Posted on April 19, 2013
Congratulations to our BoBI scholars for this summer!
Monika Schmitt from the Eriksen Lab. Monika will examine the effect of the expression of Prostacyclin synthase in learning and memory using aged mice. Prostacyclin has several effects in hemostasis, and also novel anti-inflammatory and anti-mitogenic functions. This is an exciting project in a new area of aged-related memory decline.
Mazen Zaibak from the Dauwalder lab. Mazen will test the hypothesis that the Dopamine 2R receptor functions within the Drosophila blood brain barrier to modulate male reproductive behavior. Functions for the blood brain barrier in actively regulating behavior is a new and exciting area for research. Mazen’s work will help define the G protein-coupled receptors that function within these cells to promote male courtship.
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Posted on April 03, 2013
Mark Maynard, a third year doctoral student in Leigh Leasure’s lab in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience program in the Department of Psychology, has been named the 2013 BoBI Graduate Summer Fellow. Many of you may remember Mark from his talk “Long term effects of repeated binge alcohol exposure” given at the 2012 BoBI scientific retreat. He proposes to investigate into the mechanisms of exercise-driven recovery after binge alcohol exposure.
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Posted on March 13, 2013
The Biology of Behavior Institute is happy to announce the 2013 competition for a summer undergraduate scholarship. The BoBI Undergraduate Scholar will receive a $3500 stipend to conduct a full-time project during the ten-week program; more details and the application form can be found under Funding. Deadline for applicaiton submission is Friday, 1 April at 5pm.
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Posted on March 13, 2013
The Biology of Behavior Institute is happy to announce the 2013 competition for a summer graduate scholarship to support a student to work on a BoBI related project in a BoBI member lab; more details and the application form can be found under Funding. Deadline for applicaiton submission has been changed to 21 March at 5pm.
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Posted on January 08, 2013
Jihad Harmouche, a BoBI Undergraduate Summer Research Fellow in Gregg Roman’s lab, graduated summa cum laude in December as the youngest student of the semester.
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Posted on January 08, 2013
Undergraduates in several BoBI labs were given awards under the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program (PURS) this semester.
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Posted on March 30, 2011
Feng Gu of the Ziburkus Lab has been awarded the BoBI Graduate Summer Fellowship for his proposal entitled “Functional Neural Mechanisms of Network Excitability in a Mouse Model of Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy”. He will spend this summer researching new methods to modulate the synchronous firing of neural populations that occur during seizures. This work will take advantage of mouse models of severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy. Mr. Gu will employ molecular biology, fast network imaging, electrophysiology and neuro-pharmacology to study and control the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for seizure behavior.
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Posted on March 28, 2011
Anupam Hazra, a Ph.D. student in biochemistry, recently received a one-year, $20,000 fellowship from the Epilepsy Foundation - one of only a dozen such fellowships the Foundation awards annually.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, spontaneous seizures and affects about 50 million people worldwide. In epileptic patients, abnormally synchronized neurons produce repetitive activity called synchronous bursts and seizures. These processes usually initiate in a small area and have an ability to spread throughout the brain.
Hazra works under Jokūbas Žiburkus, an assistant professor of biology and biochemistry who is studying the cellular and network mechanisms underlying activity in normal and pathological neural networks. Specifically, the lab is interested in how endogenous substances released by the brain, such as norepinephrine, regulate neural network dynamics.
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Posted on May 05, 2010
Songbirds are the only animal model for studying the evolution of speech and language in humans. They have been studied as a paradigm to understand how vocal communication can be used to tell apart individuals when selecting partners during courtship and forming social boundaries. Preethi Gunaratne and colleagues have published the genome of the zebra finch, which may one day help people who suffer from speech impairments, learning disabilities and problems with forming social connections.
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Posted on May 05, 2010
A recent collaboration between Scott Pletcher’s laboratory at University of Michigan and Gregg Roman’s laboratory at University of Houston found that a specific food odor, CO2, can significantly impact the physiology of Drosophila melanogaster, and lead to reduced lifespan.
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