|  |
| The poster presentations ranged from basic molecular mechanism studies through clinical research. | |
 Printer Friendly Format
| |
Faculty members, staff and students gathered at the Children’s Cancer Research Institute last week for the fourth annual Center for Biomedical Neuroscience (CBN) retreat. They attended the day-long retreat to learn more about what the Health Science Center is doing in neuroscience research.
“The attendance by the members of the CBN was very good and there were great discussions throughout the two poster sessions,” said Alan Frazer, Ph.D., professor and chair of pharmacology. “Everyone was quite impressed by the quality of the science demonstrated by the posters, which ranged from basic molecular mechanism studies through clinical research.”
The CBN was honored to welcome its featured speaker, Eric Nestler, M.D., Ph.D., the Lou and Ellen McGinle Distinguished Chair in Psychiatric Research at The University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas. Dr. Nestler received his B.A., Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from Yale University and completed his residencies at Yale as well.
A professor and researcher who is currently principal investigator of two National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded program project studies, Dr. Nestler focuses on drug addiction to characterize molecular and cellular adaptations that occur in the brain after the repeated use of drugs of abuse. His presentation, “Molecular Mechanisms of Drug Addiction,” described what he studies in his lab.
“Drugs of abuse activate the critical reward circuit (brain pathway that makes one feel good) with power and persistence,” Dr. Nestler said. “These actions cause changes in the circuit so that over time, an individual’s reward circuit is no longer normal in the absence of drugs, and they need drugs to feel normal. We’re examining what the changes are that contribute to the drug addiction.”
Dr. Frazer added: “Dr. Nestler shows how molecular techniques can be applied to behavioral problems and he is probably doing this as well as anyone in the world. Such approaches are also being used at our Health Science Center and it was important for our investigators to have the opportunity to discuss this with him, particularly informally during the poster presentations.”
Fifty posters were presented throughout the day, displaying a variety of research projects. Eight junior faculty, post-doctoral students and graduate students received awards for their exceptional poster presentations.
As platform speakers, Kenneth Hargreaves, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor and chair of endodontics; David Morilak, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology; and David Jimenez, M.D., professor and chair of neurosurgery, provided more insight about the neurosciences and the Health Science Center neuroscience environment. Their presentation topics were “Sex and Pain: From Cultured Neurons to Clinical Trials;” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: ‘Stress’ at the Health Science Center;” and “Endoscopic Neurosurgery: UTHSCSA’s Version of Grey’s Anatomy,” respectively. The talks were well received and the discussions were lively.
The CBN works to enhance and promote the discipline of neuroscience at the Health Science Center by serving as an umbrella organization for research and teaching activities related to the discipline. The Center helps to recruit graduate and post-graduate students of high caliber in the neurosciences to the Health Science Center. It has helped to develop didactic courses for students and residents in the field and to foster productive collaborations among the neuroscientists at the Health Science Center, including program project, center and training grants. In fiscal year 2005, members of the CBN received about $21 million in funding from NIH, which represents almost 25 percent of the total funding received that year from NIH by the Health Science Center.
