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What’s new at ISU?

Inside this Issue:

Congratulations to our Recent

Graduates…pg 2

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Action Potential Article: You’ve Got

the Body and I’ve Got the Brain…pg 4

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Past Events…pg 5

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Collaborations with the Science

Center of Iowa…pg 7

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Student & Faculty Spotlight…pg 9

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News & Awards…pg 9

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Neuroscience in the Ames

community…pg 11

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Neurotransmission Article: Stem Cells

for Neuroregeneration Freshmen

Research Initiative...pg 12

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Selected Publications…pg 13

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New Members of the Neuroscience

community…pg 14

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Things to look out for in the coming

months…pg 14

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Contact Information & Helpful

Links…pg 14

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Neuroscience Event Calendar…pg 15

Letter to the Network

Dear Neuroscience community,

Thanks for checking out this issue of SYNAPSE! My name is

Lauren Laboissonniere and I am serving as the President of the

Neuroscience Graduate Student Organization, as well as the

Student President of our local Society for Neuroscience

chapter.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the revival of our

neuroscience newsletter, formerly known as

Neurotransmitter. Along with my fellow NGSO officers, we

have decided to regenerate this SYNAPSE and use this

magazine as an outlet to keep the community informed on our

events, news, publications, and exciting recognitions; as well

as to serve as a template for continued neuro-related

discussions.

Each semester we will release a new magazine highlighting the

goings-on of students, post-docs, and faculty in our

community, but we could not do this without your help!

Therefore, we hope you will communicate with one of the

officers directly (you can find our contact information at the

end of this magazine) to share news from your lab or within

your own life.

Since this is our first issue, we have many things to discuss. The

neuroscience graduate students and community have been

especially busy over the past 18 months working to promote

community outreach and education, as well as professional

development for our students. We have had several successful

events, both at Iowa State and in collaboration with the Science

Center of Iowa, which we would love to tell you about.

Therefore, we have a lot to catch up on.

Take a peek at some of our highlights from events over the

course of the past couple years and contact us with any news

or highlights that you would like to be included in upcoming

issues. We hope you enjoy it!

Sincerely,

Lauren Laboissonniere

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Congratulations to the 2016/2017 Neuroscience Graduates! Anup Dutt Sharma, PhD, advisors: Dr. Mallapragada and Dr. Sakaguchi

Dissertation titled: Enhancing nerve regeneration in the peripheral nervous

system using polymeric scaffolds, stem cell engineering and nanoparticle delivery

system

Dr. Sharma is currently working at an up-and-coming startup, AxoSim

Technologies, in New Orleans. His work there involves preclinical neurotoxicity

testing using nerve-on-a-chip technology.

Matthew Neal, PhD, advisor: Dr. Kanthasamy

Dissertation titled: Prokineticin-2: a novel anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory

signaling protein in Parkinson’s disease

Dr. Neal is now a post-doctoral researcher at Northeast Ohio Medical University,

in the laboratory of Dr. Jason Richardson, where he is working to understand the

molecular mechanisms underlying neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s disease,

along with examining the role of the immune system in animal models of the

disease. He says, “I am fascinated with the role of glial cells in aging and

neurodegeneration, and would like to elucidate novel ways to manipulate these

cells to potentially affect the course of PD and other neurodegenerative diseases.”

Greg Mlynarczyk, PhD, advisors: Dr. Diane Peterson and Dr. Millman

Dissertation titled: Defining the mechanisms of trauma after blast exposure

Dr. Mlynarczyk began work as an adjunct professor at High Point University in

North Carolina in January 2017. At High Point, he teaches both introductory and

advanced anatomy courses.

Hilary Hu (DVM), PhD, advisor: Dr. Nick Jeffery

Dissertation titled: Phase II Double-blinded Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

of Chondroitinase ABC by Intraspinal Injection for Treatment of Severe Chronic

Spinal Cord Injury in 60 Pet Dogs

Dr. Hu is now at Texas A&M, where she is working completing her veterinary

residency in neurology & neurosurgery.

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Garrett Schmidt-McCormack, MS, advisor: Dr. Nick Jeffery

Thesis titled: Developing protocols for analysis of cellular adaptations to

peripheral injury in proprioceptive circuits

Garrett has recently begun his new job as a research technician at the University

of Michigan, where he uses EEG to monitor rodents during sleep.

Aron Namaka, MS, advisor: Dr. Stephan Schneider

Thesis titled: The asymmetric cell division machinery in early annelid

embryogenesis: Maternal and embryonic contributions

Since graduating, Aron says he’s looking forward to staying at home with his two

kids (and #3 on the way!). He’ll be coaching swimming in his spare time, but Aron

says he’s happy to have the opportunity to spend more time with his family.

