NeURoscience | Vol 9 | 2021

NEUROSCIENCE University of Rochester | Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Vol. 9 - 2021

From the inside out: Making sense of schizophrenia PG 3

F R O M T H E D I R EC TO R ’ S D E S K

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John J. Foxe, Ph.D. Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Chair in Neuroscience Director, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Professor & Chair, Department of Neuroscience

On the cover From Left: Steven Silverstein, Ph.D., Judy L. Thompson, Ph.D., Brian Keane, Ph.D.

Photo John Schlia Photography Editor

Kelsie Smith Hayduk Contributor

Mark Michaud

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ust one year ago, research at the University of Rochester abruptly ramped down. Our faculty, staff, and students sent home to navigate working remotely — all left to wonder what tomorrow would bring. Despite the trials and tribulations, our research teams adapted quickly, and we have witnessed one of the most successful years of creativity and productivity in our storied history.

The energy of springtime, and the hope represented by vaccines, feels like a push in the right direction.

The Medical Center has a long and distinguished history of innovation and research in schizophrenia. I have personally dedicated much of my career to studying this life-altering disorder. Understanding the complex neural processes that give rise to schizophrenia requires collaboration across multiple disciplines, and this work holds the promise to not only bring real solutions to patients and their families, but also to reveal important insights into the operations of brain networks. In our cover story, you will meet three outstanding researchers who moved their labs to Rochester in January 2020.

They are a united front, using neuroscience to better understand how schizophrenia affects the brain.

In this issue we also meet Rianne Stowell, Ph.D., a stand-out postdoctoral fellow whose research is focused on psychiatric disorders. Her work investigates adolescent development of dopaminergic pathways, key in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and we learn how she uses art to share the beauty she finds in neuroscience. Ian Fiebelkorn, Ph.D., joined our team, from Princeton University, as an assistant professor in January 2021. His research investigates how our brain filters the environment around us, specifically how it maintains cognitive flexibility given our changing environment.

Data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study continues to make waves in our understanding of brain development in our children. Delving into the MRI scans of over 9,000 nine and ten-year-olds, Zachary Christensen, a M.D./Ph.D. candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program, led a study with Ed Freedman, Ph.D., and

myself, that showed that caffeine consumed during pregnancy can change important brain pathways.

Discoveries in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities research are a main goal of the institute’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC). You will read about new research from Ruchira Singh, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Center for Visual Science, that sheds light on vision loss in Batten disease.

While the research of Lynne Maquat, Ph.D., shows how mRNA contribute to Fragile-X syndrome, revealing a potential pathway in the search for treatments.

Our faculty and alumni have received tremendous accolades. Martina Poletti, Ph.D., and Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Ph.D., both assistant professors of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, are among this year’s recipients of highly prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships.

And two alumni of the Neuroscience Graduate Program are rubbing elbows with incredible innovators in science. Monique Mendes, Ph.D. (’20) and Nathan A. Smith, Ph.D. (’13) are listed among the 1,000 most inspiring Black scientists in Cell Mentor.

We can all take enormous pride in the work of our Neuroscience Diversity Commission, led

by Gomez-Ramirez. Among a number of major initiatives that the commission is working on, this summer we will welcome our first class of eight students from The City College of New York into our inaugural NEUROCITY program — an intensive summer research experience designed to provide a springboard to neuroscience careers for underrepresented minorities.

One year into the pandemic, as I look to the extraordinary achievements of our faculty, trainees and staff, to their determination to make a tangible change in the way we understand the brain, and to their drive to be ever better, I am filled with hope and excitement. We have much to be proud of, and much more yet to achieve.

In Science,

John J. Foxe, Ph.D.

NEWS BRIEFS

Study reveals role of mRNA in fragile X syndrome A new study shows that many abnormalities in fragile X syndrome cells are related to glitches with one of the body’s major quality control systems. Published in Nature Cell Biology, the research provides fresh insight into the molecular mechanisms of the disorder and a pathway to search for potential treatments.

Fragile X syndrome occurs when individuals do not make the fragile X protein known as FMRP, which is needed for normal brain development. Currently, little is known about how the loss of this crucial protein leads to the intellectual disability and severe learning problems characteristic of the disease.

