BHI

Rutgers Giving Day
2026-04-24
Rutgers Giving Day is coming on April 24, and we invite you to mark your calendar in support of the Brain Health Institute.
At BHI, discovery does not stop in the lab. It moves research closer to real-world impact for patients, families, and communities. Your support helps fuel the work that drives brain health research forward across neuroscience, clinical innovation, education, and collaboration.
This year, we look forward to sharing more about the people, centers, and research that make BHI’s work possible—and why that work matters.
Support BHI: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/support-bhi/

Rutgers Day 2026
2026-04-25 10:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Rutgers Day 2026 will take place on Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Cook/Douglass, College Avenue, and Busch campuses. Registration is open for schools, departments, centers, and student organizations to submit their plans for Rutgers Day programming. Registration closes February 13, 2026.
To learn more, visit the Rutgers Day website, click on “Program Provider Information – Submit a Program,” and log in with your NET ID to review guidelines for creating a successful program, download marketing materials to promote your activities, and submit your program. Programs should be fun, interactive, and informative for our visitors. For programming tips, view the Rutgers Day Webinar.
Be ready to submit your Rutgers Day t-shirt order, including quantities and sizes, as part of the registration process. Each program may order up to 10 shirts.
Would your unit like to participate in the Rutgers Day R Garden? Decorate a 3-foot wooden R to be displayed on Voorhees Mall during the event. Limited R’s are available, so complete your application by February 13 to be considered.
Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 25, and take advantage of this opportunity to share all the great things that Rutgers has to offer. For questions, email rutgersday@rutgers.edu.

Center for NeuroMetabolism Special Seminar (Hybrid): Aaron Wolfe, PhD
2026-04-27 10:00 - 11:00 | CHI 3209, 89 French Street, New Brunswick
“Glycolytic specialization shapes neuronal physiology and function in vivo”
Guest Speaker: Aaron Wolfe, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University
Date | Time: Monday, April 27, 2026, 10-11 am EST
Location: CHI 3209, 89 French Street, New Brunswick
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/94953430999?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 949 5343 0999
Password: [REDACTED]
Hosted by: Zhiping Pang, MD, PhD, Director, Center for NeuroMetabolism

Neuroscience Seminar Series for Rising Scholars: Amber Howell, PhD (PI: Linden Parkes & Avram Holmes)
2026-04-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Room 127, Staged Research Building (SRB), Busch Campus
“Thalamic Connectivity Constrains Functional Brain Dynamics”
Speaker: Amber Howell, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, PI: Drs. Linden Parkes & Avram Holmes
Date and Time: Monday, April 27, 2026, 12:00 PM
In-Person: Room 127, Staged Research Building (SRB), Busch Campus
Join via Zoom: Please email the host, Dr. Noelle Stiles (noelle.stiles@rutgers.edu), or check the CAHBIR Slack #General thread for the link
Abstract: Understanding how flexible brain dynamics emerge from a relatively fixed anatomical architecture is a fundamental goal in neuroscience. Mounting evidence points to the engagement of thalamic loops as a crucial mechanism by which cortical areas achieve functional flexibility. Through their dense, reciprocal anatomical connections spanning the cortex, thalamic loops are well positioned to shape brain dynamics, yet their contribution to functional brain organization remains poorly defined, particularly in humans. Here, we integrate multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral data from a large cohort of healthy adults, along with post-mortem tissue samples, to characterize how the pattern of anatomical connections within the thalamus constrains cortical dynamics at rest. We find that cortical areas with more diffuse thalamic connections exhibit greater functional variability and reorganization of thalamocortical dynamics. Variation in thalamic connectivity patterns also aligns with distinct cortical cell-type profiles and an axis of cortical organization that links cortical functional variability to cognitive performance, suggesting interactions between local microcircuit organization and long-range anatomical constraints to shape computational properties of the cortical sheet. Together, these data reveal complex thalamocortical architectural constraints on cortical dynamics, linking functional variability and underlying cellular mechanisms to interregional differences associated with cognitive function.: Understanding how flexible brain dynamics emerge from a relatively fixed anatomical architecture is a fundamental goal in neuroscience. Mounting evidence points to the engagement of thalamic loops as a crucial mechanism by which cortical areas achieve functional flexibility. Through their dense, reciprocal anatomical connections spanning the cortex, thalamic loops are well positioned to shape brain dynamics, yet their contribution to functional brain organization remains poorly defined, particularly in humans. Here, we integrate multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral data from a large cohort of healthy adults, along with post-mortem tissue samples, to characterize how the pattern of anatomical connections within the thalamus constrains cortical dynamics at rest. We find that cortical areas with more diffuse thalamic connections exhibit greater functional variability and reorganization of thalamocortical dynamics. Variation in thalamic connectivity patterns also aligns with distinct cortical cell-type profiles and an axis of cortical organization that links cortical functional variability to cognitive performance, suggesting interactions between local microcircuit organization and long-range anatomical constraints to shape computational properties of the cortical sheet. Together, these data reveal complex thalamocortical architectural constraints on cortical dynamics, linking functional variability and underlying cellular mechanisms to interregional differences associated with cognitive function.

