Category: News

On November 18th, Hayli Spence-Osorio (Baldwin Lab) successfully defended and passed her oral qualifying exam! The title of her research proposal is, “Regulation of astrocyte maturation and synapse development by PTPRZ1”. Congratulations Hayli!!

On November 4th, Samantha Chéry successfully defended her PhD Thesis: “Characterization of neuroimmune actions of [3α,5α]3-hydroxypregnan-20-one (allopregnanolone,(3α,5α)-THP) in alcohol-preferring (P) rat brain”. Mentor: Dr. Leslie Morrow.  Congratulations Dr. Chéry!!

On October 30th, Morrent Thang successfully defended his PhD Thesis: “Neural Stem Cells as Therapeutic Carriers for Protein-and Nanoparticle-Based Therapies in Glioblastoma”. Mentor: Dr. Shawn Hingtgen.  Congratulations Dr. Thang!

On August 1st, Joe Krzeski (PhD student in Philpot Lab) was awarded an NRSA F31 predoctoral fellowship from the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders entitled “The Role of UBE3A Isoforms in AS-associated Seizure Susceptibility”. Congratulations, Joe!    

On July 23, Janay Franklin successfully defended her PhD Thesis: “Investigating nucleus accumbens astrocyte cellular processes affected by cocaine self-administration”. Mentor: Dr. Kathryn Reissner.  Congratulations Dr. Franklin!!

On July 17th, Noah Miller (PhD student in Rodríguez-Romaguera Lab) was awarded an NRSA F31 predoctoral fellowship from Mental Health Research Grants entitled “Interoceptive regulation of pupil-linked arousal by connections in the brain’s prominent noradrenaline hubs”. Congratulations, Noah!

On June 11th, Sean Gay successfully defended his PhD Thesis: “Elucidating the interplay between sleep, synapses, and brain development”. Mentor: Dr. Graham Diering.  Congratulations Dr. Gay!

Preston Siegler, a 4th year PhD candidate in the Dudek lab was one of the students recognized for an outstanding poster presentation in the graduate category at the 2024 Neurobiology of Stress Conference held in Boston, MA this June. Preston presented her work on identifying hippocampal area CA2 in vole...

On May 15th, Rachel Sharp (Michael Love Lab) successfully defended and passed her oral qualifying exam! The title of her research proposal is, “Effects of Social Risk Factors on Genetic Liability for Bipolar Disorder”. Congratulations Rachel!!

The Graduate School has named Janay Franklin a 2024 recipient of the Boka W. Hadzija Award for Distinguished University Service, one of the Chancellor’s Awards at UNC-Chapel Hill. The award recognizes graduate or professional students with outstanding character, scholarship, leadership, and service to the University. Franklin, a PhD candidate studying neuroscience in...