Past News, Events and Seminars
2008 Events and Seminars
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
December 3, 2008
Wednesday, 1:00 p.m.
A219 Langley Hall
Hans-Rudolph Berthoud, Ph.D.
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Louisiana State University
Seminar Title: TBD
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
November 25, 2008
Wednesday, Noon
A219B Langley Hall
Stefano Vicini, Ph.D.
Professor Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Georgetown University Medical School
Seminar Title: Tonic GABA-Activated channels controls striatal output neurons
Ph.D. Dissertation Defense: Shawn E. Kotermanski
November 24, 2008 2:00 p.m.
Center for Neuroscience -
School of Arts and Sciences/Neuroscience
University of Pittsburgh
Seminar Title: Mechanism of block and behavioral effects of the NMDA receptor antagonists memantine and ketamine
Location: A219B Langley Hall
Pitt's Annual Nordenberg Lecture in Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry, November 20, 2008, to Focus on Issues Arising From Advances in Science
Stanford professor to deliver noon lecture titled “The Social Consequences of Advances in Neuroscience: Legal Problems, Legal Perspectives”
Henry T. “Hank” Greely, Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law in Stanford University Law School, will deliver the annual Mark A. Nordenberg Lecture in Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry
Noon Nov. 20, 2008 in the University of Pittsburgh Barco Law Building's Teplitz Memorial Courtroom, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland.
For additional information, see the University of Pittsburgh press release.
Pitt Research Identifies New Target in Brain for Treating Schizophrenia
November 10, 2008, the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle:
A study published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences shows that orbitofrontal cortex responds to current and experimental antipsychotic drugs.
Research from the University of Pittsburgh could expand the options for controlling schizophrenia by identifying a brain region that responds to more than one type of antipsychotic drug. The findings illustrate for the first time that the orbitofrontal cortex could be a promising target for developing future antipsychotic drugs-even those that have very different mechanisms of action. The study was published during the week of Nov. 12 in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, with a print version here.
Dr. Bita Moghaddam, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences and the paper's lead author, found that schizophrenia-like activity in the orbitofrontal cortex-a brain region responsible for cognitive activity such as decision making-could be triggered by the two different neurotransmitters linked to schizophrenia: dopamine and glutamate. Brain activity was then normalized both by established antipsychotic medications that regulate only dopamine and by experimental treatments that specifically target glutamate.
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
October 29, 2008
Wednesday, 1:00 p.m.
A219 Langley Hall
Patricio O’Donnell, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Seminar Title: Periadolescent maturation of dopamine actions in the prefrontal cortex in normal rats and in developmental models of schizophreniza
Society for Neuroscience: Neuroscience 2008
November 15-19, 2008
Washington, D.C.
At the 38th annual meeting scientists will congregate from around the world to exchange ideas and information addressing the diverse field of neuroscience through lectures, symposia, and workshops.
University of Pittsburgh : Homecoming Weekend Festivities
October 23-26, 2008
University of Pittsburgh campus
2008 Family Weekend
Join the School of Arts and Sciences for an open house and reception with light refreshments. Arts and Sciences faculty, assistant deans, academic advisors,and staff will be on hand to welcome students and families from 3–5 p.m. in Room B4 of Thaw Hall.
Welcome Back Reception
To kick off a weekend of fun festivities, the Pitt Alumni Association is hosting a welcome reception for all Pitt alumni on Friday, October 23, 2008, 6–8:30 p.m. in the Commons Room of the Cathedral of Learning. The event will conclude with a fantastic laser and fireworks display at 9:30 pm on Bigelow Boulevard between the William Pitt Union and the Cathedral of Learning.
Football Game
The Pitt Panthers host the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers at noon, Saturday, October 24, 2008, at Heinz Field.
For additional information on all activities scheduled visit the Family Weekend 08 and the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Association website.
Department of Neuroscience
Oct 14 2008 1:00 p.m.
Location: A219B Langley Hall
Marc A. Sommer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Department of Neuroscience
University of Pittsburgh
Seminar Title: Circuits for cognition in the primate brain
Science 2008: Scanning the brain
From the University Times, Volume 41, Number 4, October 9, 2008
Julie A. Fiez, Pitt associate professor of psychology and of neuroscience, was one of three featured speakers on October 3rd, 2008.
“Can Functional Brain Imaging Be Used to Inform Educational Practice?”
Fiez focused on the link between neuroscience and education, based on her brain-imaging research. “In pursuing this research, what struck me is how enthusiastic teachers were about this connection,” she said. “At the same time, many of them seemed very naive and not necessarily in line with current thinking in neuroscience.”
Science 2008: On Our Watch
The University of Pittsburgh's eighth annual celebration of science and technology.
