Department of Neuroscience &

Experimental Therapeutics

NEWSLETTER

October 2019

DNET Faculty Meeting: The next scheduled faculty meeting of DNET will

be on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 10:00

a.m. in MR-301. If you have any items of concern

for the next agenda, please contact Dr. Julie

Pilitsis.

October Seminars:

Wed., October 2, 2019; 1:30 p.m.; MS-316

Ann Dorrance, PhD

Professor

Michigan State University

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

East Lansing, MI “Hypertensive Cerebrovascular Disease and Cognitive

Decline: Is the Mineralocorticoid Receptor a

Therapeutic Target”

Wed., October 9, 2019; 1:30 p.m.; MS-316

Emilia Iannilli, MSc, PhD

DNET Research Associate

“Topographical EEG Signatures for Parkinson’s

Disease and Migraine Types”

Fri., October 11, 2019; 1:30 p.m.; MR-301

FACULTY ONLY

Sarah Stern, PhD

Postdoctoral Associate/Fellow

Rockefeller University

New York, New York

“Bridging molecular and neural circuit

mechanisms in the investigation of complex feeding

behaviors”

Mon., October 14, 2019; 10:00 a.m.; MS-316

Max Rapanelli, PhD

Research Assistant Professor

SUNY-University of Buffalo

“Behavioral, circuitry and molecular aberrations in

pre-clinical models of autism”

Wed., October 16, 2019; 1:30 p.m.; MS-316

ORIENTATION FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS

Wed., October 23, 2019

SFN Meeting – no seminar

Mon., October 28, 2019; 10:00 a.m.; MS-316

Sophie Belin, PhD

Instructor; DNET: AMC

“Pathomechanisms of Inherited Peripheral

Neuropathies and Therapeutic Approaches”

Wed., October 30, 2019; 10:00 a.m.; MS-316

Rajani Maiya, PhD

Research Scientist; Department of Pharmacology and

Toxicology

“The University of Texas at Austin

“Transcriptional Regulation of Motivated Behaviors

by LMO4”

DNET FALL WEEKEND

Friday, October 4, 2019

DNET Departmental Retreat

Friday, October 4, 2019

DINNER @ Harvey’s

Saturday, October 5, 2019

4th Annual CME Conference on Pain

Gideon Putnam Hotel

Saratoga Springs, New York

Chalk Talks:

Fri., Oct 11, 2019; 2:00 p.m.; MR-301

Sarah Stern, PhD

Faculty Candidate

Fri., Oct 14, 2019; 1:00 p.m.; MC-134C

Max Rapanelli, PhD

Faculty Candidate

Mon., Oct 28, 2019; 1:30 p.m.; MC-134C

Sophie Belin, PhD

Faculty Candidate

Wed., Oct 30, 2019; 1:30 p.m.; MC-134C

Rajani Maiya, PhD

Faculty Candidate

Department of Psychiatry

Journal Club presentations Clinical Psychology Journal Club presentations

are held on the 3rd Thursday of every third month

at 12:00 noon.

2019-2020 Schedule

Thurs, Sept 26, 2019; 12:00pm; MS-316

Thurs, Dec 19, 2019; 12:00pm; MS-316

Thurs, Mar 21, 2019; 12:00pm; MS-316

Thurs, June 20, 2019; 12:00pm; MS-316

DNET Journal Club presentations: Journal Club presentations are held on Fridays, at

12:00 noon in MR-301. Faculty and Postdoctoral

Fellows will make presentations as well as the

students. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

October schedule:

• Oct 4: DNET Retreat

• Oct 11: Heidi Tucker

• Oct 18 SfN

• Oct 25: SfN

Faculty Highlights:

Please submit information to be included in this section

to Pya Seidner, no later than the 25th day of the previous

month.

Faculty interviews:

The following candidates will be here in October.

If you would like to meet with them and aren't

already scheduled, please let Pya know.

• Sarah Stern, PhD

October 11, 2019

• Max Rapanelli, PhD

October 14, 2019

• Sophie Belin, PhD

October 28, 2019

• Rajani Maiya, PhD

October 30, 2019

Publications:

Nuwer JL, Fleck MW. Anterograde trafficking

signals in GABA subunits are required for functional

expression. Channels. [Accepted September 2019]

Golestanirad L, Kazemivalipour E, Lampman D,

Habara H, Atalar E, Rosenow J, Pilitsis J, Kirsch J.