Center for NeuroMetabolism Special Seminar (Hybrid): Michael Zeller, PhD
2026-04-29 15:00 - 16:00
“Dissecting the biological basis of Schizophrenia Using Functional Genomics and Pluripotent Stem Cell Models”

Guest Speaker: Michael Zeller, PhD
Director, Stem Cell Platform Professor for Functional Genomics in Psychiatry, University of Muenster Core Member, Body and Brain Institute

Date | Time: Wednesday, April 29, 2026, 3-4 pm EST
Location: CHI 3209, 89 French Street, New Brunswick
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/98475422698?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 984 7542 2698
Password: [REDACTED]
Hosted by: Zhiping Pang, MD, PhD, Director, Center for NeuroMetabolism

RARC Digital Health Workgroup: Susan Luczak, PhD (University of Southern California)
2026-05-04 14:00 - 15:00
Join us for the next RARC Digital Health Workgroup featuring Susan Luczak, Ph.D., Research Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern California (USC). Dr. Luczak’s research focuses on understanding alcohol use and related problems across the lifespan, with an emphasis on real-time assessment and measurement. Her work integrates mobile health technologies and biosensors to capture drinking behavior and quantify alcohol levels in the body. In this talk, she will discuss the strengths and limitations of real-time methods, including biosensor approaches, and highlight the types of research questions these tools can address. She will also share examples of transdermal alcohol and other biosensor data, and provide insight into efforts to translate these data into estimates of blood alcohol concentration (BrAC), along with future directions for this line of research.

Date: Monday, May 4, 2026
Time: 2:00-3:00 PM
Zoom Meeting: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/95849976985?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 958 4997 6985
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Center for NeuroMetabolism Special Seminar (Hybrid): Mae Guthman, PhD
2026-05-04 14:30 - 15:30
“Computational Neuroendocrinology: Brain network mechanisms linking hormonal change to behavioral action”
Guest Speaker: Mae Guthman, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Princeton University

Date | Time: Monday, May 4, 2026, 2:30-3:30 PM EST
Location: CHI 3101, 89 French Street, New Brunswick
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/98226260189?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 982 2626 0189 Password: [REDACTED]
Hosted by: Zhiping Pang, MD, PhD, Director, Center for NeuroMetabolism

BHI Special Seminar: Gregory Bix, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.H.A. (Cancelled)
2026-05-05 12:00 - 13:00
The seminar has been cancelled. Sorry for the inconvenience.
“It’s all in your Head: Stroke, Vascular Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease and COVID-19”
Speaker: Gregory Bix, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.H.A.
Director, Clinical Neuroscience Research Center
Director, COVID-19 Biobank and Library at Tulane (CoBALT)
Professor and Vice Chair of Research and Academic Affairs,
Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology
Vada Odom Reynolds Chair in Stroke Research
Adjunct Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Tulane University School of Medicine
Date and Time: Tuesday, May 5, 2026, 12 Noon (EDT)
Zoom Meeting: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/96908747561?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 969 0874 7561; Password: [REDACTED]

Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Translational Work-in-Progress (ADRD-TWIP): Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca, PhD
2026-05-06 12:00 - 13:00
“Cognitive Vulnerability to Glucose, Alzheimer’s disease and Down Syndrome”
Date and Time: Wednesday, May 6 at 12 PM
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/94769804345?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 947 6980 4345; Password: [REDACTED]
Speaker: Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, RWJMS Core faculty member, Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center, Brain Health Institute, and Institute for Health
Dr.Fonseca will discuss a potential NIH grant application focused on Down syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive vulnerability to glucose fluctuations. Her presentation will outline proposed aims and methodological approaches to better understand how metabolic variability may influence cognitive function in this population, with the goal of identifying early markers of risk and opportunities for intervention. She welcomes feedback on refining the scientific questions and study design. Dr. Fonseca’s research focuses on early cognitive markers of dementia and brain aging in minority populations, including within-person variability, digital cognitive tools, and ecological momentary assessment, to improve early detection and advance precision aging research.
This is not a formal talk and discussion and critique are very much welcome.

2026 Morris-Inouye Lecture Series | Keynote Speaker: David Julius, PhD, Nobel Laureate
2026-05-06 16:00 - 17:00 | RWJMS Main Lecture Hall, 675 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Dr. David Julius will deliver the 2026 Morris-Inouye Lecture at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in the Main Lecture Hall of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway. His lecture is titled “Gut Feelings: Probing mechanisms of visceral pain.” A reception will follow.

