group of children and parents at
the conference. Kernicterus may result in devastating disabilities
caused by increased bilirubin levels in the brain during severe cases of
jaundice. Because kernicterus is completely preventable if
detected in time PICK was formed to educate parents and health
professionals about this severe disorder which has been on the increase
in recent years. Click here to visit the PICK web site. Shown
above are (l-r) Xiaoyan Zhu, Val Bomben, Susan Campbell, Ph.D.
(volunteer coordinator), Crystal Wheeler, Carlene Chapman, Jennifer
Larimore, Christa Whelan, and Stephen Crimmins. Below Crystal Wheeler
enjoys a commando crawl with a young PICK participant.
Harald Sontheimer,
Ph.D., Receives Goldhirsh Award
Harald Sontheimer, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology and
senior scientist at the Civitan International Research Center has received a
Goldhirsh Foundation award to study brain cancer. The prestigious Goldhirsh
awards are designed for researchers who are developing fundamental insights into
the biology of brain tumors and whose work offers potential new therapies for
treating these deadly cancers. "It is a great honor for UAB to receive its
first Goldhirsh Foundation award and appropriate for that recipient to be Dr.
Sontheimer," said Michael J. Friedlander, Ph.D., chair of the Department of
Neurobiology. "His basic research on glial cell biology has paved the way
for several exciting new and innovative treatments for gliomas, one of the
deadliest forms of brain cancer." Only seven Goldhirsh awards were
presented in 2004. Click here
for more on this story from the UAB Media Relations web site.
Neurobiology Graduate Program Online
Applications and Information
Students interested in entering our graduate program can find
more information and links to online applications at our Graduate
Program web site. Click here for a
large poster in the PDF format of our current graduate students (564 kb).
Several Neurobiology Investigators
Featured in UAB magazine
The work of several investigators in the Department of
Neurobiology is highlighted in a feature article in the 2003 Spring/Summer
edition of UAB magazine. Dr. Michael Friedlander, Professor and Chair of
the Department of Neurobiology, and other investigators discuss advances in
brain research and a new collaborative initiative at UAB called the Adaptive
Brain Group. Researchers featured from the Department of Neurobiology include:
Dr. Michael Brenner, Dr. John Hablitz, Dr. Robin Lester, Dr. Lin Mei, and Dr.
Lucas Pozzo-Miller. The article is now online at the UAB magazine web
site. Click here to go to
that article. UAB magazine is UAB's premier publication. It is published
quarterly and features key programs and research at UAB.
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