News & Highlights
June 2025 - John Lukens and his lab were recently profiled for UVA Today! Of their current findings, Lukens said: Our findings demonstrate that the DNA damage that naturally accumulates…
March 2025 - Tajie Harris was interviewed for Research In Motion; about her lab's work, she says: "We’re tackling questions at the interface of how the nervous system interacts with…
Zhongxiao Fu and Alex Kuan Publish a Paper in Nature Communications
January 2025 - Congratulations to Zhongxiao Fu, Alex Kuan, and the Kuan Lab for publishing their recent findings on how Microglia modulate cerebrovascular reactivity through ectonucleotidase CD39 in Nature Communications.…Lulu Jiang Awarded $3.6 Million to Investigate RNA Modifications in Alzheimer’s Disease
December 2024 - Congrats to Lulu Jiang, who was awarded a $3.6 million R01 grant from the National Institute on Aging for her project titled “Epitranscriptomic Mechanism in the Pathogenesis…
October 2024 - Heather Ferris, MD, PhD, examines how brain metabolism affects risk for developing dementia. Visit this link to learn more about her lab's work!
John Lukens receives 2024 Early Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences
September 2024 - Congrats to John Lukens, PhD, who was honored by the UVA Medical Alumni Association as the recipient of its 2024 Early Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences! Visit…Tajie Harris, PhD, Awarded $2.6 Million to Study How the Immune System Benefits the Brain
Congrats to Tajie Harris, who was awarded a five-year $2.6 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, titled “Caspase-8 mediated control of CNS infection.” Visit this…Scott Zeitlin, PhD, Advances Understanding and Treatment of Huntington’s Disease
With visionary support from the Pelican Fund, Zeitlin and his team are uncovering the secrets of Huntington’s disease (HD) and identifying new targets for combating this debilitating, fatal brain disorder.…
August 2024 - Congratulations to Bhanu Tewari, Harald Sontheimer, and the Sontheimer lab for publishing their recent findings on perineural nets in Nature Neuroscience! These mysterious net-like structures that surround…
Neuroscience Graduate Program and Department Expand Brain Awareness Week to Year-Round Initiative
July 2024 - The University of Virginia’s Neuroscience Graduate Program and Department of Neuroscience have transformed their annual Brain Awareness Week into a groundbreaking year-round outreach initiative. Building on their…Tsai-Yi Lu Selected for the National Institute on Aging’s Butler-Williams Scholars Program
July 2024 - Congratulations to Tsai-Yi Lu, Ph.D., for being selected to participate in the prestigious Butler-Williams Scholars Program sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA)! The Butler-Williams Scholars…
June 2024 - VPM's Morning Edition Host Phil Liles recently spoke with John Lukens, Ph.D., about recent advances in medicine, treatments and what’s on the horizon for the new Harrison…
June 2024 - Congratulations to Tajie Harris, Ph.D., who was selected as a Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellow! The Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellowship program was launched last year to honor outstanding…
May 2024 - Congratulations to John Lukens, PhD, who has been appointed as the inaugural Director of the University of Virginia’s Harrison Family Translational Research Center in Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative…
Tajie Harris Featured in The New York Times and Time Discussing Brain Parasites
May 2024 - Tajie Harris, PhD, was recently featured in The New York Times and Time discussing the effects of parasites on the human brain. Visit this link for more information!BBC Features the Gaultier Lab’s Research into the Role of the Microbiome in Mood Disorders
March 2024 - A recent BBC Food article featured the Gaultier Lab's research into the role of Lactobacillus on mood disorders. Click here to read the article!
February 2024 - Aida Lopez, a 3rd-year Neuroscience Graduate Program student in the Eyo Lab, received funding through the iPrecision immunomedicine (iPRIME) Fellowship Awards Program for her project “P2RY12 regulation…
Neuroscience Faculty Among Winners at School of Medicine Shark Tank Competition
February 2024 - The Shark Tank Competition was the highlight of the second day of UVA's School of Medicine research retreat. With $500,000 total being awarded, five teams pitched their…
December 2023 - Neuroscience professor and chair Harald Sontheimer was featured in UVA Today, highlighting his work on a "deep brain implant" that may treat or even reverse the degenerative…
December 2023 - UVA’s Research in Motion recently featured Neuroscience professor and chair Dr. Harald Sontheimer. In his words: "I study glial cells called astrocytes, the brain support cells that…
December 2023 - Nature Neuroscience interviewed Ukpong Eyo about his path to the neuroscience field and thoughts on the research landscape today. Click here to read the article!
