2024 UVA Brain Symposium Hosts Over 300 Neuroscience Researchers in Charlottesville
Over 300 neuroscience researchers including UVA faculty, undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, postdoctoral researchers, staff, and community partners gathered last week at the UVA Contemplative Commons building for the 2024 UVA Brain Symposium.
The event featured 23 presentations from UVA faculty as well as visiting leaders in neuroscience research. Presentations were grouped into 5 topic sessions, each of which represents an area of strategic investment and institutional strength at the University of Virginia. The 2024 sessions were Neurodevelopment, Pain & Addiction, Brain Aging, Epilepsy, and
Neuroimmunology.
The 2024 Brain Symposium also included two keynote lectures from Walter Koroshetz, MD, Director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders & Stroke, and Lori Isom, PhD, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan. The lecture presented by Dr. Koroshetz was named in honor of the late Edward P. Owens ('68).
The UVA faculty who presented were Barry Condron, PhD (Biology), Tsai-Yi Lu, PhD (Neuroscience), Wendy Lynch, PhD (Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences), Patrick Finan, PhD (Anesthesiology), Sarah Flowers, PhD (Neuroscience), Manoj Patel, PhD (Anesthesiology), and Alban Gaultier, PhD (Neuroscience). The 2024 visiting faculty were Crystal Rogers, PhD (University of California, Davis), Rosa Uribe, PhD
(Rice University), Adre du Plessis, MBChB (Children's National Hospital), Scott Edwards, PhD (Louisiana State University), Chad Brummett, MD (University of Michigan), Shane Liddelow, PhD (New York University), Morgan Barense, PhD (University of Toronto), Halima Amjad, MD, PhD, MPH (Johns Hopkins University), Esther Krook-Magnuson, PhD (University of Minnesota), Juliet Knowles, MD, PhD (Stanford University), Gary Yellen, PhD (Harvard University), Gloria Choi, PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Greg Lemke, PhD (Salk Institute), and Richard Daneman, PhD (University of California San Diego).
In addition to research talks, over 60 students, staff, and faculty presented posters for the 2024 Poster Contest. This year's poster contest winners were Maxwell Ritterband (undergraduate), Emily McCoy (graduate), and Yipkin Calhan (postdoctoral). Neuroscience trainees participated in a neuroscience career breakout lunch on Wednesday that allowed 100 UVA trainees to discuss various non-academically traditional career paths with 8 career representatives.
The 2024 Brain Symposium was the first major event to take place in the new UVA Contemplative Commons building on Emmet Street, a new multipurpose building dedicated to helping students and our communities flourish in all aspects of their lives. The 57,000-square-foot building, located in the heart of UVA Grounds between Bavaro Hall and the Dell Pond, incorporates several new outdoor spaces, including contemplative gardens, a tree-lined courtyard, and a new green pedestrian bridge across Emmet Street. The Brain Institute would like to thank the entire Contemplative Sciences Center and construction teams for their help to make the Symposium a success in this new space!
The Brain Symposium is organized and sponsored by the UVA Brain Institute. The Brain Institute would like to thank the 2024 Symposium Planning Committee as well as all of the staff, students, and vendors who contributed to the event. The Brain Institute and Brain Symposium are supported in part by the UVA Grand Challenges Research Investments in Brain and Neuroscience. The Grand Challenges are a key component of the University's 2030 "Great & Good" Strategic Plan.
Planning for the next Brain Symposium, which will be held in 2026, is currently underway.
Photo Credits: Tom Daly Photography
