2019-2020 M.R. Bauer Foundation Summary
The 2019-2020 M.R. Bauer Foundation Colloquium Series, Distinguished Lecturer Series, Annual Scientific Retreat, and Summer Science Research Fellowship
As I write this, from home, away from campus and my lab, a pandemic is raging. Americans and citizens around the globe are fearful, but they are turning to science for hope. They know, as we do, that solving this unprecedented challenge requires committed, visionary research.
In the oft-stated pre-COVID “normal”, science was an essential enterprise. But, now, science has taken on deeper meaning, full of greater purpose for restoring society. Groundbreaking research was never more necessary than it is right now, when the findings and outcomes are not only life-changing but life-saving. My colleagues and I are neuroscientists, and we have unbounded admiration for our peers in immunology, virology, epidemiology, and related fields who are illuminating the issues and probing for answers. We trust they will pull us out of this crisis.
I am lifted by the Brandeis scientists who are hard at work examining how the virus works and mapping its genetic code. They are meeting this test head-on. I am also proud that molecular neuroscience labs here have pivoted and begun the process of developing local virus testing platforms for Brandeis. Their labors are emblematic of the sciences at Brandeis. We are agile, undeterred by difficulties or uncertainties. We are devoted to each other’s pursuits and to each other.
Science at Brandeis has always been a community, and throughout this pandemic, we have realized how much we need and depend on each other. Distancing is the very opposite of the nature of the Volen Center, which offers an unparalleled professional setting for affiliated faculty. Our inquiries are shared, cross-disciplinary, and collaborative. We are now challenged with developing ways to express and maintain this ethos in virus-safe ways. I am confident that we will; we are an imaginative crew.
This time is unsettling for our students, upon whom we rely for inspiration, even as they turn to us for the same. They remind me that the investigators who are on the frontlines of COVID-19 research today were once aspiring scientists themselves. Like at the Volen Center, faculty mentorship trained them for just this moment, when skill, tenacity, and creativity will beat back this ruinous virus. We are trying to give them the confidence that they can and will contribute.
In this way, we extend our thanks to the M.R. Bauer Foundation, which has been a devoted partner to and passionate advocate of our faculty and students. The Foundation’s directors understand keenly that the torch of knowledge burns brightest when held aloft by many in shared striving. The Foundation makes possible everything that is described in this accounting of the year’s activities—a collection of events that nourish the imagination, industry, and inventiveness of our community. We are grateful to the Foundation and to all who are fired by the potential and possibilities of science, now more than ever.
Leslie C. Griffith, MD, PhD
Nancy Lurie Marks Professor of Neuroscience and
Director, Volen National Center for Complex Systems
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As labs went dark in late March 2020, as research was forced to slow, scientific discoveries became even more important. Basic science, often misunderstood by the public as non-essential, was thrust into the limelight. Basic science was going to bring an understanding of a deadly virus so that treatments could be found. Basic science, in this arena, became essential.
What non-scientists may not understand is that all science is basic science. Questions of how we learn, how we move, how our hearts beat can only be answered through asking the small questions: how does this work? If a small change is made, will the outcome change? What does this mean in a larger context? If it works in a fruit fly, how does it work in a human? Science is a series of small steps dedicated to answering the big questions.
The speakers who took part in the 2019-2020 M.R. Bauer Colloquium Series are taking the steps to answer the big questions.
Whether the question is how we learn, or how we breathe, or why we crave, the eight distinguished researchers included this year are finding the answers to explain how the brain functions. Each speaker has presented a summary of their work, which is preceded by a brief introduction set in shading, explaining in a more general framework the focus of the speaker’s research. A video recording of each colloquium, when available, appears immediately after the title of the colloquium.
Morgan Barense, PhD
Professor, Canada Research Chair
Department of Psychology
Adam Kepecs, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience Chair
Department of Neuroscience
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Stephen Liberles, PhD
Professor, HHMI Investigator
Department of Cell Biology
Harvard Medical School
Josh Huang, PhD
Charles Robertson Professor of Neuroscience
Department of Neuroscience
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Diomedes Logothetis, PhD
Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Northeastern University
Every year the M.R. Bauer Distinguished Lecturer program brings to campus two distinguished visitors who spend a full week at Brandeis. These weeklong visitors present talks to small and large groups, visit Center laboratories, and engage students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty in informational and highly interactive conversations about shared areas of research interests. This year our distinguished lecturers were Larry Abbott from Columbia University and John Carlson from Yale University.