December 2023 - Check out Neuroscience's own John Lukens on the latest episode of Inside UVA with UVA president Jim Ryan! Visit this link to learn more and listen to…
October 2023 - Congratulations to Chia-Yi (Alex) Kuan, who was just awarded a new $3 million NIH R01 grant! In this new grant, Dr. Kuan and Min-Hao Kuo, PhD, co-principal…
September 2023 - Congratulations to Ukpong Eyo, who, co-authored with Anna Molofsky at UCSF, published an important opinion in Science arguing that we have much yet to learn about microglial…
September 2023 - Congrats to Tsai-Yi Lu, new Assistant Professor in Neuroscience, on their first-author paper recently published in Nature Neuroscience! View Publication
August 2023 - UVA's Research in Motion recently featured Neuroscience professor and Assistant Dean for Research Dr. Mary Peace McRae. In her words: "My research studies how opioids negatively impact…
August 2023 - Our nation is at an inflection point in the battle against Alzheimer’s, dementia, and related neurological disorders. With millions of patients and families impacted by these conditions,…
New Insights Into Seizures Advance Efforts to Develop Better Treatments
May 2023 - Congratulations to Ukpong Eyo and Edward Perez-Reyes for publishing their paper on the advancement of seizure treatments! Research from the Eyo and Perez-Reyes labs suggests that immune…SOM Earns Top Honors in U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate School Rankings
May 2023- The University of Virginia School of Medicine has earned a top national ranking for its biomedical research in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools guide.…
May 2023 – Congratulations to Alban Gaultier for winning the 2022 Robert J. Kadner Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching! This award was established in honor of Robert J. Kadner, PhD,…
April 2023- Congratulations to Jaeda Coutinho-Budd for winning the Jordi Folch-Pi Award! The Jordi Folch-Pi Award is given to an outstanding young investigator who has demonstrated a high level of…
April 2023- Congratulations to Hannah Ennerfelt for being named the Outstanding Graduate Student in Neuroscience this year, as well as winning the Peach Outstanding Graduate Student Award! Each year, an…
April 2023- Michael Kovacs, from Tajie Harris’s laboratory, has been selected as the 2023 MIC Outstanding Student. Mike will also represent the MIC Graduate Program as our nominee for the…
March 2023- The Annual Graduate Biosciences Society (GBS) Symposium was held on Friday, March 17, 2023 in McKim Hall. The day was filled with terrific presentations from the Outstanding Student…
Multiple Sclerosis Discovery Could End Disease’s Chronic Inflammation
February 2023 - Congratulations to Andrea Merchak and the Gaultier Lab for publishing their recent findings related to multiple sclerosis! View publicationAntidepressants, Infection Linked to Neurodevelopmental Disorders
December 2022 - Congratulations to Kristine Zengeler and the Lukens Lab for publishing their research related to Antidepressants and their link to neurodevelopmental disorders! Learn more
September 2021 - Congratulations to Drs. Kanchan Bisht and Ukpong Eyo for publishing their research related to microglia, vasculature, and PANX1-P2RY12 in Nature Communications! View Article View commentary
March 2019 - Congratulations to Drs. Ting-Ting Du and Jung-Bum Shin for publishing their recent findings related to hearing loss in Nature Communications! Learn More
March 2019- Carleigh O’Brien is nearing graduation! She published her second first author paper in February of 2019 in the Journal of Immunology, titled “IL-10 and ICOS Differentially Regulate T…
February 2019 - Dr. Alban Gaultier and Dorian Rosen have identified an antidepressant that may also stop deadly sepsis. Their findings were published in the February 6, 2019 issue of…