Graduate Students Win Society for Neuroscience Competitions
Graduate Students Win Society for Neuroscience Competitions
By Marena Keci and Naomi Gitlin
鈥淲inning the oral competition is right up there with getting a fellowship funded or a paper accepted as a canon event during PhD training,鈥� said Assistant Professor Kelly Langert, PhD, whose mentee, Chanpreet Kaur, a Stritch graduate research assistant, won first place at the Chicago Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. Another Stritch student, Yewon Rhee, won the SfN Graduate Student Poster Competition.
This annual meeting features a Graduate Student Symposium Competition where one student is selected from each participating university to give a 15-minute presentation about their neuroscience research. Competing against five other students, Kaur won the oral competition, marking the second consecutive year that a 黑料门student has won.
Kaur鈥檚 research focuses on targeted drug delivery for Guillain-Barr茅 syndrome, a rare condition where a person鈥檚 own immune system attacks their body鈥檚 nerves. Kaur鈥檚 project involves a nanoparticle delivery system coated with immune cell membranes that allow these nanoparticles to reach the site of inflammation. Her approach of coating nanoparticles with immune cell membranes is remarkably novel. By coating the nanoparticles, they can behave like the body鈥檚 immune cells to deliver the drug. Through her research, Kaur also attempts to understand when the blood-nerve barrier breaks down, and the immune system starts to attack the nerves.
Kaur earned her MD at American International Medical University in St. Lucia and practiced for two years in Chicago hospitals before coming to Loyola. She wanted to familiarize herself with different medical departments as she was uncertain about which research track to pursue. Loyola鈥檚 Integrated Program in Biomedical Sciences (IPBS) program, with its many department rotations, was a perfect fit for her, and she is now in the Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience PhD program.
The SfN meeting also includes a Graduate Student Poster Competition, in which students submit original abstracts describing their neuroscience research. Yewon Rhee, a second-year candidate for the MS in Neuroscience, won the Graduate Student Poster Competition.
Rhee鈥檚 poster presented her research on antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) therapeutics for Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) associated disorders, specifically Rett syndrome. The protein regulates many processes, such as turning genes on and off and protein synthesis. Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the gene mutation of MECP2, which causes this protein鈥檚 loss of function. MeCP2 has a very narrow therapeutic window because it鈥檚 involved in many vital brain processes. Rhee targets this narrow window using site-blocking ASOs, which allow her to fine-tune MECP2 mRNA levels. Her main project in the lab: develop new ASOs that target micro-RNA binding sites on the MeCP2 mRNA. When cells are treated with ASOs, MeCP2 expression significantly increases within the very narrow therapeutic window, which can be extremely powerful for treating Rett syndrome.
ASO treatments, designed to target any site or mRNA, could potentially address various neurodevelopmental disorders. Most commonly, ASOs are used to break down mRNAs or block a mutation site. However, Rhee鈥檚 research uses ASOs to target specific regions in the genetic code that control micro-RNA responses, which is a new approach.
She works in the lab of Rocco Gogliotti, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience. 鈥淒r. Gogliotti is a great mentor,鈥� said Rhee. 鈥淗e is very supportive and allows all his students to explore what they want and pushes us to see a broader view. He has a great sense of humor, so our lab is very fun and enjoyable,鈥� said Rhee. This fall, Rhee will pursue her PhD in Neuroscience.
鈥淲inning the Graduate Student Poster Competition is a huge accomplishment,鈥� said Gogliotti. 鈥淵ewon is an MS candidate, and her project was so well received that she won a competition that also included PhD students, which speaks highly of her career potential. Yewon鈥檚 win came at the same time as she was doing her PhD interviews, and I鈥檓 certain that the award helped distinguish her from other applicants, leading to acceptance into every program in which she applied. The significance of Yewon鈥檚 project is immense, especially for children with Rett syndrome. Her innovative approach has garnered interest from industry partners looking to support its clinical development, which is quite an accomplishment,鈥� said Gogliotti.