Larry Abbott, PhD
William Bloor Professor of Theoretical Neuroscience
Department of Neuroscience
Columbia University Medical Center, Zuckerman Mind, Brain and Behavior Institute
John Carlson, PhD
Eugene Higgins Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Yale University
The Volen National Center for Complex Systems held its 2019 scientific retreat on September 26th and 27th at the Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis on beautiful Cape Cod. This retreat was an intensely interactive and exciting event, since it involved two days of activities. The success of the event was due to the work of a dedicated group of Neuroscience graduate students who organized and planned the entire thing. The students chose and invited all the speakers, designed the activities and organized the schedule. It was a chance for our trainees to take ownership and shape our yearly gathering. They did an amazing job and are justifiably proud!
Scientists from across Brandeis departments attended to hear presentations from senior postdoctoral fellows, a graduate student “data blitz”, and a keynote talk on the genetics and molecular biology of memory, reward and addiction from Karla Kaun, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Brown University. We shared meals and team-building activities in perfect New England fall weather and still had enough down-time for those important small group discussions that happen when you are out of your normal environment. The retreat served as a welcome break from routine and was a great opportunity to recharge and engage for Volen Center faculty, staff, postdocs and students.
The success of this trainee-planned event was so phenomenal we had hoped to do another overnight retreat in 2020. Sadly, those plans have been delayed until fall of 2021 due to the pandemic, but we look forward to it!
September 26, 2019
4:00 PM: Arrival and Snacks
5:00 PM: Post Doc Talks
- Erin Clark, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nelson Lab
“Poised genes in the adult mouse brain”
- Srinivas Gorur Shandilya, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Marder Lab
“Compensation of size change coexists with sensitivity to perturbations in a model of neuronal homeostasis"
6:00 PM: Dinner
7:00 PM: Poster Sessions A and B
9:00 PM: Social Hour
September 27, 2019
8:00 AM: Breakfast
9:30 AM: The Volen National Center for Complex Systems Data Blitz Presentations
- Linnea Herzog (Katz and Jadhav Labs)
“Reorganization and reactivation of a preexisting taste-responsive hippocampal network”
- Brian Cary (Turrigiano Lab)
“Brain state modulation of synaptic plasticity: role for sleep in homeostasis and the segregation of plasticity”
- Roshan Nanu (Katz and Jadhav Labs)
“Contribution of the BLA and Stk11 to the learning of taste aversion”
-
Chloe Greppi (Garrity Lab)
“Ionotropic receptor function in Anopheles gambiae”
-
Alejandro Torrado Pacheco (Turrigiano Lab)
“Sleep drives downward firing rate homeostasis in V1 neurons”
-
Johanna G. Flyer-Adams (Griffith Lab)
“Pigment dispersing factor (PDF) signaling: A novel pathway for memory regulation by the circadian clock”
-
Raul Ramos (Turrigiano Lab)
“The role of homeostatic plasticity in associative learning and memory”
-
Daniel Powell (Marder Lab)
“Interactions between two rhythmic circuits with distinct periods are maintained over a range of temperatures”
10:30 AM: Break
10:45 AM: Color War
12:30 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM: Post Doc Talks
- Michael O'Donnell, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Sengupta Lab)
Brandeis University
“Modulation of sensory behavior and food choice by an enteric bacteria-produced neurotransmitter”
- Willem Laursen, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Garrity Lab
Brandeis University
“A molecular driver for mosquito heat-seeking”
2:30 PM: Break
3:00 PM: Keynote Talk
- Karla Kaun, PhD
Robert and Nancy Carney Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Department of Neuroscience, Brown University
“How alcohol influences memory circuits to induce cravings”
Presenter |
Poster Title |
Rabia Anjum |
“Endogenous role for Rem2 inhibition of CaMKII in neuronal synaptic development and plasticity” |
Mingxin Ding |
“Functions of hippocampal theta-entrained mPFC spiking activity” |
Ryan Kirk |
“Identifying the Targets of HLF and TEF Mediating the Homeostatic Response to Activity Deprivation” |
Krystal Leger |
“Cross cultural differences in recognition memory” |
Kathleen Maigler |
“Future directions in lateral hypothalamus palatability coding” |
Christina Quasney |
“The Molecular Mechanism of Long-term Memory” |
Ema José Rivera-Rodríguez |
“microRNA 190 acts in the pupal nervous system to affect sleep in Drosophila melanogaster” |
Hillary Rodgers |
“Investigating the temperature dependence of circuit robustness to ionic current block” |
Travis Rogers |