Marson Putra (MD), MS, advisor: Dr. Thimmasettapp Thippeswamy

Thesis titled: The roles of fyn and tau in the early phase of epileptogenesis: Studies

from transgenic mouse models

Dr. Putra has returned to his home in Indonesia to work as an emergency physician

in Papua. In January, he plans to return to Iowa State to begin work on his PhD in

Dr. Thippeswamy’s lab.

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Action Potential Article

“You’ve got the body and I’ve got the brain” Written by Emir Malovic

Though not as gruesome or sinister as Wes Craven’s Freddy Krueger, what if it were indeed possible to transplant a

live human head onto a brain-dead donor’s body? Dr. Sergio Canavero, an Italian neurosurgeon, revealed his

ambitious head anastomosis venture (HEAVEN) by describing the GEMINI (unknown meaning) protocol in 2013.

Heavily inspired by Dr. Robert White, who in 1970 performed the first head transplant (or perhaps more accurately,

body transplant, depending upon one’s interpretation) on a rhesus macaque that died 8 days later from

immunological rejection, Dr. Canavero delineates the possibility of a successful head anastomosis in humans.

Under HEAVEN/GEMINI, a dual surgery suite will be required with two surgical teams, one for the live recipient (R),

and one for the phenotypically well matched brain-dead body donor (D). R’s head will be cooled to around 10°C in a

supine position, while D will receive only spinal cord cooling to minimize organ damage from potential ischemia.

After cooling, R will be placed into a sitting position to match D’s, which will facilitate the surgical procedure. The

initial deep incisions at cervical vertebrae 5 and 6 will expose the major blood vessels, trachea, esophagus, and the

spinal cord. All muscles cut will be color-coded to ensure accurate reconnection. Once all vessels in D and R are cut,

R’s head will be exsanguinated, and both will have their vessels tip-clamped to prevent air embolisms. R’s

reconnection to D must be performed in less than an hour. Under GEMINI, the spinal cords must be sharply severed

with a cut that will produce less than 10 N of force as opposed to the 26,000 N produced by spinal cord injury, which

would minimize the formation of a glial scar. R’s head, now fixated and suspended in a custom-made crane stand,

will be hovered over D’s body for anastomosis. Blood circulation must be reestablished first and then the spinal cords

will be fused in 1-2 minutes utilizing chitosan-polyethylene glycol (PEG); however, researchers from Rice University

in Houston have offered a helping hand by providing a modified version of PEG that contains graphene nanoribbons.

The properties of PEG itself promote membrane fusion and the graphene nanoribbons will act as scaffolds that can

conduct currents. All other organs and muscles would be reconnected accordingly and the patient would remain

comatose for three to four weeks with continual spinal cord stimulation for accelerated recovery.

So, it all appears possible, but is it really? Dr. Canavero and his colleagues have only offered anecdotal evidence

regarding restoration of neuromuscular function in humans, and recent murine studies have not been completely

successful in longevity nor motor function. Nonetheless, Dr. Canavero and his colleagues claim that full recovery is

indeed possible because of the redundancy provided by the pyramidal tract and the cortico-truncoreticulo-

propriospinal tract (see sources below). Besides the functionality obstacle that comes with spinal cord injury,

immunosuppression will be critical as D’s body can reject R’s head. In addition, R will be at a high risk for central

pain syndrome, a chronic pain resulting from the disturbed signaling of the spinothalamic tract should the spinal

cord fusion be less than perfect. Along with the physiological challenges, R will inevitably face cognitive issues related

to body image, identity, stress, and anxiety. Psychiatric treatments will be imperative for an optimal recovery. So,

are all these risks worth the headache? And what of the philosophical and ethical implications? To incite the mind a

bit, here are a few. Who is the Self that is controlling the chimera, R or D? How do we determine who is fit to claim

an entire body that contains many organs other patients need? Could we transplant for brain rejuvenation, increased

longevity, and perhaps immortality? Imagine if we could clone our youthful bodies and utilize them for immortality;

should we? Innumerable questions come to light because of this extraordinary venture, but we do know one thing

for sure, science has bloomed and now we may be reaching an inevitable medical cornerstone in the history of Homo

sapiens. Canavero, S. (2013). HEAVEN: The head anastomosis venture Project outline for the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage (GEMINI). Surgical

Neurology International, 4(Suppl 1), S335.

Canavero, S. (2015). The “Gemini” spinal cord fusion protocol: Reloaded. Surgical neurology international, 6.

Canavero, S., Ren, X., Kim, C. Y., & Rosati, E. (2016). Neurologic foundations of spinal cord fusion (GEMINI). Surgery, 160(1), 11-19.

Kim, C. Y., Oh, H., Hwang, I. K., & Hong, K. S. (2016). GEMINI: Initial behavioral results after full severance of the cervical spinal cord in mice. Surgical neurology

international, 7(Suppl 24), S629.