RF heating of deep brain stimulation implants in

open-bore vertical MRI systems: A simulation study

with realistic device configurations. Magnetic

Resonance in Medicine. [Accepted September 2019]

Ho Y, Wang S-H, Chen Y-R, Li Z-L, Chin Y-T, Yang

Y-C SH, Wu Y-H, Su K-W, Chu H-R, Chiu H-C,

Crawford DR, Shih Y-J, Grasso P, Tang H-Y, Lin H-

Y, Davis PJ, Wang-Peng J, Wang K.

Leptin-derived peptides block leptin-induced

proliferation by reducing expression of pro-

inflammatory genes in hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Food and Drug Toxicology 133 (2019) 110808.

Students, Faculty and postdocs are

encouraged to sign up for any open

date to present a paper from the

literature or their own paper. The

sign-up sheet is in the DNET office.

Anderson BM, Hirschstein Z, Novakovic ZM,

Grasso P. MA-[D-Leu-4]-OB3, a small molecule

synthetic peptide leptin mimetic, mirrors the

cognitive enhancing action of leptin in a mouse

model of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and

Alzheimer’s Disease-like cognitive

impairment.International Journal of Peptide

Research and Therapeutics (2019)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10989-019-09929-w

Presentations:

Tara Lindsley gave a presentation and recruited

subjects at the Penn State College of Medicine on

September 23, 2019 for her Medical Education

Scholarship Research and Evaluation (MESRE)

grant, “Cranial Pursuit computer-based

neuroanatomy games: Assessment of impact on

learning outcomes and learner attitudes.”

Telkes I, Sabourin S, Durphy J, Adam O,

Raviv N, Pilitsis JG. Functional Use of

Directional Local Field Potentials in

Parkinson’s disease. The 2019 Congress of

Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual

Meeting, October 19-23, in San Francisco,

CA. [Oral presentation]

Telkes I, Brunner P. The Brain Computer

Interface. The 2019 American Society of

Electroneurodiagnostic Technologists (ASET)

EEG Boot Camp, October 19-20, Albany,

NY. [Oral presentation]

DiMarzio M, Madhavan R, Joel S, Hancu I,

Fiveland E, Prusik J, Gillogly M, Rashid T, Ashe J,

Telkes I, Feustel P, Shin DS, Durphy J, Hwang R,

Hanspal E, Pilitsis JG. Use of functional MRI to

assess how motor phenotypes of Parkinson’s

Disease respond to DBS. The 2019 Congress of

Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual

Meeting, October 19-23, in San Francisco,

CA. [Mini podium presentation]

Srikanthan A, Maietta T, Hellman A, Patel V, Clum

A, Neubauer P, Williams E, Burdette C, Qian J,

Mazurkiewicz JE, Pilitsis JG. Effects of External

Focused Ultrasound on Inflammatory Markers in

Neuropathic Pain Caused by Common Peroneal Nerve

Injury. The 2019 Congress of Neurological Surgeons

(CNS) Annual Meeting, October 19-23, in San

Francisco, CA. [Oral Presentation]

Pilitsis JG. Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused

Ultrasound for Treatment of Pain. The 2019

Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)

Annual Meeting, October 19-23, in San

Francisco, CA. [Oral Presentation]

Pilitsis JG. STN vs GPi for Concern of Cognitive

Decline, Depression, and Quality of Life. The 2019

Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)

Annual Meeting, October 19-23, in San

Francisco, CA. [Oral Presentation]

Pilitsis JG Neurosurgery for Pain: Operative

Techniques and Case Based Discussions. The 2019

Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)

Annual Meeting, October 19-23, in San

Francisco, CA. [Moderator]

Panel Reviewer:

Dr. Damian Shin served as a panel member for the

Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally

Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)

Epilepsy Review Program on Sept 8-10, Washington

DC.

General Information:

This section will include information on new

employees, department meetings, such as the annual

safety exam and any other items of general interest.

Renovation Updated: During the month of September, Alex Mongin moved

from his lab in MS501b into the space in MS517.

There are no other renovations scheduled for this

time.