April 2024
By Marena Keci and Naomi Gitlin
鈥淲inning the oral competition is right up there with getting a fellowship funded or a paper accepted as a canon event during PhD training,鈥� said Assistant Professor Kelly Langert, PhD, whose mentee, Chanpreet Kaur, a Stritch graduate research assistant, won first place at the Chicago Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. Another Stritch student, Yewon Rhee, won the SfN Graduate Student Poster Competition.
This annual meeting features a Graduate Student Symposium Competition where one student is selected from each participating university to give a 15-minute presentation about their neuroscience research. Competing against five other students, Kaur won the oral competition, marking the second consecutive year that a 黑料门student has won.
Kaur鈥檚 research focuses on targeted drug delivery for Guillain-Barr茅 syndrome, a rare condition where a person鈥檚 own immune system attacks their body鈥檚 nerves. Kaur鈥檚 project involves a nanoparticle delivery system coated with immune cell membranes that allow these nanoparticles to reach the site of inflammation. Her approach of coating nanoparticles with immune cell membranes is remarkably novel. By coating the nanoparticles, they can behave like the body鈥檚 immune cells to deliver the drug. Through her research, Kaur also attempts to understand when the blood-nerve barrier breaks down, and the immune system starts to attack the nerves.
Kaur earned her MD at American International Medical University in St. Lucia and practiced for two years in Chicago hospitals before coming to Loyola. She wanted to familiarize herself with different medical departments as she was uncertain about which research track to pursue. Loyola鈥檚 Integrated Program in Biomedical Sciences (IPBS) program, with its many department rotations, was a perfect fit for her, and she is now in the Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience PhD program.
The SfN meeting also includes a Graduate Student Poster Competition, in which students submit original abstracts describing their neuroscience research. Yewon Rhee, a second-year candidate for the MS in Neuroscience, won the Graduate Student Poster Competition.
Rhee鈥檚 poster presented her research on antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) therapeutics for Methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) associated disorders, specifically Rett syndrome. The protein regulates many processes, such as turning genes on and off and protein synthesis. Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the gene mutation of MECP2, which causes this protein鈥檚 loss of function. MeCP2 has a very narrow therapeutic window because it鈥檚 involved in many vital brain processes. Rhee targets this narrow window using site-blocking ASOs, which allow her to fine-tune MECP2 mRNA levels. Her main project in the lab: develop new ASOs that target micro-RNA binding sites on the MeCP2 mRNA. When cells are treated with ASOs, MeCP2 expression significantly increases within the very narrow therapeutic window, which can be extremely powerful for treating Rett syndrome.
ASO treatments, designed to target any site or mRNA, could potentially address various neurodevelopmental disorders. Most commonly, ASOs are used to break down mRNAs or block a mutation site. However, Rhee鈥檚 research uses ASOs to target specific regions in the genetic code that control micro-RNA responses, which is a new approach.
She works in the lab of Rocco Gogliotti, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Neuroscience. 鈥淒r. Gogliotti is a great mentor,鈥� said Rhee. 鈥淗e is very supportive and allows all his students to explore what they want and pushes us to see a broader view. He has a great sense of humor, so our lab is very fun and enjoyable,鈥� said Rhee. This fall, Rhee will pursue her PhD in Neuroscience.
鈥淲inning the Graduate Student Poster Competition is a huge accomplishment,鈥� said Gogliotti. 鈥淵ewon is an MS candidate, and her project was so well received that she won a competition that also included PhD students, which speaks highly of her career potential. Yewon鈥檚 win came at the same time as she was doing her PhD interviews, and I鈥檓 certain that the award helped distinguish her from other applicants, leading to acceptance into every program in which she applied. The significance of Yewon鈥檚 project is immense, especially for children with Rett syndrome. Her innovative approach has garnered interest from industry partners looking to support its clinical development, which is quite an accomplishment,鈥� said Gogliotti.
April 2024