Kim, C. Y. (2016). PEG-assisted reconstruction of the cervical spinal cord in rats: Effects on motor conduction at 1 h. Spinal cord. doi: 10.1111/cns.12422

Ren, X. P., Ye, Y. J., Li, P. W., Shen, Z. L., Han, K. C., & Song, Y. (2015). Head transplantation in mouse model. CNS neuroscience & therapeutics, 21(8), 615-618.

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Events Neuroscience Research Day-The Visual System

Top image: group photo

following event

Middle row; left image:

Emir Malovic in the eyeball

costume with Dr. Gil Ben-

Shlomo, middle image: Dr.

Elizabeth Stegemӧller

presenting best poster

award to Alyson

Williamson and Hayley

LeBlanc, right image: Dr.

Elizabeth Stegemӧller

presenting the runner-up

poster award to Edmund

Norris

Bottom row; left image:

Rebecca Chowdhury

accepting the award for 2nd

runner-up poster award,

middle image: Lauren

Laboissonniere accepting

the award for best oral

presentation; right image:

keynote speakers, Dr.

Tiffany Schmidt and Dr.

Knut Stieger posing with

their Iowa State

Neuroscience mugs,

designed by Dr. Donald

Sakaguchi

NRD 2016 welcomed over 100 registrants from more than 10 institutes including Minnesota State University-

Mankato, University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa, Simpson College, Grinnell College, Wartburg College,

Drake University, Des Moines University, University of La Crosse-Wisconsin, and Northwestern University.

Our keynote speakers included Dr. Knut Stieger, DVM, PhD, from the Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of

Medicine at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany and Dr. Tiffany Schmidt, PhD, from the Department of

Neurobiology at Northwestern University.

Awards for outstanding oral presentation went to Lauren Laboissonniere (Trimarchi Lab, ISU) and runner-up: Sweta

Roy (Kuhlman Lab, ISU), while the awards for outstanding poster presentation went to Alyson Williamson and

Hayley LeBlanc (Wrenn Lab, Drake Univ.), runner-up: Edmund Norris (Coats Lab, ISU), and second runner-up:

Rebecca Chowdhury (Trimarchi Lab, ISU).

The 2017 NRD will take place on Saturday, September 23rd at Iowa State and will be themed ‘The Aging Brain’.

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Neuroscience Retreat

2017

Top row; left image: Ella Bauer, graduate student in Dr.

Peter Clark’s lab, and Emir Malovic pose in their ziplining

gear; middle image: Kasandra Diaz Santana looks back as

she’s mid-zipline; right image: Lauren Laboissonniere all

geared up for the zipline

Bottom row; left image: Matt Jefferson and Bhavika Patel

learned that if graduate school doesn’t pan out, they have

great potential as supportive ladder holders ☺; middle

image: Dr. Peter Clark, keynote speaker for this year’s

retreat presents on his research to the group; right image:

Kasandra Diaz Santana in her ziplining gear looks excited

to try this activity!

The second annual neuro retreat took place on

Saturday, May 20th at the Y Camp in Boone, where

students had the opportunity to hear from members

of the academic and industry communities.

Following a brief outdoor activity of ziplining (that

was cut short due to rain), students and faculty

returned indoors to hear from Dr. Peter Clark, new

faculty member in the Department of Food Science

and Human Nutrition. Dr. Clark discussed his

research on the effects of physical activity on the

brain and his plans for continuing this research in his lab at ISU.

During an open panel discussion, Dr. Clark and Dr. Elizabeth Stegemӧller, ISU were accompanied by Dr. Sondra

Ashmore, the assistant director of IT at Principal Global Investors. Our faculty and industry representatives

discussed their journeys through graduate school

and into the professional world and they fielded

questions from attendees. The day ended with

wonderful suggestions for improvements to our

program and activities. We look forward to next

year’s retreat, and hope you will be able to attend!

2016

Top row; left image: Aron Namaka, Greg Mlynarczyk,

and Emir Malovic pose in their ziplining gear before

making the big jump; right image: Matt Jefferson, Dr.

Kristina Neely, keynote speaker from Penn State, Steve

Anderson, and visiting student Louise Fix, pose for a

photo as they watch the zipliners

Bottom row; left image: graduate students pose for a

photo on the walk between activities; right image: the

open panel discussion with academia and industry

members took place on the deck overlooking the Des

Moines River

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Brain Day for Kids Top row; left image: Matt Jefferson, Patricia Izbicki, and Bhavika

Patel pose for a photo as volunteers; right image: kids and

volunteers at the memory station

Second row; middle image: Abby Crimmins, undergraduate in Dr.

