Background

The Fozdar Symposium for Undergraduate Neuroscience Research was founded in 2012 by Preeya Fozdar, a UVA Neuroscience Undergraduate Major (Class of 2012). Ms. Fozdar envisioned an opportunity for future 4th year Neuroscience majors to present their research at a symposium, which would also provide an opportunity to celebrate the end of the spring semester and everyone’s hard work. The Fozdar Neuroscience Symposium provides a unique opportunity for NESC majors to present their research to the greater neuroscience community and to receive prizes if selected. Presentations are judged on the overall quality of the presentation and scientific accomplishments.

Spring 2024 Fozdar Symposium

The Spring 2024 Fozdar Symposium is scheduled for May 1st, in Chemistry Building 217 from 9:30am-4:30pm. If you plan on attending the seminar at any point during the day please complete the RSVP form here as soon as is convenient. If you are a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, or faculty member who would like to help judge the student presentations, there is a section of the RSVP form where you can indicate that as well.

The schedule includes:

• 9:15am-9:30am: Coffee and light refreshments

• 9:30am-11:30am: Four 25 minute faculty talks, general talks covering their respective fields. The talks are primarily meant for those outside their fields, covering what’s new & interesting & where the science could go in the next 5-10 years. Speakers will be:

  • Dr Tanya Evans: Brain Development and School Readiness 

  • Dr Sarah Kucenas: Glia: They Were Never Brain Glue

  • Dr Xiaorong Liu: Peering into the Eye: Live Imaging of Animal and Human Retinas

  • Dr Nicole Long: Cognitive Neuroscience: How the Brain Gives Rise to the Mind

• 11:30am-12:00pm: 5 minute data blitz talks from PFN graduate students and postdocs. Speakers will be:

  • Heather Barber- Kucenas lab
  • Lizzie Godschall- Güler & Campbell Laboratories
  • Isabelle Moore- Long Term Memory lab
  • Katja Stepanova- Deppmann lab

• 12pm-1:15pm: Catered lunch

• 1:30pm-4pm Fozdar Symposium Talks, presented by undergraduate NESC DMP students

  • Madeleine Ames: The Effect of Sibling Relationships on Infant Socialization
  • Cole Blanton: Determining the Role of tenascin-n (tnn) in Perineurial Glia Development
  • Carol Cho: The Role of Schwann Cells in Axonal Degeneration
  • Sophia Cheng: Investigating the Roles of Microglial P2RY12 in Seizures
  • Kathryn Chung: Relative Contribution of Neuronal and Astroglial Death in Driving Reactive Proliferation of Neural Progenitor Cells
  • Ava Hollis: Effects of Inflammasome Activation on Seizure Propagation
  • Shreya Nagarajan: Role of P75 Neurotrophin Receptor Palmitoylation on Neuronal Apoptosis and Innervations
  • Emaan Qillawala: The Biological Mechanisms Underlying the Telescoping Effect in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder
  • Abhi Verma: Interferon Regulatory Factor-1 in the 5xFAD Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

• ~4:15pm: Fozdar Symposium Award Presentations