Rochester researchers found that many irregularities in cells that lack FMRP are due to misregulated nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, or NMD. Discovered by RNA biologist Lynne E. Maquat, Ph.D., NMD is like a molecular guide that helps our cells make smart decisions that (in most cases) improve

cellular function and contribute to good health.

Through a series of cellular analyses, Maquat’s team discovered that NMD influences a wide range of genes throughout the brain, including genes that govern motor control Insert caption and cognitive processes related to attention, learning, and language. They also found that when FMRP is absent from cells, as it is in people with fragile X syndrome, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay shifts into overdrive.

Maquat and her colleague Tatsuaki Kurosaki, Ph.D., are currently using a mouse model of fragile X syndrome to better understand the interplay between FMRP and nonsensemediated mRNA decay throughout the various stages of development — in utero, post-birth, and into adulthood. They hope to learn when and how much NMD is elevated, and subsequently test different compounds to restore it back to normal levels.

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NEWS BRIEFS

Neuroscience alumni among 1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America

Investigators receive national recognition for neuroscience research

Nathan A. Smith, Ph.D. (’13) and Monique Mendes, Ph.D. (’20) were named by Cell Mentor, two of the 1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America.

Smith was the first Black graduate of the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University Nathan A. Smith, Ph.D. of Rochester Medical Center and is now a principal investigator in the Center for Neuroscience Research at the Children's National Hospital and Research Institute and director of Basic Neuroscience Research. He is also an assistant professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology and Physiology at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Mendes was the first Black female to graduate from the program, she is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.

Martina Poletti, Ph.D., and Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Ph.D., both assistant professors of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester and members of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, are among this year’s recipients of Sloan Research Martina Poletti, Ph.D. Fellowships. Awarded annually since 1955 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the fellowships recognize young scientists for their independent research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become leaders in the scientific community. Each fellowship carries a $75,000, two-year award.

This year, 128 scientists across the U.S. and Canada were awarded fellowships. Gomez-Ramirez and Poletti are the University’s fourth and fifth Sloan fellows in the last three years.

Monique Mendes, Ph.D.

Manuel Gomez-Ramirez, Ph.D.

Brain changed by caffeine in utero, study finds New research finds caffeine consumed during pregnancy can change important brain pathways that could lead to behavioral problems later in life. Researchers at the Medical Center analyzed thousands of brain scans of nine and ten-year-olds, and revealed changes in the brain structure in children who were exposed to caffeine in utero.

“These are sort of small effects and it’s not causing horrendous psychiatric conditions, but it is causing minimal but noticeable behavioral issues that should make us consider long term effects of caffeine intake during pregnancy,” said John Foxe, Ph.D., director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, and principal investigator of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development or ABCD study at the University of Rochester. “I suppose the outcome of this study will be a recommendation that any caffeine during pregnancy is probably not such a good idea.”

Elevated behavioral issues, attention difficulties, and hyperactivity are all symptoms that researchers observed in 2

these children. Previous studies have shown children exposed to caffeine in utero have different psychopathology but this is the first time a biological pathway has been identified, which gives future research a place to start learning more about what is happening in the brain when this exposure happens.

Investigators analyzed brain scans of more than 9,000 participants in the study and found clear changes in how the white matter tracks — which form connections between brain regions — were organized in children whose mothers reported they consumed caffeine during pregnancy.

URMC is one of 21-sites across the country collecting data for the ABCD study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

From the inside out: Making sense of schizophrenia From Left: Judy L. Thompson, Ph.D., Steven Silverstein, Ph.D., Brian Keane, Ph.D.

The senses — which serve as our brain’s window to the outside world — may play a key role in schizophrenia.

R those living with schizophrenia may become overloaded esearchers believe the sensory systems in the brain of

with visual and auditory signals, and scramble them in a manner that results in the hallucinations that are a hallmark of the disease.

