The BRAIN Informer

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On December 1
st
2012, neuroscientists around the island
participated in the 21
st
Annual Puerto Rico Neuroscience
Conference (PR Neuro), held in San Juan. This conference exposes
and helps neuroscientists from every institution who works in our
area. At the activity, the president for next year’s PR Neuro is selected.
We are proud to say that for this year, 2013, one of our own was
elected; Dr. Annelyn Torres-Reverón.






Our capital city of San Juan, participated as the host of the RCMI
2012 International Health Disparities Symposium celebrated on
December 10-13, 2012 at the Puerto Rico Convention Center. In
addition to poster and oral presentations, this conference helped
researchers expose information of our projects and areas of interest.
Different students of PSMHS presented their projects and got the
opportunity to meet with international scientists. On December 12,
2012 PSMHS along with other institutions, received around 250
students from different schools from the island. All institutions
gathered and provide information and experiments of their area of
interest.






Calendar
 May 3, 2013:
Application deadline
to SFN Neuroscience
Scholars Program
 May 9, 2013:
Abstract submission
deadline for Society
for Neuroscience
annual meeting on
November 9‐13, 2013
in San Diego, CA
 April 12, 2013:
Poster submission
deadline for 9
th

Neuropsychology
Institute on April 23,
2013 in Interamerican
University, San
Germán

Cal en


Left to right, top to bottom: Félix Matos, Dennis Valentín, Emmanuel Cruz, Gabriel
Cintrón, Dr. J ames Porter. Bottom row: Neysha Martínez, Esther J iménez,
MarangelieCriado, Marian Sepulveda, AnixaHernández.
N-.---. .- .-:.--!





Andrew Holmes, Ph.D., Laboratory Chief and Principal Investigator in the
Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience at the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism was invited as a seminar
speaker in February 2013 at Ponce School of Medicine and Health
Sciences. In Dr. Holmes’ seminar titled “Chronic Alcohol Reshapes the
Neural Circuits Mediating Executive Functions”, he discussed his recent
findings regarding how chronic alcohol consumption impairs fear
extinction by reducing NMDA receptor expression in the medial
prefrontal cortex. His results suggest that chronic alcoholics are at risk for
developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), proposing that patients
with co-morbid PTSD and alcohol abuse may benefit from medications designed to enhance NMDA receptor
signaling. In addition, Dr. Andrew Holmes is the external member of the thesis committee of Emmanuel Cruz,
one of the graduate students in Dr. Porter’s laboratory and a frequent user of the Behavioral Core Facilities.
Byron D. Ford, Ph.D. is a professor at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA.
In March 6, 2013 he was the invited speaker by MBRS-RISE to give a seminar to
PSMHS students and staff. He studies the effects of inflammatory molecules such as
Neuregulin in stroke. Results from his laboratory showed that Neuregulin has
neuroprotective properties in a stroke animal model developed in his lab.
Furthermore, Dr. Ford gave advice to the graduate students in the Biomedical
Science program about career development.

On April 18 and 19, we had the site visit of the American Psychological Association
Committee for evaluating the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology. The committee
was composed of Dr. John Murray from Indiana State University, Dr. Michelle
Williams from the University of Connecticut and Dr. Andrew Fireman. The
committee met with individual faculty from the Psychology and Basic Sciences
programs, met with students from the PhD program, and visited the Psychology
clinic, the research laboratories and the anatomy laboratory. During the exit
meeting report, one of the main highlights of the Program was the “heaviness of the
biomedical links” in the curriculum. Another highlight of the program was the rich and diverse clinical
population to which the students are exposed during their clinical practices. One of the outlined outcomes
was the good relationship that students in general have with the program faculty. The committee highlighted
that they perceived the student-faculty relationship “as a big family”. One of the points that were presented
as weakness was the reduced number of research resources for students, but the committee found that
current resources are adequate for the proper functioning of the program. The Psychology Program is
expecting a written report of the site visit to arrive within the next weeks. The next step will be to respond to
the committee findings and wait for the final response on accreditation. Thanks to all faculty and students
who put their effort into achieving a successful site visit for accreditation of the PhD in Clinical Psychology
Program.


>¸-.¡:.- l--|-...--.|..-



“Change is the only constant in life” - Heraclitus. Science is a non-stop branch of knowledge
of life which needs to be embraced and nurtured. Outreach activities such as the many our PhD
students and researchers do for the Brain Awareness Week (BAW) help future scientists see and
experience science today. All students received information of the meaning of neuroscience and the
importance of studying neuroscience, understanding what we do and how we do it. Undergraduate
students from University of Puerto Rico at Ponce, Interamerican University, and Universidad del
Este visited the Neuroscience and Anatomy Laboratories where they saw the facilities and observed
a human brain. In addition, we participated in an outreach activity organized by UPR-PRISE, where
along with other areas such as physiology and genetics, we explained the need for scientists and
PhD studies to approximately 150 high school students.








|--| .-..\- :|- f.(./.l.N.



 Emily Pérez, PhD student in Clinical Psychology and Esther Jiménez, PhD Student of
Biomedical Sciences presented their proposal defense titled: ‘’Sex-Specific Role of Opioid
System on Fear Conditioning and Extinction: Implications for PTSD Treatment’’ and “BDNF
as a potential modulator of LTP mossy fiber/CA3 hippocampal pathway” respectively. Now,
you just need more dedication and perseverance to be able to achieve what you want the
most, your PhD! Way to go girls!






 Because good work pays off, Dr. Porter’s laboratory is now celebrating Marian Sepúlveda-
Orengo’s paper publication. Marian is a PhD candidate student and former RISE trainee
who under the mentoring of Dr. Porter has had her article titled: “Fear Extinction induces
mGluR5 – mediated synaptic and intrinsic plasticity in IL Neurons” accepted in the Journal of
Neuroscience. With this paper, she is now concentrating on her thesis writing and defense.
Keep up the good job Marian!







 Pura García-Serrablo and Melanis Rivera Rodríguez graduate students from the PsyD
Program will defend their thesis titled: “Benefit Finding in Puerto Rican Woman Treated for
Breast Cancer” and “Development of an Emotional Stroop”. Best wishes!!!!


Lab Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00 am- 4:30 pm Telephone: (787) 840-2575 ext. 2173 Fax: (787) 844-1980
Behavioral Core Physical Address: 395 Zona Industrial Reparada 2 Ponce, PR 00716-2347
Behavioral Core Postal Address: P.O. Box 7004 Ponce, P.R. 00732-7004
The Behavior Core Facility is funded by RCMI grant #8G12MD00757927
Web page: http://www.psm.edu/BCF/index.html
Please feel free to contact María Colón (The B.R.A.I.N. Informer) at [email protected] or (787) 840-2575 x: 2173 to provide suggestions or comments.
>:.\--:'. ------

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