The Division for Neuropharmacology would like to recognize our young scientists who attended the ASPET Annual Meeting at EB 2021 and participated in our poster or oral competitions.  The judges were very impressed with the science and presentations this year.

Poster Competition Awards

Each year, the ASPET Student-Postdoc Poster Competition showcases and recognizes the highest quality scientific work submitted by ASPET’s young scientist members. Congratulations to the 2021 winners:

Undergraduate Student:

1st place: Alexander Major, Wake Forest University
“Cocaine Self-administration Modulates Brain Ceramide Metabolism.”

2nd place: Lee Augenblick, University of South Carolina School of Medicine
“Microglial regulation of social stress susceptibility in Female Rats.”

Graduate and Post-baccalaureate Students:

1st place: Diana Zebadua Unzaga, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
“Fentanyl and Morphine Cause Dose-Dependent Sleep Disruption in C57BL/6J (B6) Mice.”

2nd place: Christopher O'Brien, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
“Fentanyl, but not Morphine, Increases Cortical Electroencephalographic (EEG) Delta Power during Wakefulness in C57BL/6J (B6) Mice.”

3rd place: Karim Ibrahim, University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute
“Ablation of optineurin impairs metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 signaling in mouse hippocampus.”

Postdoctoral Scientists:

1st place: Jianping Chen, The University of Texas Medical Branch
“Oleamide Analogues as Positive Allosteric Modulators of the Serotonin (5-HT) 5‑HT2C and 5‑HT2A Receptors.”

2nd place: Deborah Rudin, Medical University of Vienna
“Impact of Cell Membrane Cholesterol Alterations on Function, Oligomerization, and Binding Affinity of Monoamine Transporters.”

3rd place: Deborah Luessen, Vanderbilt University
“Selective mGlu1 potentiation enhances cortical inhibition to rescue schizophrenia-like cognitive and social deficits.”

Oral Competition Awards

The division invites top scoring abstracts submitted by young scientists to present in the Division for Neuropharmacology Postdoctoral Fellow Showcase. Congratulations to the 2021 winners:

1st Place: Lillian Brady, Vanderbilt University
“Sex Differences in Cholinergic Regulation of Dopamine Release Mechanisms Underlying Reward Learning.”

2nd Place: Dino Luethi, Medical University of Vienna
“Effect of Psychostimulants on the Subunit Stoichiometry of the Dopamine and Serotonin Transporter.”

3rd Place: Neil Varshneya, Johns Hopkins University
“Respiratory Depressant Effects of Fentanyl Analogs.”