Clinicians and researchers at the Medical Center have a long and distinguished history of innovation and research in the field of schizophrenia. For more than three decades, psychiatrists at URMC Strong Ties Community Support Program have worked directly with individuals and families to better understand

and treat this complex disorder that impacts an estimated 2.6 million Americans. Marvin Herz, M.D., and J. Steven Lamberti, M.D., have led the program to become a primary site for studies examining novel psychopharmacological and psychosocial treatment strategies. The Wynne Center for Family Research conducts high-quality clinical research and disseminates those findings to inform clinicians and the public.

It was founded by Lyman Wynne, M.D., Ph.D., in 1997 and continues to produce groundbreaking family research under Thomas O’Connor, Ph.D.

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Last year, a team of researchers in the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, including Greg DeAngelis, Ph.D., the George Eastman Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and Ralf Haefner, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, were awarded a $12.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. The grant will be used to better understand the neurons in the brain involved in causal inference — the key to learning, reasoning, and decision-making — and how this is used by the brain to distinguish self-motion from object-motion. These findings could have major implications for our understanding of schizophrenia.

Just before the pandemic hit, a team of researchers joined the psychiatrists in the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, bringing with them research innovation that aims to change how we understand and treat schizophrenia. Each researcher is looking to the brain for answers from different perspectives.

THROUGH THE EYES

Steven Silverstein, Ph.D., George L. Engel Professor of Psychosocial Medicine, professor in the departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology, and a member of the Center for Visual Science, has spent more than three decades studying visual Steven Silverstein, Ph.D. perceptual deficits in schizophrenia.

Recently, his focus has shifted to the lowest level of the visual system — the retina. “The idea is that it serves, in a way, as a window to the brain. Loss of retinal volume or thinning of neural layers in the retina, reduced strength of firing of retinal cells, and reductions in the microvasculature, are some of the early indicators of neurological or serious psychiatric illness, and, in some cases, are also predictors of illness progression.

The retina can be thought of as an extension of the brain — the two structures grow out of the same tissue during embryonic development.” Silverstein said. “That can be examined as a biomarker of changes in brain structure, function, and/or perfusion, but in a faster and much less-invasive manner than when examining the brain.”

Two techniques allow Silverstein to investigate known retinal function and structural changes in schizophrenia: electroretinography (ERG), which detects electrical activity in retinal cells rather than brain cells; and optical coherence tomography (OCT), which uses light reflected from the back of the eye to generate detailed images of the retina. Evidence

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Silverstein (left) and Thompson

of weakening of the firing in retinal neural cells or delays in firing have been observed in people with schizophrenia and in unaffected family members. Different ERG tests ­— such as using different levels of light intensity or speed of flash presentation — have the potential to help understand changes at the neural level that precede the emergence of psychotic symptoms, and to aid in differential diagnosis. In a recently published study, Silverstein found that patients with major depressive disorder did not demonstrate any of the ERG impairments shown by schizophrenia patients, and an ongoing study will determine if ERG can discriminate schizophrenia from bipolar disorder. In a recently published OCT study, Silverstein found that patients recovering from a first psychotic episode did not show any evidence of thinning of retinal layers, whereas people who had had multiple episodes demonstrated clear evidence of retinal thinning in both eyes. Even more recent evidence using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A), which generates details of blood flow and 3D maps of retinal and choroidal vascular systems, suggests that loss of small blood vessels in the retina may be found as early as the first episode.

“There is still so much we do not know about schizophrenia,” said Silverstein. “What causes weak and slow signals to come in from the eye? Are some overcompensations by the brain for poor quality sensory information causing symptoms? For example, does increasing the intensity of signals but also noise lead to the stimulus overload and confusion reported by many patients? Do the brain’s predictions about what is ‘out there’ when sensory evidence is of poor-quality lead to hallucinations? What is the best way to treat sensory impairments in people with, or at risk for, schizophrenia and what effects do these treatments have on symptoms and overall functioning? By using the retina as a model of overall central nervous system structure, function, and vasculature, our hope is that our research can eventually help with early diagnosis, clinical monitoring and prediction, and treatment development.”

INTO THE EARS Judy L. Thompson, Ph.D., assistant professor in Psychiatry, has spent a number of years collaborating with Silverstein to study visual processing impairments and related behavioral interventions in psychosis.