Elizabeth Stegemӧller’s lab, poses with a brain at the

neuroanatomy station; right image: Dr. Jeff Trimarchi with his

daughter Claire enjoying the neuro arts & crafts station

Third row; left image: Marson Putra instructs kids and their

parents about the difficulties of tossing a squishy brain when

one’s vision has been shifted 30 degrees; right image: Abbie

Burney, undergraduate in Dr. Jeff Trimarchi’s lab, Lauren

Laboissonniere, and Patricia Izbicki wearing their matching

PLoS shirts as volunteers

Bottom row; left image: Aron Namaka’s daughter has her

photograph taken while wearing the eyeball costume; right

image: Larissa Arnold and Aron Namaka man the Brain

Bingo/prize station with highly coveted squishy brains atop

their heads

In January, NGSO held our first outreach event, Brain Day

for Kids. The event had an astounding 80+ kids in

attendance, ranging in age from 2-15, and included a day

full of neuroscience activities, including: optical illusions,

prism shifting goggle-brain toss, brain bingo, arts & crafts,

anatomy, sensory tasks, and memory tasks, as well as a live

showing of the 2015 movie Inside Out.

We had an astounding 24 volunteers for this event (both graduate and undergraduate students) from the SfN group

and neuroscience graduate program. Without the help of these volunteers, we would not have been able to hold such

a successful event! Due to the success of this event and the wonderful feedback received, NGSO plans to make this a

yearly event at ISU. If you are interested in helping with BDfK 2018, look out for an announcement this fall regarding

ways in which you can get involved.

Collaborations with the Science Center of Iowa

Left image: Tovah Wolf and Ashley Swanson speak to excited attendees at the Girls in Science Festival 2017 while Patricia Izbicki

encourages a young girl attempting to complete the mirror drawing task; 2nd image: Patricia Izbicki poses with a cockroach

during the Girls in Science Festival 2016; 3rd image: Hannah Spaulding, Emily Kozik, Najiba Mammadova, and Bhavika Patel pose

with the SCI banner at the Girls in Science Festival 2017; right image: Lauren Laboissonniere and Patricia Izbicki at the Pajama

Party in 2016 working on deciphering their names in binary code with beads

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NGSO and SfN have had the wonderful pleasure of collaborating with the Science Center of Iowa to participate in

several of their organized outreach events. Over the past year, NGSO/SfN members have taken part in SCI’s Café

Scientifique, Pajama Party, Meals with Mentors, Mixology Night, and the Girls in Science Festival.

Café Scientifique In the Fall of 2016, neuroscience graduate students presented at Café Scientifique on two separate occasions. Patricia

Izbicki and Andrew Zaman (PhD student in Kinesiology/Psychology) presented on “Making music in the classroom

and clinic”. Patricia and Andrew covered topics related to the effects of stress on cognition, sensation perception,

and motor control as well as the neuroscience of music and its educational and clinical implications. Their

presentation discussed the processing of music that occurs in the brain and the more recent advances in treating

Parkinson’s Disease with music therapy.

Greg Mlynarczyk, Matt Jefferson, and Emir Malovic presented on “Biology, Behavior and Brain Health”. Their

presentation discussed how brain health is rooted in biology and behavior, and the effects of inflammation on brain

health. Greg, Matt, and Emir explained how stressors are capable of negatively affecting the brain and leading to

deterioration of the health of the nervous system, as well as contributing to neurodegenerative disease progression.

More recently, Matt Jefferson presented on “Subtle stressors and brain breakdown” in June at the Science Center.

During his second presentation at Café Sci, Matt discussed the ways in which stress can affect brain health, from

inhibiting normal processes to contributing to neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Matt told the audience

some ways in which they could reduce stress overall and make more beneficial behavioral changes to protect and

help brain health.

These events were highly regarded by members of the SCI community and the public. On July 11th, graduate students

Bhavika Patel and Lauren Laboissonniere will be presenting at Café Sci on “Eye Exam: Exploring Degeneration”. We

hope you can attend!

Girls in Science Festival The Girls in Science Festival is an annual event put on by the Science Center in the winter months. In 2016, two

neuroscience graduate students volunteered at this event and had such a wonderful time that they thought the

neuroscience program should be represented during the following year’s event. This past February, the neuroscience

program hosted their own booth, which was run by 8 female neuroscience community members. Our booth was

highly visited by many of the 200+ attendees and hosted interactive games such as the mirror drawing challenge,

the Stroop Task and Hermann Grid, and pipe cleaner neuron building.

Taking the Road Less Traveled Through the Women in Science & Engineering program at Iowa State, Dr. Johanna Kowalko and graduate student

Lauren Laboissonniere ran successful TRLT programs in the Spring of 2016 and 2017. Their activity involved

exploring the evolution of behavior in fish models, and the female attendees had the opportunity to explore

fluorescently labeled zebrafish under the microscope as well as to perform a behavioral assay on schooling cavefish.

Attendees included young girls in 8th-10th grades from all over Iowa.

If you are interested in planning your own TRLT program for the Fall or Spring, contact Janice Crow, the WiSE

outreach coordinator, at jrcrow@iastate.edu.

