Why the f*** should we care?

Laura Pritschet is a 5th year graduate student in Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Under the mentorship of Dr. Emily Jacobs, she leverage techniques from network neuroscience and neuroendocrinology to explore how sex steroid hormones impact human brain function across hormonal transition periods (e.g., menopause). The goal of her research is to improve the utility of sex hormones as markers of vulnerability for neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders that are disproportionately skewed towards women. Additionally, she is passionate about women’s health research and is an advocate for women’s representation in STEM.

In this panel-style episode, Early Career Policy Ambassadors Sarah Steimel, Jennifer Brown, Danielle Goldman, and your host Rachel Gilfarb discuss science policy and advocacy. 

Join previous podcast guest Christin Godale and your host Rachel Gilfarb at the Society for Neuroscience Conference's Science Policy and Advocacy Virtual Networking Social! Preregistration is required at the following link: https://forms.gle/LBa4GA2TWaxQQkCc9

Danielle Goldman is a PhD candidate in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program at Yale University. She is mentored by Dr. Hilary Blumberg in the Mood Disorders Research Program whose work primarily focuses on the neuroscience of mood disorders across the lifespan and their relation to suicide risk, for the generation of treatments and risk prevention strategies. Danielle's specific dissertation research investigates impaired brain function and structure that are common to and differentiate the depressions of Bipolar Disorder or Major Depressive Disorder in adolescents and young adults. She has previously received a Masters degree in Bioethics, and outside of research, she is heavily involved in efforts to improve science communication, outreach, and advocating for mental health care access. You can find Danielle on Twitter (@DanielleG_Neuro) or her LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-goldman-36a5b3206/).

Jennifer L. Brown is a dual Neuroscience PhD, JD Candidate at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She works in the Lesné lab, where she explores the impact of biological sex on mechanisms of neurodegenerative disease. Jennifer is originally from New York, where she received a B.A. in Neuroscience & Psychology from Skidmore College. Outside the lab, Jennifer enjoys working with various advocacy groups on a variety of issues, reading speculative fiction, and watching competitive cooking shows. Jennifer is purposefully Twitter-less, but you can connect with her on LinkedIn, or via email.

Sarah Steimel is a PhD Candidate at Dartmouth College studying in the ECoG Lab (https://www.ecoglab.org/) under Dr. Barbara Jobst at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Sarah studies cognition and memory in people with epilepsy and is passionate about science policy and advocacy—particularly in areas of equity and inclusion. When she’s not in lab, Sarah loves exploring New England with her dog Chewy and knitting while watching crime documentaries with her cat Todd. Follow her on twitter (@SarahASteimel) or hit her LinkedIn DMs (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsteimel/) if you’d like to chat or learn more about her research and/or policy work!”

TBD

César Vargas is a Graduate Fellow at The Rockefeller University. César's work in the lab of Dr. Erich Jarvis focuses on exploring motor circuits in mice that can influence modifications or learning of vocalizations. Outside the lab, César is an advocate for URM's in science, previously serving as co-chair of the Rockefeller Inclusive Science Initiative, and currently co-directing the Summer Neuroscience Program which focuses on NYC high school students from under-resourced schools. You can find César on Twitter (@neuro_cesar) or his website (https://www.cesarvargas-neuro.com/). To learn more about the labs' work, please visit their website at jarvislab.net.

Zoe Tapp is a Graduate Research Fellow in Neuroscience at The Ohio State University. She is co-mentored by Dr. Kokiko-Cochran and Dr. Godbout whose labs research long-term consequences of inflammation after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Zoe's research specifically aims to define how altered stress responses after TBI can influence long-term outcome and post-injury disabilities through inflammation. To learn more about the labs' work, please visit their websites at https://www.kokikocochranlab.com/ and https://www.godboutlaboratory.com/. You can also follow them on Twitter @KokiCoLab and @GodboutLab_OSU or learn more about what Zoe is doing @tapp_zoe.

Nanxi is a PhD student at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on family relationships and child social emotional development. Recently, she published her master’s thesis project examining the significance of mothers’ attachment representations on vagal responding during interactions with infants (check it out here). Outside of lab, Nanxi is actively involved in student affairs and science policy. Find Nanxi on LinkedIn here.

Click this link for the adult attachment assessment.

Rahul Patel is a neuroscience PhD student in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rahul's work in Dr. Mark Zylka's lab focuses on developing scalable technologies to mechanistically probe factors that influence a clinically relevant form of pain known as spontaneous pain. To learn more about Rahul and his work you can visit his website (rahulpatelresearch.com) or find him on Twitter (@RahulPatel411).

Jacob Ruden is a Neuroscience PhD Candidate at Vanderbilt University. He is completing his thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Laura Dugan in Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Division of Geriatrics within the Department of Medicine. The Dugan Lab is interested in neuronal injury and inflammation in the brain, and Jacob specifically studies parvalbumin interneuron injury in disease and injury states such as hypoxia. He is using a transgenic mouse model to better understand the nature of parvalbumin neuron injury. Jacob is also generating human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons to understand how parvalbumin neuron injury affects the function of receptors in the brain that are important for learning and memory. Jacob grew up in New Jersey and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Basis of Behavior. Jacob is the current co-president of the Vanderbilt Science Policy Group, and he was the president of Vanderbilt’s Neuroscience Student Organization for the 2019-2020 academic year. Before the pandemic, Jacob enjoyed exploring Nashville’s restaurant scene and traveling.

Meredith Schmehl is a Ph.D. Candidate in Neurobiology at Duke University, where she studies how seeing and hearing are combined in the brain. Outside the lab, she is an active science communicator and science policy advocate, serving as the Communications Committee Chair of the National Science Policy Network, producing a podcast, and writing about science and policy. Find Meredith on Twitter (@MeredithSchmehl) or on her website (meredithschmehl.com).

Tyler Dause is a Behavioral Neuroscience PhD candidate in the Psychology Department at the Ohio State University. Tyler is a current member of the Kirby lab, which aims to reveal new insight into the biology of neural stem cells. Tyler’s work specifically focuses on the ability of hippocampal neural stem and progenitor cells to regulate their environment through the expression of growth factors. To learn more about the Kirby lab and ongoing research visit their website at https://u.osu.edu/kirbylab/.