But her current research is shifting more toward positive symptoms of Judy L. Thompson, Ph.D. schizophrenia — such as delusions and hallucinations. Although these positive symptoms often respond to antipsychotic medication, they persist in about a third of the people affected despite treatment with standard medical interventions.

“One of my aims is to do work that advances our understanding of underlying mechanisms to inform the development of novel interventions,” Thompson said, “and to address questions about how alterations in auditory and speech processing may relate to auditory hallucinations.”

Thompson is collaborating with Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering researcher Edmund Lalor, Ph.D., and using his expertise in electroencephalography (EEG) to characterize hierarchical speech processing. Recent models suggest there are disturbances in the brain processing incoming sensory information, and predicting information based off of what the brain already knows and expects. Finding a way to measure this and understanding what is happening at the mechanistic level, Thompson aims to identify novel treatment targets to inform the development of new treatment approaches.

“As part of my research over the years, I’ve done lots of clinical interviews with people who have schizophrenia and also their family members,” Thompson said. “Hearing about the experiences of an individual with schizophrenia and the factors that seem to potentially contribute to that — it’s just a really important reminder of why we’re doing all this.”

WATCHING THE BRAIN For Brian Keane, Ph.D., assistant professor in Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and the Center for Visual Science, visual perception is special. It dominates our subjective experience from the time we open our eyes in the morning to the time we go to sleep.

It recruits more than one-quarter of Brian Keane, Ph.D. the human cortex, more so than any other sense. And, more surprisingly, it can shed light onto the underlying pathophysiology and objective markers of psychotic illness. Keane’s research is transdisciplinary to its core, seeking to identify the mechanisms that make normal visual perception possible and that function differently during psychotic illness. He avails himself of tools in computational functional neuroimaging — which can provide fine-grained, secondby-second images of whole-brain activity — and behavioral psychophysics, which can precisely characterize the outward consequences of abnormal vision.

In the non-clinical arena, Keane’s lab is showing that the brain’s ability to integrate spatial information into completed shapes depends on a sparse but densely interconnected set of cortical regions that are strewn across five different brain networks. His clinical work has been showing that relatively subtle alterations to everyday visual experience are strongly associated with a variety of clinical variables such as age of illness onset, delusional ideation, auditory hallucinations, and depressed symptoms. Keane believes that assaying these visual disturbances, combined with other visual system assessment methods, could help identify individuals who are most at risk for a psychotic disorder.

Silverstein (left) and Keane 5

“There is a ton of potential for understanding psychiatric disorders through investigating the neural basis of vision, the behavioral basis of vision, and the retinal basis of vision, particularly at the University of Rochester and the Medical Center — where research in the visual arena is well Thompson (left) and Keane represented,” Keane said.

Keane is collaborating with a number of researchers including Silverstein to develop a new set of tools that combines behavioral measures, fMRI, eye-movement, and retinal measures to provide markers for whether a person has or will develop a certain disorder.

Quickly moving from the bench to the clinic is a priority for researchers investigating this complex disorder. The research of John Foxe, Ph.D., director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, has shown the filtering of incoming visual information, and also of simple touch inputs, is severely compromised in individuals with the condition. The lab

of Steve Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., director of Center for Translational Neuromedicine, is studying how support cells in the brain may contribute to schizophrenia. And assistant professor of Psychiatry David Dodell-Feder, Ph.D., recently published a study finding positive results for using real-time fMRI neurofeedback for treatment of psychiatric illness by targeting specific neural circuits known to contribute to psychopathology. These researchers are part of the large, multidisciplinary team in Rochester working to find answers and bring clinical applications to make a true difference for those suffering from this devastating disorder. n

Providing hope for schizophrenia patients through research Growing up, Cheryl “Cherry” Elizabeth Chase struggled in school and social situations. Eventually, in her late teens, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and placed in a group home, where doctors struggled to effectively manage her treatment.

Medications left Cherry in a zombie-like state, but without them, her behavior became erratic and unruly. As she aged, her Judy Chase, sister of Cheryl "Cherry" Elizabeth Chase.

physical health also declined. Cherry contracted pneumonia and passed away when she was 59.

