Department of Neuroscience &

Experimental Therapeutics

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June 2019

DNET Faculty Meeting: The next scheduled faculty meeting of DNET will

be on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in

MR-301. If you have any items of concern for the

next agenda, please contact Dr. Julie Pilitsis.

June Seminars:

Wed., June 5, 2019

OPEN

Wed., June 12, 2019

OPEN

Wed., June 19, 2019

OPEN

Wed., June 26, 2019

OPEN

Department of Psychiatry

Journal Club presentations Clinical Psychology Journal Club presentations are

held on the 3rd Thursday of every third month at

12:00 noon.

Ashley Kopec, PhD (DNET) will be presenting at

the June 20th joint Psychology/Neuroscience

Journal Club. Her title for her session is “Sex-

specific immune signaling during adolescent

brain and behavioral development”.

2018-2019 Schedule

Thurs, Sept 20, 2018; 12:00pm; MS-316

Thurs, Dec 20, 2018; 12:00pm; MS-316

Thurs, Mar 21, 2019; 12:00pm; MS-316

Thurs, June 20, 2019; 12:00pm; MS-316

DNET Journal Club presentations: Journal Club presentations are held on Fridays, at

12:00 noon in MR-301. Faculty and Postdoctoral

Fellows will make presentations as well as the

students. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

DNET 2019-20 Journal Club will start up

again in September 2019

SAVE-THE-DATES

DNET WEEKEND

Friday, October 4, 2019

DNET Departmental Retreat

Saturday, October 5, 2019

4th Annual CME Conference

on Pain

More Details forthcoming

Gideon Putnam Hotel

Saratoga Springs, New York

Faculty Highlights:

Please submit information to be included in this

section to Pya Seidner, no later than the 25th day of

the previous month.

Publications:

Articles:

Hancu I, Bouter A, Fiveland E, Ranjan M, Prusik

J, DiMarzio M, Rashid T, Ashe J, Xu D, Kalia SK,

Hodaie M, Fasano A, Kucharczyk W, Pilitsis JG,

Lozano A, Madhavan R. On the (non-)equivalency

of monopolar and bipolar settings for deep brain

stimulation fMRI studies of Parkinson’s disease

patients. J Magn Reason Imaging. 2019

June;49(6):1736-1749.

Presentations:

Kristen Zuloaga chaired the following session at

the Organization of the Study of Sex Differences

(OSSD) annual conference in Washington, DC on

May 8, 2019. “Impact of Sex on Metabolic

Contributions to Dementia”. Speakers at OSSD

included Kristen (introduction), Roberta Brinton,

Lisa Robison, Kristen O’Connell, and Adviye

Ergul.

Abby Salinero presented a poster at OSSD in

Washington, DC on May 6, 2019 entitled “Sex

Differences in Hippocampal Neurogenesis in a Mouse

Model of Diet-Induced Obesity” by Abby Salinero,

Lisa Robison, Nathan Albert (MDDR student),

Lauren Camargo (AMC medical student), and

Kristen Zuloaga.

Lisa Robison presented a poster at OSSD in

Washington, DC on May 6, 2019 entitled “Sex

Differences in Metabolic Effects of a High Fat Diet in

the 3xTg-AD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease”

authored by Lisa Robison, Olivia Gannon, Melissa

Thomas (MDDR student), Abby Salinero, and

Kristen Zuloaga.

Kristen Zuloaga gave an invited talk at University of

Kentucky (Lexington, KY) Physiology Department

Seminar series entitled “Sex Differences in Vascular

Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and

Dementia” on May 15, 2019.

The following posters/abstracts were presented

at the International Neuromodulation Society

(INS) 14th World Congress on May 25-30, 2019

in Sydney, Australia.

Telkes I, Raviv N, Gillogly M, Paniccioli S, Grey R,

Briotte M, McCarthy K, Pilitsis JG. “Effects of 10

KHZ High Frequency Stimulation on Spatio-

Sepctral Neural Patterns in Chronic Pain”

DiMarzio M, Hancu M, Hancu I, Fiveland E, Gillogly

M, Custozzo A, Chegireddy K, Truong H, Pilitsis JG.

“1.5T VS. 3T FMRI Bold Activation are Comparable

in Measurement of DBS Effects”

DiMarzio M, Spinrad M, Hancu M, Grinde E, Chang

J, Slyer J, Hancu I, Fiveland E, Gillogly M, Prusik J,

Pilitsis JG. “Development of a MR Compatible

Mechanical Stimuli for FMRI Assessment of Pain”

Julie Pilitsis was a Moderator for the Improving

Delivery of Neuromodulation for Pain

session at the International Neuromodulation Society

(INS) 14th World Congress on May 25-30, 2019 in

Sydney, Australia. Dr. Pilitsis also presented the

following presentations: “Adding Objective

Markers to Spinal Cord Stimulation Assessments”

and “1.5T vs. 3T fMRI bold activation are

comparable in measurement of DBS effects”.

Awards/Honors:

Alyssa Galloway, an undergrad intern in the

Zuloaga Lab won an award for her presentation

“Sex Differences in Prediabetes and Its Effects on

VCID” at the University Albany, Department of

Biological Science Undergraduate Research

Symposium held on April 26, 2019 in Albany, NY.

Kristen Zuloaga received a Volunteer

Recognition Award from the American Heart

Association for “8 years of outstanding

performance, leadership, and professionalism in

advancing the mission of the American Heart

Association and Peer Review”.