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Student Spotlight

Steve Anderson, PhD candidate in the Neuroscience and Psychology programs, has

been a member of our community since he came to Iowa State in 2011. Steve’s

research focuses on facial recognition in PD patients and he has been an author on 7

papers since arriving at Iowa State. Steve’s colleagues had this to say about him:

“Since I arrived here, Steve has always been incredibly supportive and kind. He’s

always volunteering in outreach activities and participating as often as he can.”

“Steve has been a wonderful peer to interact and work with. His depth of knowledge

and willingness to help others is inspiring along with his sharp wit and sense of

humor.”

Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Elizabeth Stegemӧller, assistant professor in Kinesiology, joined the Iowa State

faculty in 2013. Her research focuses on neural control and performance of repetitive

movement in persons with PD, as well as the neural basis of music and rehabilitation

strategies that include music to improve movement performance.

During her time at Iowa State, Dr. Stegemӧller has bettered the lives of PD patients

through the creation of an Ames singing group, which has received national

recognition for its positive results, as well as dancing, boxing, and yoga.

Outside of her lab, Dr. Stegemӧller has been advisor for the neuroscience graduate

student organization, and she also serves as the President of the local SfN chapter.

Some of the neuro graduate students had these things to say about her:

“Dr. Stegemӧller’s most inspiring quality as a researcher is her ability to balance her many roles as a professor,

researcher, and music therapist. As a future researcher, I find her to be an extraordinary role model. She exemplifies

what it means to be a successful woman in STEM through her passion, dedication, and humility in her research, as

well as her open-mind, compassion, and support to individuals of all backgrounds.”

“Since Dr. S came to Iowa State, she has been instrumental in bringing about success for our students and program

through mentorship and involvement. Thanks to her, we now have a graduate student organization, an annual

retreat, and I am personally grateful for all of the work she has done for us students.”

News & Awards Dr. Sreekanth Puttachary has recently accepted an Assistant Professorship at Oregon State University, after

completing his post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Thippeswamy. Best of luck to him in his new position!

Dr. Auriel Willette, assistant professor in food science and human

nutrition, was featured on the IA State homepage this past Spring for

his work with graduate student, Ashley Swanson, in identifying

neuronal pentraxin-2 (NPTX2) as a neuronal protecting protein. They

found that the higher levels of NPTX2 correspond to less brain

atrophy and better memory. Their work has also shown higher levels

of NPTX2 protein in individuals who keep their brains active. You can

read more about their findings at the following link:

http://www.iastate.edu/stories/2017/06/neuronal

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Congratulations to the 1st year Neuro graduate students for completing rotations and selecting home labs:

Pongrat Jaisil, who had been working in the laboratory of Dr. Nick Jeffery before he left Iowa State, recently

completed rotations and decided to join the laboratory of Dr. Stone Chen, in the Department of Genetics,

Development, and Cell Biology, where she will be working alongside Dr. Jeffrey Essner and colleagues. Her project

will include the examination of the role that the actin cytoskeleton plays on neuron/axon growth or regeneration

using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in the

zebrafish. Kasandra Diaz has joined the

laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Stegemӧller, in

the Department of Kinesiology. About joining

this lab, Kasandra said: “I knew that I wanted

to join the lab not just because I was going to

be able to work on a project that sparked my

interest, but because of Dr. Stegemӧller’s

willingness to work alongside her students

to form a welcoming collaborative research

environment.” Kasandra’s research will

focus on the identification of inflammatory

markers associated with motor deficits in

individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. Robyn

Kokemuller has joined the laboratory of Dr.

Heather Greenlee, in the Department of

Biomedical Sciences and Eric Mach has

joined the laboratory of Dr. Timothy Bigelow

in the Department of Mechanical

Engineering.

Dr. Sakaguchi and Dr. Mallapragada (and

colleagues) had their artwork chosen as the

cover for the 7th issue of Volume 6 for the

journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Student Awards 2016-2017

Grad College Awards

Research Excellence Award: Lauren Laboissonniere (’17)

Steve Anderson (’16) Matt Neal (’16)

Teaching Excellence Award: Matt Jefferson (’16) Lauren

Laboissonniere (’16)

Emerging Leaders Academy Fellowship: Patricia Izbicki (’17)

Departmental Awards

David Gladson Scholarship: Lauren Laboissonniere (‘16 & ‘17)

Bhavika Patel (‘16 & ‘17) Rebecca Chowdhury (’16) Anup Dutt

Sharma (’16)

CVM Travel Award: Robyn Kokemuller (’17) Shaunik Sharma (’17)

Kinesiology Doctoral Teaching Award: Matt Jefferson (’17)

BMS Travel Grant: Shaunik Sharma (’17)

CHS Research Scholarship: Patricia Izbicki (’17)

CHS Graduate Scholarship: Patricia Izbicki (’16)

Other

Science Communication Fellowship: Matt Jefferson (’17)

Shaunik Sharma (’16)

GPSRC best poster presentation: Shaunik Sharma (’17)

Bhavika Patel (’16)