Cherry’s family wanted more for her, and for other patients and families dealing with the devastating effects of schizophrenia. To advance research and treatments, Cherry’s sister, Judy (Dollinger) Chase, established a trust in her memory — the Cheryl “Cherry” Elizabeth Chase Schizophrenia Research Fund in the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical Center.

“I wanted to honor my sister’s legacy and offer hope to other families dealing with schizophrenia,” said Judy. “This gift allows me to do both, and I’m grateful.”

Cheryl "Cherry" Elizabeth Chase

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F A C U LT Y P R O F I L E

alike, everyone’s brain is wired differently. And we are a serious bump on the head away from potentially being a very different person. When I think about the big questions, about existence and subjective experience — that’s neuroscience. It is an incredibly exciting field to be in because we still know so little.

There is so much research yet to be done.

Q&A with Ian Fiebelkorn, Ph.D. Ian Fiebelkorn, Ph.D., joined the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience in January 2021 as an assistant professor in Neuroscience. He received his B.A. in Neuroscience from Hamilton College and went on to complete his Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from The City College of New York.

His research aims to understand how the brain selects the information that is most relevant to our behavioral goals, while also filtering out distracting information.

Tell us a little bit about your research.

The brain is not capable of processing all the information in our complex environment — for example, imagine Times Square in New York City or a cluttered playroom — these are examples of environments where there’s the potential for sensory overload. I study the mechanisms that the brain uses to determine which aspects of the environment should receive preferential processing. These filtering mechanisms are broadly referred to as selective attention. My research specifically focuses on how selective attention evolves over time to adapt to our changing environments and our changing goals. The information that’s most important changes from moment to moment, so the brain needs to be flexible.

How did you become interested in your field of study?

To me, there are few things that are more fascinating than the human brain. You are your brain. Just as no set of fingerprints is

What brought you to the University of Rochester?

The University of Rochester was my first choice for a lot of reasons. The University has an incredible history in visual science, and there are a number of investigators focusing on attention research. I am excited about working in a collaborative environment and there will certainly be lots of opportunity for collaboration. I am also fortunate to have colleagues here that I already know very well. Friends from graduate school, as well as people whose research I've known and admired over the years. And then on the personal side of things, I grew up in Buffalo. It is nice to be closer to my parents and my sister, so it has also been a good move for my family.

Who are you looking forward to collaborating with?

The opportunity for collaboration was one of the primary reasons that I wanted to be at the University of Rochester.

From the basic science to clinical research, there are a number of researchers I’m excited to work with, like Adam Snyder, Ph.D., Farran Briggs, Ph.D., and Jude Mitchell, Ph.D., who are all doing fascinating research in vision and attention. I am also interested in the clinical applications of my research, particularly for neurological disorders that are characterized by a loss of cognitive flexibility. I’d be excited to work, for example, with Ed Freedman, Ph.D. and John Foxe, Ph.D., who do both basic science and clinical research. I am also interested in working with Brian Keane, Ph.D. There are still lots of colleagues I haven’t met, and I’m sure there will be lots of opportunity for collaboration that I’m not yet anticipating.

Do you have a favorite piece of advice?

My postdoctoral mentor, Sabine Kastner, Ph.D., (professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University), told me I should continue to take risks in my research, because that’s the way to move neuroscience forward. In running a lab there is a balance between not doing work that is perceived as being incremental and not making leaps that aren’t well grounded in previous work, especially when you’re working to get funding. You need to take on investigations that people think are likely to succeed, but you also have to push the boundaries. To me, that’s when science is the most fun.

Working at those boundaries and doing things that may be a little more difficult.

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P O S T D O C TO R A L S P OT L I G H T

Rianne Stowell, Ph.D., (’19) is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Kuan Wang, Ph.D. Her research focuses on adolescent development of the dopaminergic system, the collection of neurons in the brain that synthesize and release dopamine — the neurotransmitter most commonly associated with the feeling of pleasure.

“My interest in this research stems from its unique relevance to psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia,” Stowell said. “A lot of these disorders arise during adolescence and that’s when certain circuits like the dopaminergic system are still maturing.”

