Current research topics in neurobiology presented by visiting scholars and campus faculty.

Regular seminars are held on Thursdays at 1:30 pm in BBRB 170.

NBL-703: Course is available on Canvas. 
Seminars that are part of this course are marked NBL703 credit. | Download Syllabus

08-28-2018 |
Summer B. Thyme, Ph.D.
Faculty Candidate
Harvard University
"Phenotypic landscape of schizophrenia-associated genes defines candidates and their shared functions"
Host: Craig Powell, MD, PhD







09-13-2018 | NBL 703 Credit
Jianguo Gu, MB, Ph.D.
Professor, Director of Pain Research
Department of Anesthesiology
UAB
"Molecular mechanisms of the sense of touch: implications in chemotherapy-induces numbness"
Host: John Hablitz, Ph.D.


09-27-2018 | NBL 703 Credit
Erin Calipari, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Pharmacology
Vanderbilt University
"Molecular and circuit based mechanisms underlying sex-differences in addiction vulnerability"
Host: Jeremy Day, Ph.D.

10-01-2018
Douglas Dean, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate (Faculty Candidate)
Waisman Center
University of Madison-Wisconsin
"Imaging brain development using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging"
Host: Department of Neurobiology



10-04-2018 | NBL 703 Credit
Daniel Johnston, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Neuroscience
University of Texas, Austin
"Acquired Channelopathies"
Host: John Hablitz, Ph.D.






10-11-2018 |  NBL 703 Credit
Edwin Monuki, MD, Ph.D.
Chair/Professor, Dept of Pathology & Lab Medicine
University of California, Irvine
"Translating the BMP Morphogen Hypothsis into a Choroid Plexus Regenerative Medicine"
Host: Gwen King, Ph.D.






10-16-2018
Peter Hamilton, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (Faculty Candidate)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
"Neuroepigenetic editing to elucidate causal mechanisms underlying addiction and depression"
Host: Department of Neurobiology






10-25-2018                                                              *Special Place SHEL 1015
Soo Kyung Lee, Ph.D. | NBL 703 Credit              *Special Time 10:00 am        
Professor, Dept. of Pediatrics
Oregon Health & Science University
"What does the FOX say: Gene regulatory networks in CNS development"
Host: Linda Wadiche, Ph.D.




10-30-2018                                                                *Special Place SHEL 1015
Elizabeth West, Ph.D.                                              *Special Time 10:00 am        
Postdoctoral Fellow (Faculty Candidate)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Unraveling the neural circuitry mediating decision-making"
Host: Department of Neurobiology






11-13-2018 | NBL 703 Credit                                  Canceled
Qian Sun, Ph.D.                                                                                                            
Associate Research Scientist (Faculty Candidate)   
Columbia University, New York, NY
"Cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying hippocampal information processing"
Host: Department of Neurobiology






11-29-2018 | NBL 703 Credit                            *Special Time 10:00 am
William Giardino, Ph.D.                                    *Special Place SHEL 1015
Postdoctoral Research Fellow |  Faculty Candidate
Stanford University School of Medicine
"Functional Diversity of Genetically-Defined Lateral Hypothalamus and Extended Amygdala Circuits Driving Motivated Behaviors"
Host: Depart of Neurobiology



11-29-2018 | NBL 703 Credit | CNET
Dara Dickstein, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept of Pathology
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
"Pathological effects of blast induced mild traumatic brain injury: from animal model to humans"
Host: Jeremy Herskowitz, Ph.D.






12-06-2018 |  NBL 703 Credit
Sergiu P. Pasca, MD
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University
"Assembling three-dimensional models of the human brain to study development and disease"
Host: Graduate Students, Jasmin Revanna




12-13-2018 |  NBL 703 Credit
James Bibb, Ph.D.
Vice Chair Professor, Department of Surgery
UAB
"Constitutive Versus Activatable Protein Phosphorylation in Brain Function and Disease"
Host: Jeremy Day, PhD




12-18-2018 | NBL 703 Credit
Liang Liang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow | Faculty Candidate
Harvard Medical School
"A fine-scale functional logic to retinothalamic organization"
Host: Department of Neurobiology







01-03-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Gianmaria Maccaferri, MD, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Physiology |  Faculty Candidate
Northwestern University
"Cajal-Retzius Cells and Neuronal Signaling in the Postnatal Hippocampus"
Host: Department of Neurobiology




01-10-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Laura Colgin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept of Neuroscience
University of Texas, Austin
"Gamma oscillations and place cell coding in the hippocampus"
Host: Lucas Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D.