Wakonse Teaching Fellowship: Patricia Izbicki (’17)

Neuroscience Program Travel Award: Bhavika Patel (’16)

Lauren Laboissonniere (’16) Patricia Izbicki (’16)

Epilepsy Foundation Travel Grant: Shaunik Sharma (’16)

Society for Music Education and Music Psychology Travel

Award (SEMPRE): Patricia Izbicki (’16)

ISU Focus Artist Grant: Patricia Izbicki (’16)

Faculty Awards 2016-2017

University Honors Committee

Award for Excellence in Honors Teaching and Mentoring-

Jeff Trimarchi (’16) Departmental Awards

Early Achievement in Outreach Award: Elizabeth

Stegemӧller (’17)

Early Achievement in Research Award: Elizabeth

Stegemӧller (’16)

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Neuroscience in the Community Ames Public Piano Project (or Pianos in the Parks)

Top row; left image: Patricia Izbicki stands beside the piano that was unveiled on Welch Avenue; middle image: Patricia Izbicki

plays the piano alongside flutists Heather Imhoff and Mindy Phomvisay; right image: Patricia Izbicki poses with her PhD

advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Stegemӧller beside the piano unveiled on Main Street

Bottom row; left image: The Ames Parkinson’s Singing Group & Ames Children’s Choir performs for the crowd while Dr.

Elizabeth Stegemӧller accompanies them on piano; right image: a young girl performs her piano piece during the piano

unveiling on Main Street

Patricia Izbicki, PhD student, instructed a course through ISU OPPTAG during the summer of 2016 entitled

“Neuroscience of Music”. During this time, Izbicki taught middle school students about the effects of music listening

on the brain, neurobiological and behavioral differences in musicians vs. non-musicians, musicianship, and the use

of music in the clinic (i.e. music therapy). The students participating in Izbicki’s course also had the opportunity to

aid in her attempt to bring public pianos to the City of Ames, by helping to paint the piano currently placed on Main

Street in the Tom Evans Plaza. The second piano (on Welch Avenue at Campustown Court) was painted by campers

in First Baptist Church of Ames Music Camp, directed by Mindy Phomvisay. The two pianos were revealed to the

public during the first weekend of June 2017, and will be kept outdoors at their locations until September 2017. The

City of Ames did a spotlight focus on Izbicki and this project, which can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDQ0Nx5vlqU&feature=youtu.be

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Neurotransmission Article

Stem Cells for Neuroregeneration: A Course in the Freshmen Research Initiative Written by Dr. Elizabeth Sandquist

Freshmen undergraduates now have the

opportunity to participate in a neuroscience

research course as part of the Freshmen Research

Initiative (FRI), a program which supports

course-based undergraduate research at the

introductory level. Funded by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant, the program features research

courses across the STEM disciplines. The course is taught by postdoctoral fellow Elizabeth Sandquist (left

image above), Dr. Donald Sakaguchi of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology (center image above) and

Bhavika Patel (right image above), graduate student in the Neuroscience Program. In this course, students

perform cutting-edge research on the properties of adult neural stem cells, using zebrafish as a model

system. Zebrafish have exceptional regenerative capabilities, and the lab is studying methods to harness

this potential for therapeutic applications.

Freshmen learn about neuroscience and stem cell research during the course, investigating the

regenerative response of the zebrafish eye following injury. Students observe the activity of adult neural

stem cells, gaining experience in immunohistochemistry, microscopy, and data analysis. They also have the

opportunity to design experiments, writing a specific aims page proposing the next step in their research

project. At the end of the semester, the students participated in the FRI Symposium, presenting their novel

findings among other students in the Freshmen Research Initiative from disciplines ranging from biology

to electrical engineering.

For most students, opportunities to perform research do not occur until their junior or senior year. The

FRI program aims to capture student interest in the sciences early in their undergraduate career to

promote retention in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Student feedback has been

positive, stating that they felt like scientists during the Stem Cells course, with improved confidence in their

ability to contribute to the scientific community and to succeed in advanced science coursework. The Stem

Cells for Neuroregeneration will begin its third iteration in Spring 2018.

Left image: Elizabeth Haldin and

Nicole Trice present their poster on

the examination of stem cell

regeneration during retinal lesion in

zebrafish; right image: Micah Post,

Yekaterina Yang, and Connor Lawless

work together to pipette solutions in

lab

In addition to Dr. Sandquist’s Stem Cells for Neuroregeneration FRI class, Dr. Elizabeth Stegemӧller and

Patricia Izbicki also hosted a successful FRI Course this past Spring, entitled “Dancing for Parkinson’s”. For

more information about the Freshman Research Initiative, visit https://fri.las.iastate.edu.

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Selected Publications from 2016/2017

Laboissonniere LA, Martin GM, Goetz JJ, Bi R, Pope B,

Weinand K, Ellson L, Fru D, Lee M, Wester AK, Liu P,

Trimarchi JM. Single cell transcriptome profiling of

developing chick retinal cells. J. Comp. Neurol.