“Molecular and neuronal mechanisms underlying early experience-dependent chemosensory plasticity in C. elegans” |
Justin Shin |
“Ontogeny of coordinated representations in the hippocampal- prefrontal network during spatial learning” |
Susannah Slepian |
“Dissecting the roles of semaphorin receptors Plexin-B1 and Plexin-B2 in synapse formation in the early postnatal hippocampus” |
Bradly Stone |
“LiCl-Sickness Diminishes Taste-Evoked Phase Modulation in the Gustatory Cortex” |
Daniel Svedberg |
“Millisecond-Resolution Bayesian Decoding of Neural Taste Responses in Gustatory Cortex” |
Mercedes Villalonga |
“Keep your finger on the pulse: Vibrotactile and visual temporal sensitivity” |
Derek Wise |
“Epileptic activity results from homeostatic plasticity in organotypic culture of mouse cortex” |
Ryan Young |
“Toward understanding egocentric coding of goals in an interregional system” |
Mohamed Adel |
“Artificial Sensory Stimulus Reroutes Dopamine Effects on the Associative Learning Circuit” |
Benjamin Ballintyn |
“Decision dynamics during a continuous-time foraging task: a reinforcement learning approach” |
Juliet Bottorff |
“Cholinergic Modulation of Wake-Gated Firing Rate Homeostasis” |
Jordan Breffle |
“Small neural networks have multiple memory states in parameter regions not predicted by analysis of infinitely large networks” |
Aly Fassett-Carman |
“Perceived uncontrollability of life stress is associated with gray matter morphometry in youth” |
Andrea Guerrero |
“Shank3 Phosphorylation Regulates Synaptic Scaling” |
Tyler Hill |
“Uncovering the molecular mechanisms of thermosensation” |
Katie Kimbrell |
“Rem2 Regulates Social Transmission of Food Preference” |
Aishwarya Krishnamoorthy |
“Understanding the neuronal functions of circMbl in Drosophila melanogaster” |
Jasmine Le |
“The circadian clock regulates sleep via novel neuropeptide proctolin” |
Chenghao Liu |
“Molecular and cellular mechanisms of conditioned taste aversion” |
Abuzar Mahmood |
“Variability in neural correlates of taste processing in the gustatory cortex” |
Mara Rue |
“Rapid adaptation of pyloric neurons of the crab, Cancer borealis, to elevated extracellular potassium concentrations” |
Amy Scalera |
“Neuronal periactive zone membrane remodeling machinery regulates the traffic of extracellular vesicle cargoes at Drosophila synapses” |
Michael Schneider |
“Changes in chromatin accessibility and gene expression in layer IV neurons during postnatal development” |
Claire Symanski |
“Beta rhythms and task-related spiking in the hippocampal- prefrontal network underlie the recall of odor-place associative memories” |
The 2020 M.R. Bauer Summer Research Fellows have experienced an unprecedented and extraordinary research environment. Brandeis underwent an extensive scaling down of research in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that brought all but the most basic research functions to a halt. As the Univeristy began scaling back up in May the face of research changed to allow all researchers to safely return to the lab. The need for social distancing and density control has changed the dynamic in the laboratories. The pandemic has forced a reevaluation of how research is accomplished, how new techniques are taught, and how labs maintain unity across distance. Brandeis faculty, staff, and students have shown incredible creativity in maintaining social ties and forwarding scientific research, with adaptability being a key component in 2020 research labs.
Due to the pandemic Brandeis made the decision to keep researchers safe and delayed the annual August SciFest, a poster presentation the Bauer Fellows participate in, until April of next year. We look forward to the amazing science the summer 2020 fellows will present next spring.
Ethan Crouse '21
Katz Lab, Department of Psychology
Shai Dinnar '21
Wingfield Lab, Department of Psychology
Laura Grunenkovaite '22
Sengupta Lab, Department of Biology
Paul Jiang '21
Pandelia Lab, Department of Biochemistry
Luochen Liu '22
Lee Lab, Department of Biology
Jessica Lu '21
Griffith Lab, Department of Biology
Leah Naraine '22
Paradis Lab, Department of Biology
Anna Kate Rattray '21
Nelson Lab, Department of Biology
Alex Rich '21
Berry Lab, Department of Psychology
Christina Xing '21
Fai Lab, Department of Mathematics
As always, we thank the speakers who came to the Brandeis campus this past year to share their research with us and to engage us in many hours of stimulating discussion and exchanges of ideas with Volen Center faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows. We are also grateful to our visitors for forwarding to us their lecture summaries that form the basis of this report.
We especially acknowledge Kimberly J. Mackenzie PhD '12, a past neuroscience PhD graduate, for her valuable contributions and editorial assistance in the preparation of this report.