All Events will be held in Merrick Hall.

9a – 10a:           Registration – Science Center Atrium (1st Floor)

                          Breakfast  – Merrick Hall, 1st Floor

10a – 11a:         Keynote Presentation – Merrick Hall, 3rd Floor

Speaker:  Janet Best, Ph.D., Department of Mathematics, Associate Director of Mathematical Biosciences Institute, Ohio State University.

Title: “Depression: Listening to what the brain can tell us.”

Fundamental questions about depression are particularly pressing due to the rising global health burden posed by this illness. Malfunction in the serotonergic system is generally believed to underlie symptoms of depression, but do depressed individuals really have lower levels of serotonin? Does the frontline treatment – Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) – actually raise serotonin levels, and if so, by what mechanism? How can we account for the surprising variability in patient responses to currently prescribed SSRIs? What can we say about the outlook for developing new treatments for depression?

In this talk, we explore how combining emerging brain chemistry tools with mathematical modeling can address these questions. We’re finding new insights into depression by investigating the relationship between dynamical processes of neurons, brain chemistry, and the role of inflammation. Such interdisciplinary approaches have the capacity to profoundly improve therapeutic strategies.

11a – 11:25a:       Break (Coffee available on Merrick Hall, 1st Floor)

11:30a –12:15p:   Student Oral Presentations – Merrick Hall, 3rd Floor

3 student speakers will be selected from submitted abstracts.

Each speaker will be allotted 12 mins to present + 3 mins for Questions after each talk.

12:15p – 1:15p:      Lunch

Box Lunches will be available on Merrick Hall, 1st Floor.

Seating available in Merrick Hall, 1st Floor & 2nd Floor (or outside tables, weather permitting). Seating is not available on the 3rd Floor, in order to set-up posters.

1:15p-1:30p:          Poster set-up by presenting authors.

1:30p – 3:30p:        Poster Session – Science Center Atrium (1st Floor).

Presenting authors will be assigned into 2 groups, with Group 1 (odd numbers) requested to be present at their posters from 1:30-2:30p, and Group 2 (even numbers) requested to be present at their posters from 2:30p-3:30p.

3:30p – 4:30p:         Breakout Sessions – Merrick Hall, 3rd Floor & 2nd Floor rooms

Student Session (3rd Floor Merrick):  Career Panel, with panelists representing graduate schools, current graduate students, and other professionals with careers in science.

Faculty Session (Merrick Hall, Room 202):  “Increasing Diversity in Neuroscience.” The workshop will discuss how increased awareness of diversity in the sciences may help to design more inclusive curricula, and develop and maintain more robust pipelines from underrepresented groups in the sciences (especially neuroscience) into graduate programs. The ENDURE initiative (“Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education”) sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) will be included in the discussion.

4:45p – 5p:              Closing Remarks – Merrick, 3rd Floor