525(12):2735-2781 (2017).

Uz M, Sharma AD, Adhikari P, Sakaguchi DS, Mallapragada

SK. Development of Multifunctional Films for Peripheral

Nerve Regeneration. Acta Biomater. 56:141-152 (2017).

Mammadova N, Ghaisas S, Zenitsky G, Sakaguchi DS,

Kanthasamy AG, Greenlee JJ, West Greenlee MH. Lasting

Retinal Injury in a Mouse Model of Blast-Induced Trauma.

Am. J. Pathol. (17):30155-4 (2017).

Laboissonniere LA, Sonoda T, Lee SK, Trimarchi JM,

Schmidt TM. Single-cell RNA-Seq of Defined Subsets of

Retinal Ganglion Cells. J. Vis. Exp. (123);

doi:10.3791/55229 (2017).

Sarkar S, Malovic E, Harischandra DS, Ngwa HA, Ghosh A,

Hogan C, Rokad D, Zenitsky G, Jin H, Anantharam V,

Kanthasamy AG, Kanthasamy A. Manganese exposure

induces neuroinflammation by impairing mitochondrial

dynamics in astrocytes. Neurotoxicology.

doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2017.05.009 (2017).

Uz M, Büyükӧz M, Sharma AD, Sakaguchi DS, Altinkaya SA,

Mallapragada SK. Gelatin-based 3D conduits for

transdifferentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into

Schwann cell-like phenotypes. Acta. Biomater. 53:293-306

(2017).

Sarkar S, Malovic E, Plante B, Zenitsky G, Jin H,

Anantharam V, Kanthasamy A, Kanthasamy AG. Rapid and

Refined CD11b Magnetic Isolation of Primary Microglia

with Enhanced Purity and Versatility. J. Vis. Exp. (122);

doi:10.3791/55364 (2017).

Das SR, Uz M, Ding S, Lentner MT, Hondred JA, Cargill AA,

Sakaguchi DS, Mallapragada SK, Claussen JC. Electrical

Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Schwann

Cell-Like Phenotypes using Inkjet Printed Graphene

Circuits. Adv. Healthc. Mater. 6(7) doi: 10.1002/

adhm.201601087. Selected for cover illustration.

Schultz LE, Solin SL, Lovan JM, Lawrence CA, Syrkin-

Nikolau J, Lincow DE, Sakaguchi DS, McGrail M. VEGFA

and Leptin expression associated with ectopic

proliferation and retinal dysplasia in zebrafish optic

pathway tumors. Zebrafish. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2016.1366

(2017).

Sakaguchi DS. Regenerative and Repair Strategies for the

Central Nervous System. In “Neuroimmune

Pharmacology, Second Edition”. T. Ikezu and H.

Gendelman (eds). Springer.

Ye E, Chawla SS, Khan MZ, Sakaguchi DS. Bone marrow-

derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) stimulate neurite

outgrowth from differentiating adult hippocampal

progenitor cells. Stem Cell Bio. Res. 3:3 doi:

http://dx.doi.org/10.7243/2054-717X-3-3 (2016).

Swanson A, Willette AA, Alzheimer’s Disease

Neuroimaging Initiative. Neuronal Pentraxin 2 predicts

medial temporal atrophy and memory decline across the

Alzheimer’s disease spectrum. Brain Behav. Immun.

58:201-208 (2016).

Sharifi F, Patel BB, Dzuilko AK, Montazami R, Sakaguchi

DS, Hashemi N. Microfluidic Spun Poly (ε-caprolactone)

Microfibrous Scaffolds to Navigate Neural Stem Cells.

Biomacromolecules. 17(10):3287-3297 (2016)

Sandquist EJ, Uz M, Sharma AD, Patel BB, Mallapragada

SK, Sakaguchi DS. Stem cells, bioengineering and 3-D

scaffolds for nervous system repair and regeneration. In

“Neural Engineering: from Advanced Biomaterials to 3D

Fabrication Techniques”, L.G. Zhang and D. Kaplan (eds).

Springer.

West Greenlee MH, Lind M, Kokemuller R, Mammadova N,

Kondru N, Manne S, Smith J, Kanthasamy A, Greenlee J.

Temporal Resolution of Misfolded Prion Protein

Transport, Accumulation, Glial Activation, and Neuronal

Death in the Retinas of Mice Inoculated with Scrapie. Am.

J. Pathol.186(9):2302-9 (2016).

Puttachary S, Sharma S, Verma S, Yang Y, Putra M,

Thippeswamy A, Luo D, Thippeswamy T. 1400W, a highly

selective inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitor is a

potential disease modifier in the rat kainite model of

temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurobiol Dis. 93:184-200 (2016).