October 2-3, 2008
Alumni Hall
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Presenters:
- Randy W. Schekman, PhD, University of California, Berkeley, Dickson Prize in Medicine Lecture
- Gregory A. Voth, PhD, University of Utah, Provost Lecture
- Peter Walter, PhD, University of California, San Francisco, Mellon Lecture
- Marcus E. Raichle, MD, Washington University in St. Louis, Klaus Hofmann Lecture
Also featured will be symposium sessions; exhibits; poster sessions; a career development workshop; science-as-art gallery; networking opportunities, including the always popular technology showcase, supplier show and responsible conduct of research workshop.
For more information: Science2008.
22nd Annual CNUP Retreat
The Center for Neuroscience
September 19–21, 2008
Oglebay Resort & Conference Center, West Virginia
Speakers:
- Ricardo Dolmetsch, PhD,
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology, Stanford University
"The unexpected life of calcium channels" - Frances Lefcort, PhD, Professor, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Montana State University, "From neural crest cells to peripheral nervous system: how?"
- Patrick W. Mantyh, PhD, JD, Professor of Pharmacology, University of Arizona, Research Scientist, Minneapolis VA "Medical Center Skeletal Pain: Causes, Consequences and Therapeutic Opportunities"
- John Reynolds, PhD, Associate Professor, Systems Neurobiology, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, "Mapping the microcircuitry of attention: Attentional modulation varies across cell classes in visual area V4"
To register, please email Patti Argenzio.
Healthy Minds Across America
A national day of free public forums on the progress and promise of mental health research.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
1–4 p.m.
Presented by NARSAD, The World's Leading Charity Dedicated to Mental Health Research and in partnership with the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh.
Frick Fine Arts Bldg. Auditorium
650 Schenley Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Topics:
- Circuits in the Brain: What Goes Wrong in Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders
- Genetics of Psychiatric Disorders
- Healthy Minds, Healthy Emotions: Evidence from Human Neuroimaging Studies
Presenters:
- Anthony A. Grace, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Pittsburgh
- Vishwajit L. Nimgaonkar, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Genetics; Director, Program for Genetics and Psychoses, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Mary L. Phillips, MD, Professor of Psychiatry; Director of Functional Neuroimaging in Emotional Disorders, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic
Moderator:
- Bita Moghaddam, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
Free and open to the public. Please RSVP to email healthyminds@narsad.org
Download a poster for Healthy Minds Across America.
2008 CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Basic Research Award
From the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle, July 21, 2008:
Anthony Grace, a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology in Pitt’s Department of Neuroscience, received the 2008 CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Basic Research Award for his research into the biological bases of psychiatric disorders.
The award is presented by the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly to a researcher younger than 55 who has made significant contributions to the understanding of the nervous system. Grace accepted the award July 13 in Munich at CINP’s 26th congress. CINP is the world’s sole global organization dedicated to neuropsychopharmacology.
The CINP-Lilly award acknowledges Grace’s work to determine the modes of action of psychiatric drugs by creating models of neuron activity that expose the biological and chemical roots of mental disorders. The award pertains in particular to his research into the neurobiology of schizophrenia and the resulting interplay between medication and the brain’s neurotransmitters.
School of Arts and Sciences Snapshot Newsletter
June, 2008
Nathan Urban, University of Pittsburgh Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh alumni, and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University is featured in the June 2008 issue of the School of Arts and Sciences Snapshot Newsletter for his research on scent sensations.
Faculty elected to Senate committees
From the University Times, Volume 40, Number 18, May 15, 2008
Winners of seats on the 15 University Senate standing committees were announced this week. Voting by members of Faculty Assembly for the three open positions on each committee concluded May 9. Linda M. Rinaman, professor of neuroscience, was elected
to the Benefits and Welfare Committee.
The Art of Mentoring
From the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle, April 27, 2008:
Donald DeFranco, Professor of Pharmacology, Chemical Biology, and Neuroscience, was one of four members of the University of Pittsburgh faculty to receive the 2008 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring, an honor that recognizes faculty for their mentoring of doctoral students.
The awardees were selected from 31 nominations made by Pitt doctoral students and faculty.
Dr. DeFranco has made significant contributions to the graduate experience of all pharmacology students as the current graduate director. A number of projects in his laboratory are focused on examining the molecular basis of neuronal cell death. He has implemented a student journal club where students sponsor the presentation of a paper by the weekly invited visiting seminar speaker and later meet with the visiting scientist to discuss the paper. Throughout the past 23 years, DeFranco has advised 17 doctoral students and is currently advising three others. His students have been very successful in securing tenure-stream or postdoctoral positions at distinguished medical schools.