Review Editor/Committees:

Kristen Zuloaga was appointed Chair of the

Education Committee for the Organization of the

Study of Sex Differences (OSSD).

General Information: This section will include information on new

employees, department meetings, such as the

annual safety exam and any other items of general

interest.

Renovation Updated: The renovation for MS 521 is scheduled to be

completed the 3rd week of May, and the renovation

for MS 530 is scheduled to be completed by the

end of June.

Junior Faculty Development Program

Congratulations to all of the 2018-2019 JFDP

Fellows. Sophie Belin, PhD will be among the 12

fellows graduating on June 12th.

Important dates to remember: 2019

➢ Orientation - August 7 – August 9

➢ First day of classes for incoming Basic

Science students is August 12

➢ Medical Student Investigations Day –

Tuesday, September 24 - Hilton Garden

Inn at AMC

➢ Poster Day - Wednesday, March 4, 2020

– Hilton Garden Inn at AMC

➢ Awards Day - Thursday, April 9, 2020 in

ME-700

JUNE GSO EVENTS

Dutch Apple Boat Cruise on the Hudson

July 20th

Tickets go on sale in June

The JFDP webpage is available at

www.amc.edu/academic/jfdp.

Neurosciences Grand Rounds

All Neuroscience Grand Rounds are now

from 8:30-9:30am

Thursday, June 6, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

Yan Yee Cheng, MD

Senior Neurology Resident

AMC

“Brain on Music”

Thursday, June 13, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

Neurosurgery

AMC

“TBA”

Thursday, June 20, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

Matthew Shapiro, PhD

Professor; DNET

AMC

“TBA”

Thursday, June 27, 2019, 8:30 a.m., Huyck

John Pugh, MD, PhD

Associate Professor; Child Neurology

AMC

“Acute Flaccid Myelitis”

DNET’S INCOMING GRADUATE STUDENTS

Aditya Srinivasan, Abby Salinero, David Ndambuki, and Joey Chung

Allan S. Schneider

Please note the passing of former CNN

Faculty member. Dr. Schneider’s

obituary can be found in the link below.

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• HT to our tireless, supportive and sharp-witted leader!

DSI

• Due to Dr. Pilitsis’ leadership and mentorship I have seen DNET grow into a strong department both

academically and in the research areas with many collaborations with resources outside of DNET and AMC. I

feel that she has made this the best department at AMC because of the sense of comradeship amongst the faculty,

students and staff brought about by her drive to bring everyone together and to bring out the best in each one of

us individually.

Pya

• I nominate Julie for being a such exceptional, efficient and supportive Chair for the DNET, who provides not

only the encouragement but also the concrete resources to expand our professional development. I’m very

grateful for the recent opportunities of recognition inside the Department and the Institution Julie has offered to

me.

Thank you

Sophie

• Julie is a phenomenal mentor, leader, and role model! I am constantly telling all my other science friends how

incredibly lucky I am to have her as my dept chair! The DNET "family" environment that she promotes is just

the most enjoyable place to work. It is both motivating and supportive. Aside from that, she is such a strong

female role model for all of us young faculty and all of the DNET trainees. She manages to excel in so many

areas professionally and still make time to mentor us all and to care for her adorable family. She sets great

examples by taking time to care for herself mentally and physically with mediation and yoga and tries to pass

these good habits along to trainees (and staff/faculty!) at our yearly retreats. This sends the message that you can

balance work, family and still take time to care for yourself to make sure you live the fullest life. She truly

inspiring!

Kristen

• Intensely dedicated to DNET…takes on tasks that chairs usually delegate

Lauren Jacobson

Julie G. Pilitsis, MD, PhD DNET Employee of the Month

June 2019

• I would like to nominate Dr. Pilitsis for employee of the month. She is constantly going above and beyond to

ensure that all students and faculty are happy and achieving the best of their ability. She is always willing to help

everyone that crosses her path, including giving as many opportunities to students as needed, allowing anyone

interested to shadow in the OR, always making time to offer advice when asked and so much more. For example,

including Abby and myself we currently have ~20 students working in the lab and she has met with every single

one (some on multiple occasions) to learn how she can help them obtain the experience they will need to reach

their goals. She is truly an inspiration to so many. Thank you for all that you do!

Marisa DiMarzio

• I feel Dr. Pilitsis deserves this award because of her ability to always make time for her faculty and staff. She’s

always and easily accessible, and with everything she has going on she will still reply to questions quickly. She

knows how to guide her staff to work to their potentials and exceed in their work.

Will Foland

• I’d like to nominate Dr. Pilitsis for employee of the month. Working for her these past 2 years has been anything

but boring. I feel appreciated every single day and I know I can go to her for anything. As busy as her schedule

may seem, she will always make the time to be available for everyone. Working for her, I’ve been learning

something new every single day and my eyes have been opened to a whole new world in both the medical and

science fields. Thank you, Dr. Pilitsis, for the countless opportunities you let me be a part of everyday.

Tee

CONGRATULATIONS!

Ilknur Telkes and Cihat Ergun were married on May 18, 2019

in Dalaman, Mugla, Turkey

Congratulations to Russ Ferland for receiving the Sosa Academy

Outstanding Mentor Award for 2019 at the AMC Commencement

held on May 23rd.

DNET recognizes your noteworthy dedication and commitment to

teaching our students.