Benjamin D. Philpot, PhD, NARSAD 2006 Young Investigator of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, discovered that the molecular composition of receptors shapes memory formation and the wiring between brain cells. These studies will help guide therapeutic treatments of schizophrenia and other affective disorders. For full details about this honor, you … Read more

The Zylka Lab has several new findings that have implications for the treatment of chronic pain. The full paper was published in the Journal of Neuroscience in the August 4th edition. Some of the highlights from the paper will include: PIP2 levels in pain-sensing neurons are regulated by PAP, an adenosine-generating ectonucleotidase PAP acts through … Read more

  We were delighted to announce the 10th Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize was awarded to Thomas Jessell, PhD from Columbia University Medical Center was on Tuesday May 4th. Dr. Jessell is the Claire Tow Professor in the departments of neuroscience, biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and the Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University. He is … Read more

Larysa Pevny and her lab demonstrate that a specific subpopulation of mouse dermal papilla fibroblasts (found in the hair follicle), marked by Sox2 expression, displays properties of adult stem cells, including serial hair follicle initiation, dermal cell differentiation, and skin-derived precursor production. Full paper

Bryan Roth and members of his lab have developed and experimentally tested a technique to predict new target diseases for existing drugs. Bryan Roth, M.D., Ph.D. is a professor of pharmacology and director of the National Institute of Mental Health Psychoactive Drug Screening Program at UNC, and also a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive … Read more

Three labs from the UNC Neuroscience Center received ARRA Stimulus Awards. Eva Anton’s lab received a Challenge Grant titled: Defining of Neurodevelopmental Pathways Regulated by Neureguliln-DISC1 Interactions. Mohanish Deshmukh’s lab received an ARRA Competitive Revision to R01 titled: Mechanisms of Increasing Apoptosis Regulation in Developing and Mature Neurons. William Snider’s lab received an ARRA Administrative … Read more

In populating the growing brain, neural stem cells must strike a delicate balance between two key processes – proliferation, in which the cells multiply to provide plenty of starting materials – and differentiation, in which those materials evolve into functioning neurons. If the stem cells proliferate too much, they could grow out of control and … Read more

225 Neuroscientists attended the 10th Annual UNC Neuroscience Symposium held at the Carolina Club on Thursday, Ocotber 29th. Drs. Ginty, Rakic, Parada and Kanwisher were this year’s invited speakers. Neuroscientists from all over the Triangle area attended the event.

Mark Zylka, assistant professor of cell and molecular physiology in the School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center, has received a prestigious Transformative R01 from the NIH. The T-RO1, or “Transformative” RO1 program, new this year, is named for the institutes’ standard RO1 grants, but without the traditional budget cap or … Read more