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
April 9, 2008
Wednesday, noon
A219 Langley Hall
Richard Palmiter, PhD
University of Washington
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Seminar Title: Dopamine: Roles in motivation, learning and reward
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
March 26, 2008
Wednesday, noon
A219 Langley Hall
John Lisman, PhD
Brandeis University
Seminar Title: CaMKII and the molecular basis of synaptic memory
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
March 5, 2008
Wednesday, noon
A219 Langley Hall
Leslie Ungerleider, PhD
National Institutes of Mental Health
Doctoral Students without Borders
From the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle, January 22, 2008
To train scientists of the future, Pitt rethinks what a graduate program in the life sciences should be....
PhD training in the Center for Neuroscience is highlighted in this article with quotes by Dr. Alan F. Sved, co-director of the CNUP and professor and chairman of the Department of Neuroscience, and Beth Siegler Retchless, doctoral student in the program.
2007
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
November 28, 2007
Wednesday, 1 p.m.
A219 Langley Hall
Sabine Kastner, MD
Princeton University
Seminar Title: Charting the human posterior parietal cortex
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
November 14, 2007
Wednesday, 1 p.m.
A219 Langley Hall
Margaret Rice, PhD.
New York University
David Lewis Named to Institute of Medicine
From the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle, November 12, 2007
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has selected David A. Lewis, professor in Pitt’s Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience and director of the Translational Neuroscience Program at the University of Pittsburgh, as one of its newest members for his contributions to the advancement of treating schizophrenia and his efforts to bring the importance of this major public health issue to the forefront.
Department of Neuroscience Seminar Series
October 16, 2007
Tuesday, noon
A219 Langley Hall
Barry Levin, MD
New Jersey Medical School
Seminar Title: Metabolic sensing neurons and obesity: How good cells go "bad"
Research Notes: New treatment may aid schizophrenics
From the University Times, Volume 40, Number 4, October 11, 2007
A study published Oct. 1 in Biological Psychiatry reports a potential new approach for treating cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. Neuroscience professor Bita Moghaddam, corresponding author on the study, said, “Multidisciplinary work has led to the emergence of the glutamate system as a promising therapeutic target for treatment of schizophrenia.”
What's New–Places
From the University Times, Volume 40, Number 1, August 30, 2007
Neuroscience faculty members Susan Sesack, J. Patrick Card, Linda Rinaman and Alan Sved have moved into new laboratories on the renovated 4th floor of Langley Hall. The floor also includes new common facility laboratory space for the Department of Neuroscience.
What's New–People
From the University Times, Volume 40, Number 1, August 30, 2007
Professor of neuroscience and psychiatry Alan Sved is starting his second five-year term as chair of the Department of Neuroscience.
Neuroscience News: MERIT Award for Dr. Tony Grace
August 1, 2007
Dr. Anthony A. Grace received a Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) award for his research grant, “Gating of Information Flow within the Nucleus Accumbens”!
Nicotine Also Hooks Smokers by Enhancing Pleasure of Experiences, Pitt Research Suggests
From the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle, May 14, 2007
This article examines new ideas about the way nicotine works and the reason people become addicted to cigarettes. Principal investigators for the research are Anthony R. Caggiula, professor and chair of the psychology department; Eric Donny, assistant professor of psychology; and Alan F. Sved, professor and chair of the neuroscience department, all in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences. Their ongoing research has yielded more than a dozen academic journal articles. One of the latest appears in the May edition of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
Pitt-CMU neuroscience center gets $7 million grant
From the University Times, Volume 39, Number 15, April 5, 2007
Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University have received three grants totaling more than $7 million from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Science Foundation.
The grants will support programs that train undergraduate and graduate students in basic neuroscience, computational neuroscience, multimodal neuroimaging and other interdisciplinary endeavors. The programs will be offered through the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), which is run jointly by the universities.
The third training grant from the NSF renews CNBC’s existing integrative graduate education and research training (IGERT) program. The IGERT training option offers graduate students more specialized, in-depth training than traditional programs because it allows them to work with mentors outside their home discipline.
Principal investigators on the IGERT award are Carol Colby, professor of neuroscience at Pitt, and David Touretzky, research professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon.
Neuroscience Researchers’ Paper Cited
From the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Chronicle, January 22, 2007
Pitt neuroscience professor J. Patrick Card and Alan Sved, professor and chair of the department, and their colleagues reported in a recent paper on how they developed a new technique to decipher the connections of a group of neurons in a part of the rat brain stem known to influence cardiovascular function. The researchers developed a virus that causes these neurons, known as C1, to express a protein not ordinarily present in the rodent brain. This protein can therefore be used to define the pathways through which C1 neurons exert their influence.