Mullally M, Albrecht C, Horton M, Laboissonniere LA,

Goetz JJ, Chowdhury R, Manning A, Wester AK, Bose Q,

Trimarchi JM. Expression Profiling of Developing

Zebrafish Retinal Cells. Zebrafish. 13(4):272-80 (2016).

Puttachary S, Sharma S, Thippeswamy A, Thippeswamy T.

Impact of Epileptogenesis: Impact on brain in C57BL/6J

mouse kainite model. Front. Biosci. (Elite ed.) 8:390-411

(2016).

- 14 -

Things to look out for & helpful links

-NGSO will be selling t-shirts this fall-look out for an email or contact an officer to place your order

-Are you a gamer? Check out neuro related games such as EyeWire at www.eyewire.org and Mozak: Brainbuilder at

www.mozak.science/game. These games help scientists to reconstruct neurons in the retina and brain from actual 3D

scans, in an attempt to better understand wiring.

-Find us online!

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/NeuroCynce/

Twitter Handle: @NeuroCynce

Student Organization Links: NGSO: www.stuorg.iastate.edu/site/ngso

SfN: www.stuorg.iastate.edu/site/1905

-Are you interesting in participating in the production of SYNAPSE or would you like to write an article for an

upcoming issue? We would love to hear from you! Contact one of the NGSO/SfN officers below with your information

and interest and we will respond as soon as possible.

President: Lauren Laboissonniere, laboiss@iastate.edu Vice President: Patricia Izbicki, pizbicki@iastate.edu

Treasurer: Emir Malovic, emalovic@iastate.edu Secretary: Bhavika Patel, bpatel@iastate.edu

New Neuro community members Welcome to our new faculty members!

Dr. Peter Clark

joined the

Department of

Food Science and

Human Nutrition in

Spring 2016, after

completing his

postdoctoral

research at the National Institutes on

Aging in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Clark

earned his PhD in Behavioral

Neuroscience from University of

Illinois in 2011, and began working as

a Research Associate at the

Integrative Physiology and Center for

Neuroscience at University of

Colorado, Boulder in the lab of Dr.

Monika Fleshner until 2013. Dr.

Clark’s interests focus on the impact

of physical activity and diet on mood,

neural plasticity, and cognitive

performance.

Dr. Baoyu (Stone)

Chen joined the

Department of

Biochemistry,

Biophysics, and

Molecular Biology

in 2015. Dr. Chen

earned his PhD in

Chemical Biology from Pennsylvania

State University in 2008. From there,

he went on to a postdoctoral

fellowship in the laboratory of Dr.

Michael Rosen at University of Texas

Southwestern Medical Center, before

joining our neuroscience faculty in

2016. Dr. Chen’s lab studies the

fundamental mechanisms by which

neuronal receptors drive multiple

different neuronal activities through

control of the actin cytoskeleton.

Dr. Suzanne

Millman became

associated with the

Neuro program

faculty in 2016. Dr.

Millman’s lab

resides in the

College of

Veterinary Medicine, where her

research centers around animal

welfare issues. Due to her efforts,

Iowa State is recognized as a leader in

the efforts to maintain animal welfare

and wellbeing.

In 2017, Dr. Jon

Kelly joined the

Neuro faculty, as a

member of the

Department of

Psychology. Dr.

Kelly’s research

interests include

spatial memory and space

perception, as well as navigation,

visual control of action, and virtual

reality. His lab is currently using the

MIRAGE (Mixed Reality Adaptive

Generalizable Environment) lab to

study how large-scale 3D imaging

could be improved so multiple people

can experience the same virtual

environment.

Dr. Justin Greenlee

joined the Neuro

faculty in 2017,

where his group

works at the U.S.

Department of

Agriculture’s

National Animal

Disease Center. Dr. Greenlee serves

as the Veterinary Medical Officer in

the Agriculture Research Service,

where he focuses his research on

transmission of prion disease in their

natural hosts. In collaboration with

Dr. M Heather Greenlee, the research

group has successfully identified

early diagnostic signs of BSE

approximately 11 months before

typical diagnosis, as was published in

2015.

- 15 -

Event Calendar

July 2017

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

July 11 5:30-7pm

Café Scientifique “Eye Exam: Exploring Degeneration”,

presented by Bhavika Patel and Lauren Laboissonniere

Science Center of Iowa

August 2017

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

August 12 PD Singing Festival

First Baptist Church of Ames

August 21 First day of classes!

Welcome to the new Neuro grads

September 2017

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

September 23 8:30am-5pm

Neuroscience Research Day: “The Aging Brain”

Molecular Biology Building

September 30 6pm

Girls in Science Pajama Party

Science Center of Iowa

October 2017

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

October 2 12-1pm

Lunch & Learn, Human Sciences Week

Location TBD

October 21 6pm

Girls in Science Pajama Party

Science Center of Iowa

November 2017

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

November 11-15 Society for Neuroscience

Annual conference in Washington, DC

December 2017

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

December 18 Winter break begins!