Research Connections :: 糖心传媒

A newly discovered membrane in the brain called SLYM is a thin but tight barrier that appears to separate “clean” and “dirty” cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and harbors immune cells. Central nervous system immune cells, shown at lower left expressing CD45, use the SLYM as a platform close to the brain’s surface to monitor cerebrospinal fluid for signs of infection and inflammation.

Newly discovered anatomy shields and monitors brain

A new study from the labs of Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the at 糖心传媒 and the University of Copenhagen, and Kjeld M酶llg氓rd, a Copenhagen professor of neuroanatomy, describes a previously unknown protective barrier and platform from which immune cells monitor the brain for infection and inflammation.

糖心传媒淭he discovery of a new anatomic structure that segregates and helps control the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in and around the brain now provides us much greater appreciation of the sophisticated role that CSF plays not only in transporting and removing waste from the brain, but also in supporting its immune defenses,糖心传媒� says Nedergaard.

Nedergaard and her colleagues have transformed our understanding of the fundamental mechanics of the human brain by detailing the many critical functions of previously overlooked cells in the brain called glia and the brain糖心传媒檚 unique process of waste removal, which the lab named the glymphatic system.

The new membrane, called SLYM (for S耻产补谤补肠丑苍辞颈诲补濒听LY尘辫丑补迟颈肠-濒颈办别听Membrane) is very thin and delicate, consisting of only a few cells in thickness. Yet it is a tight barrier, allowing only very small molecules to transit, and it also seems to separate 糖心传媒渃lean糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒渄irty糖心传媒� CSF. This last observation hints at the likely role played by SLYM in the glymphatic system, which will help researchers more precisely understand the mechanics of the system. .

Using VR to understand trauma and the brain

Understanding how experience and exposure to trauma changes the brain could improve diagnosis and targeted care for conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez, assistant professor of neuroscience, has been awarded a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to use virtual reality and MRI to look into the circuitry of threat, reward, and cognitive mapping in PTSD,听trauma, and听resilience.

Suarez-Jimenez’s will build upon work that investigates brain areas that build spatial maps, specifically to discriminate between areas of an environment associated with emotions. Suarez-Jimenez糖心传媒檚 most recent 听identified changes in the salience network 糖心传媒� a mechanism in the brain used for learning and survival 糖心传媒� in people exposed to trauma (with and without psychopathologies, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety). His听 has revealed that people with anxiety have increased insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activation 糖心传媒� indicating their brain was associating a known safe area to danger or threat.

The new funding will allow his lab to probe “whether the neural processes we have identified in the past are specific to threat or if they expand to reward processing,糖心传媒� Suarez-Jimenez says. 糖心传媒淲e are also looking at how attention allocation to some visual cues of the virtual reality tasks changes from pre- to post-task experience. We are hoping that understanding these brain processes can help us identify better ways to diagnose PTSD and to improve treatment.糖心传媒� .

Congratulations to . . .

糖心传媒听faculty regularly earn regional, national, and international awards and honors for their professional contributions to research, scholarship, education, and community engagement.

Here are recent recipients:

James F. Allen, emeritus professor of computer science and an internationally renowned AI researcher, has been named a (ACL) for his 糖心传媒渟ignificant contributions to natural language dialogue research, planning and plan recognition.糖心传媒�

Marvin Doyley, who develops novel imaging techniques to detect and track diseases, has been selected as a (IEEE). The institute is recognizing Doyley, the Wilson Professor of Electronic Imaging and chair of electrical and computer engineering, for his research involving ultrasound elastography, using inverse methods.

Jennifer Grotz, a professor of English, along with Piotr Sommer of Sulej贸wek, Poland, received an honorable mention in the awarding of the by the (MLA) for their translation of Jerzy Ficowski糖心传媒檚 Everything I Don糖心传媒檛 Know: Selected Poems.

Elaine Hill, an associate professor of public health sciences, of obstetrics and gynecology, and of economics, was selected as a faculty research fellow by the National Bureau of Economic Research for her work in health economics.

Ehsan Hoque, an associate professor of computer science who works in the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI) and human-centered computing (HCC), was named a (ACM) for his outstanding scientific contributions to computing.