Neurosciences Grand Rounds

All Neuroscience Grand Rounds are now

from 8:30-9:30am

Thursday, October 3, 2019

CANCELED

Thursday, October 10, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

Dr. Megan Waldrop

The France Foundation

“Gene Therapy: A Landmark in Spinal Muscular

Atrophy Treatment”

Thursday, October 17, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

Dr. Stewart Tepper

Miller Medical Communications

“Migraine Pathophysiology: A Clinical

Perspective”

Thursday, October 24, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

Dr. Earl Zimmerman

Albany Medical Center Neurology

“The Moral Imperative of Early Diagnostic

Disclosure of Alzheimer’s Disease”

Junior Faculty Development

Program

JFDP Sessions in October

October 9, 2019

7:00-9:00 am; MS-134C

Research Design II

Rebecca Keller, PhD

James Desemone, MD

AMC

October 23, 2019

7:00-9:00 am; MS-134C

Grant Writing

Michael DiPersio, PhD

AMC

Important dates to remember: 2019-2020

➢ Poster Day - Wednesday, March 4, 2020

– Hilton Garden Inn at AMC

➢ Awards Day - Thursday, April 9, 2020 in

ME-700

The JFDP webpage can be found at

www.amc.edu/academic/jfdp.

OCTOBER GSO EVENTS

• Possible Haunted Hayride the week

before Halloween

• Halloween lunch/party in the

Graduate Studies Office on 10/31

Dr. Marisa DiMarzio Congratulations on a Successful Defense!

September 23, 2019

DNET PHOTO CORNER

BEST WISHES TO

JESUS MUNOZ ESTRADA, PHD

Corinne Wilson and Nicolaas Pennings (PA Class of 2021) were married on

Saturday, September 7th at Greywacke Meadows in Grafton, NY!

POSTDOCTORAL DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM

Drs. Yannick Poitelon and Kristen Zuloaga have co-founded a new Postdoctoral Development

Program (PDP). This program will offer monthly career development sessions on topics such as

grant writing, job application preparation (academia and industry), and presentation skills. The first

session, a Welcome Breakfast, will take place on Sept 25th from 8-9:30am in MS-103. During the

breakfast, the newly formed Postdoc Advisory Board (Yannick Poitelon, Kristen Zuloaga, Gabrielle

Fredman, and John Lamar) will give an overview of the program offerings for the 2019-2020 year

and Dr. Zuloaga will present a session on “Elevator Pitches”. All postdocs, research scientists, and

clinical fellows are invited to attend.

GRADUATE STUDENT

RECRUITMENT 2020

This year in addition to our Google Ads, we are directly contacting the relevant departments at 25

colleges/universities in the area (~150mi radius – list below) that have BS programs in Biology,

Biochemistry, Neuroscience, Psychology or related fields.

Anyone, especially the SfN attendees, are encouraged to continue to spread the word/flyer around

(see flyer on next page).

Amherst College, Bard College, Bennington College, Clarkson University, Hampshire College,

Hudson Valley Community College, Keene State College, Le Moyne College, Malboro College,

Maria College, Marist College, Mount Holyoke College, RPI, Saint Michael's College, Siena

College, Skidmore College, Spingfield College, St. Lawrence University, SUNY Oneanta, SUNY

Plattsburgh, The College of Saint Rose, The Sage Colleges, Union College, Vassar College and

Williams College

Thank you,

Yannick Poitelon

Erin Jeannotte, ARF

DNET Employee of the Month

October 2019

• Erin has gone above and beyond for our lab. She has helped tremendously in organizing and getting

our large animal projects up and running. She has also been available whenever needed and has

provided additional PPE trainings to make sure we have adequate help so our studies can run

smoothly. Thank you for all your help Erin!

Marisa

• Erin has been one of the most helpful people I've had the pleasure of working with this year. She has

taught us so much about large animals and everything that goes with them. She has used a lot of her

own time to make sure we understand and have a good grasp on everything that we are doing. I

appreciate how organized she is, and how she ensures communication between departments. She's a

professional, but also makes sure everyone is happy, excited, and having fun with their research, at the

same time. I think a lot of our work wouldn't have been possible without her help. Thank you for

everything, Erin! Oink oink

Teresa

• Erin's help has been indispensable. She goes above and beyond to ensure that experiments run

smoothly and her training has been incredibly valuable. Erin genuinely cares about the science of a

project and goes out of her way to understand so that she can help more effectively and because she

loves to learn. Her enthusiasm is infectious and I am so glad that I have gotten to work more closely

with her over the past year.

Abby Hellman