01-17-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Jason R. Pugh, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Cellular & Integrative Physiology
University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
"Dark Side of the Synapse: Illuminating the function of presynaptic receptors"
Host: Jacques Wadiche, Ph.D.




01-24-2019 | NBL 703 Credit                                     Canceled 
Jonathan Kipnis, Ph.D.
Professor/Chair, Department of Neuroscience
University of Virginia
"How and why peripheral immune system affects the brain"
Host: Graduate Students - Rose Creed





01-31-2019 | NBL 703 Credit |  CNET
Kelvin Luk, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor, Dept of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
"Influencers of alpha-synuclein pathology formation and spread-insights from in vivo models"
Host: Laura Volpicelli-Daley, Ph.D.






02-07-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Patricia Janak, Ph.D.
Professor, Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences
Johns Hopkins
"Defining contributions of parallel dopamine circuits in reward"
Host: Graduate Students







02-14-2019 | NBL 703 Credit                            Cancelled
Fred Robinson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Dept of Neurology
Oregon Health & Science University
"TBA"
Host: Scott Wilson, Ph.D.




02-21-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Shin-ichi Kano, MD, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology
UAB
"Local and systemic control of glial activity in health and disease"
Host: Jeremy Day, Ph.D.







02-25-2019 | NBL 703 Credit | Faculty Candidate
Momoko Watanabe
Post-doctoral Fellow
University of California, LA
"Human brain organoids as a model system for neural development and disease"
Host: The Department of Neurobiology








02-28-2019 | NBL 703 Credit | CNET
Catherine C. Kaczorowski, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Evnin Family Chair in Alzheimer's Research
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME
"Systems Genetics of Resilience to Alzheimer's Disease"
Host: Jeremy Herskowitz, Ph.D.






03-07-2019 | NBL 703 Credit |  Faculty Candidate
Fernanda Laezza, MD, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept of Pharmacology & Toxicology
University of Texas Medical Branch
"Glycogen synthase kinase 3 signaling and neuronal excitability"
Host: Lynn Dobrunz, Ph.D.







Mini-Symposium
Cudworth Hall Auditorium 102A
03-08-2019 | NBL 703 Credit                          *Special Day (Friday)
Joshua Gordon, MD. Ph.D.                            *Special Place CEC 102A
Director of NIMH, NIH
"Opportunities and challenges in mental health research"
Host: Lucas Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D.




03-12-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Scott Cruikshank, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept of Neuroscience
Brown University
"Self control of input flow by the neocortex"
Host: Department of Neurobiology





03-14-2019 | NBL 703 Credit                                     Canceled
Minae Niwa, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Dept of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
UAB currently Johns Hopkins University)
"Understanding endocrine-neuron crosstalk as a key mechanism underlying stress-related behavioral deflicits"
Host: Jeremy Day, Ph.D.






03-15-2019 |  NBL 703 Credit  |  *Special Day (Friday)
Jae W. Lee, Ph.D.  |   *Special Place and time (SHEL 1015 at 12:30pm)
Professor of Pediatrics
Oregon Health & Science University
"Genetic and epigenetic reulgation of arcuate nucleus development"
Host: Department of Neurobiology







03-21-2019 | NBL 703 Credit
Randy F. Stout, Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Dept of Biomedical Science
New York Institute of Technology
"The Dynamic Gap Junction Nexus"
Host: Vlad Parpura, MD, PhD







04-04-2019 | NBL 703 Credit | CNET
Erik Musiek, MD, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Washington University in St. Louis
"TBA"
Host: Erik Robinson, MD, Ph.D.








04-17-2019
Patricio O'Donnell, MD, Ph.D.       *Cancelled
Executive Medical Director             
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
"Addressing challenges in neuroscience drug development: Translational efforts and circuitry modulation blomarkers"
Host: Lucas Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D.

04-18-2019 | NBL 703 Credit |  Surgery
Susan Amara, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, Moleular & Cellular Neurobiology
NIMH
"Dynamic regulation of signaling pathways in dopamine neurons: the intracellular actions of amphetamines"
Host: James Bibb, Ph.D.






04-25-2019 | NBL 703 Credit |  Surgery
Michael Bruchas, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology & Neuroscience
Washinton University, Seattle
"Dissecting Neuromodulatory Circuits in Affective Behavior"
Host: James Bibb, Ph.D.