Jiebo Luo, a leading expert in artificial intelligence, and Benjamin Miller, a pioneer in developing compact chips and biosensors for disease detection and personalized medicine, have been selected as fellows of the (NAI). Luo is the Albert Arendt Hopeman Professor of Engineering and a professor of computer science; Miller is the Dean糖心传媒檚 Professor of Dermatology, who also holds appointments in biomedical engineering, biochemistry and biophysics, optics, and materials science.

Corey Nichols-Hadeed, a psychiatry associate; Kimberley Van Orden, an associate professor of psychiatry; Malik Sams, an instructor of emergency medicine; and Kiah E. Nyame of the City of Rochester were recognized with the National Academy of Medicine糖心传媒檚 Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award for their Intergenerational Mentoring to Promote Health Across the Lifespan project.

Anthony Pisani, an associate professor of psychiatry, was with its Medical Book Award for outstanding contributions to medical literature, for Suicide Prevention: Stahl糖心传媒檚 Handbooks, which Pisani co-authored.

Tina Sosa, Heather Wensley, and Jeffrey Yaeger of the Department of Pediatrics will participate in the year-long Disparities Leadership Program, designed to help leaders from hospitals, health insurance plans, and other health care organizations develop practical strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

Learn more about their achievements here.

PhD dissertation defenses

Ali K. Shargh, mechanical engineering, 1 p.m. January 25, 2023, 224 Hopeman.
Mechanics of materials with engineered microstructures: Physics-based modeling and deep learning investigation.
Advisor: Niaz Abdolrahim.

Tyler Godat, optics, 9 a.m. January 26, 2023, 310 Gavett Hall.
Functional Imaging and Classification of Retinal Ganglion Cells in the Living Primate Eye.
Advisor: David Williams.

Jeremiah Jones, statistics, 1 p.m. January 27, 2023, 1W-502 Helen Wood Hall.
The Partial Linear Model in Causal Inference: Estimation, Selection, and Inference Leveraging Machine Learning.
Host: Ashkan Ertefaie.

Berke Karaahmet, neuroscience, noon, February 1, 2023, 1-7619 (Lower Adolph Auditorium) Medical Center.
Immunomodulatory approaches to Alzheimer糖心传媒檚 Disease.
Advisor: Kerry O糖心传媒橞anion.

Meet Gitanjali Rao

17-year-old Gitanjali Rao gives a Neilly Lecture from 6-8 p.m. next Monday, January 23, in the Hawkins Carlson Room at Rush-Rhees Library, both in person and by Zoom. She will discuss her book, A Young Innovator糖心传媒檚 Guide to STEM, which gives students and educators a step-by-step process for identifying problems and developing solutions to modern challenges that old tools and techniques won糖心传媒檛 address.

Rao has won international acclaim as an inventor, author, scientist and engineer, and STEM promoter and social activist. Her innovations and the STEM workshops she conducts globally have garnered her awards including Forbes 糖心传媒�30 under 30 in Science,糖心传媒� 罢滨惭贰糖心传媒橲 糖心传媒淭op Young Innovator糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒淜id of the Year,糖心传媒� and an EPA Presidential Award. Learn more and register .

Books highlighted in this year糖心传媒檚 Neilly talks support key concepts in the biopsychosocial model developed by University professors George Engel and John Romano to serve as the cornerstone of psychiatric education and training. The 2022糖心传媒�2023 Neilly Author Series season is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the University糖心传媒檚 Department of Psychiatry.

Research coordinators: OnCore post award tips

The Office of Clinical Research is holding a Research Coordinator Town Hall focused on the OnCore Finance Console Post Award section from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, January 25.

Learn how to:

Generate an invoice.
Determine if the invoice should be sent to Workday through the integration.
Reconcile payment.

An overview of the visit variations, protocol events, and invoiceable items tabs in OnCore will also be presented.

Apply for population health research postdoc

Interested in population health research? Take your career to the next level with the Population Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship offered through the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

With an individual development plan, our program is customized to your goals. Over the course of one year, you will develop and complete a population health research project with the guidance of an interdisciplinary team of mentors.

Apply by Tuesday, January 31 for funding beginning July 1, 2023. .

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