Stowell is focusing on the neuronal and microglial mechanisms of dopaminergic plasticity, and their behavioral implications within the mesocortical pathway — a brain circuit responsible for motivation, emotion, and executive function — in an effort to gain a better understanding of the role the dopaminergic system plays in healthy adolescent brain development.

“This science is personal. My grandmother, on my mom’s side, actually had schizophrenia, and as a result, couldn’t hold a job or really function very normally in society. She certainly had it at a time when treatments are worse than what we have now, but we still don’t have good treatments for the aspects of the disease that make it hard for people to work.”

Stowell’s passion for neuroscience extends beyond the lab and into her art. Her paintings are inspired by the images she finds at the other end of microscopes. Her first published piece of art donned the cover of the journal Developmental Neurobiology. In addition to the cover art, Stowell’s first, first-authored paper ­— “Cerebellar microglia are dynamically unique and survey Purkinje neurons in vivo” — was published in the same issue.

VOLUME 78 NUMBER 6 JUNE 2018

Special Issue Roles of Microglia in Neural Development, Plasticity and Disease Guest Editors Beth Stevens and Dorothy P. Schafer

Above: Journal cover art by Stowell.

Left: Acrylic painting by Stowell that depicts microglia (green) and dopaminergic axons in (red) as seen through in vivo two-photon imaging in an awake transgenic mouse a with cranial window preparation. It is an artistic rendition of the relationship between microglia and dopaminergic midbrain neurons projecting to the frontal cortex. While the painting depicts a still moment, the relationship between these two cell types is a dynamic one and to capture that light blue orbs are shown to represent dopamine being released at axonal terminals (these are not visible during an imaging session).

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NEWS BRIEFS

New research sheds light on vision loss in Batten disease Progressive vision loss, and eventually blindness, are the hallmarks of juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (JNCL) or CLN3-Batten disease. New research shows how the mutation associated with the disease could potentially lead to degeneration of light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina, and subsequent vision loss.

Batten disease is caused by a mutation in the CLN3 gene, which is found on chromosome 16. Most children suffering from JNCL have a missing part in the gene which inhibits the production of certain proteins. Rapidly progressive vision loss can start in children as young as four and eventually develop learning and behavior problems, slow cognitive decline, seizures, and loss of motor control. Most patients with the disease die between the ages of 15 and 30.

To study Batten disease in patient’s own cells, the research team — which was led by Ruchira Singh, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Center for Visual Science — reengineered skin cells from patients and unaffected family members to create human-induced

pluripotent stem cells.

These cells, in turn, were used to create retinal cells which possessed the CLN3 mutation. Using this new human cell model of the disease, the new study shows — which appears in the journal Communications Biology — for the first time that proper function of CLN3 is necessary for retinal pigment epithelium cell structure, the cell layer in the retina that nourishes light sensing photoreceptor cells in the retina and is critical for their survival and function, and thereby vision. These findings will allow researchers to target specific cell type in the eye using potential future gene therapies, cell transplantation, and drug-based interventions.

Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Executive Committee John Foxe, Ph.D.

Paige Lawrence, Ph.D.

Director, The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Chair in Neuroscience Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience

Wright Family Research Professorship - Dean's Office M&D Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Medicine

Bradford Berk, M.D., Ph.D.

John Romano Professorship in Psychiatry Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry

Director, The University of Rochester Neurorestoration Institute Professor of Medicine, Cardiology

Robert Dirksen, Ph.D.

Hochang (Ben) Lee, M.D.

Shawn Newlands, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A. Professor and Chair, Department of Otolaryngology

Lewis Pratt Ross Professorship of Pharmacology and Physiology Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology

Webster Pilcher, M.D., Ph.D.

Diane Dalecki, Ph.D.

Ernest & Thelma Del Monte Distinguished Professor in Neuromedicine Professor and Chair, Department of Neurosurgery

Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Duje Tadin, Ph.D.

Jennifer Harvey, M.D.

Professor, Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences

Professor and Chair, Department of Imaging Sciences

Robert Holloway, M.D., M.P.H. Edward A. and Alma Vollertsen Rykenboer Chair in Neurophysiology Professor and Chair, Department of Neurology 9

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