Graduate students and postdocs are invited to have lunch with Dr. Julius on May 6 from 12-1pm at 675 Hoes Lane West, RWJMS Research Tower, Deans Conference Room 123. Trainees can sign up for lunch on this sheet.

Dr. Julius shared the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ardem Patapoutian for work that transformed our understanding of how the nervous system senses temperature and mechanical stimuli. He discovered the ion channel that detects both the “hot” ingredient in chili peppers and painfully elevated temperature. His laboratory continues to investigate the structure, regulation, and tissue distribution of sensory ion channels.

In addition to the Nobel, Dr. Julius’ other honors including a Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience, which he also shared with Dr. Patapoutian. He is professor and chair of the Department of Physiology at UCSF, where he holds the Morris Herzstein Chair in Molecular Biology and Medicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the AAAS.

All are welcome to attend! We invite you to join us for what promises to be a memorable event.

Speaker: David Julius, PhD, Nobel Laureate
Title: Gut Feelings: Probing mechanisms of visceral pain
Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Location: RWJMS Main Lecture Hall, 675 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854

NeuroFUS PRO Focused Ultrasound Device for Human Research Studies
2026-05-07 10:00 - 11:00
BrainBox presentation on the NeuroFUS PRO Focused Ultrasound device for human studies.
Join us by zoom on Thursday, May 7, 2026, 10 am.
Following last year’s webinar on Focused Ultrasound (FUS), NTICe is actively exploring ways to bring this technology to Rutgers. We are currently evaluating human-grade devices and protocols tailored to our research community’s needs.
To facilitate this, we are hosting a representative from BrainBox to present the NeuroFUS PRO. The session will include a technical overview along with the opportunity to discuss specific research applications.

Interested? Please plan to attend if you’d like to explore FUS for your research.

Can’t make it? Contact me to receive the session recording and stay included in future discussions.

BHI Plenary Seminar: Robert W. Gereau, PhD
2026-05-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Medical Science Building (MSB), Room B-610, New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave., Newark, NJ.
“Rethinking translational pain research: Studies of human tissues for identification and validation of therapeutic targets”
Plenary Speaker: Robert W. Gereau IV, PhD
Vice Chair for Research; Division Chief, Washington University Pain Center.
Dr. Seymour & Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology, WashU Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
Date & Time: May 7, 2026, at 12:00 PM
In-person Location: Medical Science Building (MSB), Room B-610, New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave., Newark, NJ.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/96633191986?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 966 3319 1986; Passcode: [REDACTED]
Hosted by Yuanxiang Tao, MD, PhD & Huijun Hu, PhD (Anesthesiology/NJMS)
Learn more about the seminar

INSPIRE Scientific Teaching Seminar: John Pollock, PhD (Duquesne University)
2026-05-07 12:00 - 13:30
Join us in welcoming the 2026 INSPIRE Scientific Teaching Speaker, Dr. John Pollock of Duquesne University.
Talk Title: “Storytime for STEM Education”
Date and Time: Thursday May 7, 2026, 12 – 1:30 PM
Location: EOSHI- Conference Room C, 170 Frelinghuysen Rd, Piscataway NJ 08854
Lunch following the seminar, for those who RSVP using the QR code in the flyer.
About Dr. John Pollock: In addition to his impactful research on the neuroscience of pain, and therapeutic strategies, Dr. Pollock is the Director of the Partnership in Education, an NIH-funded science outreach program, where he produces digital and analog learning resources for STEM education including YouTube videos, award winning Apps, games, and teacher resources for K-12, museums and the public. He has won two Emmys for Stories, Science, and Society: How Narrative Transforms Stem Learning
This seminar is organized by the INSPIRE Fellows who chose Dr. Pollock as their Annual Speaker.
Questions about his schedule should go to INSPIRE Fellow Dr. Marc Begley: mb2389@hginj.rutgers.edu
The Annual INSPIRE Scientific Teaching Seminar is sponsored by the NIH-funded INSPIRE Postdoctoral Training Grant, with generous support from the Dean of RWJMS, Dean Amy Murtha.
To learn more about the INSPIRE Postdoctoral Training grant, please visit: https://rwjms.rutgers.edu/research/inspire/home
And yes, we are accepting applications for INSPIRE Fellows for 2026-2027. Please check our website for details.

Rutgers Addiction Research Center’s Year in Review and Social Event
2026-05-08 16:00 - 18:00 | Rutgers Club
We are excited to invite you to join us for the Rutgers Addiction Research Center’s Year in Review and Social Event on Friday, May 8 at the Rutgers Club.
This annual gathering is a chance to come together as a community—connecting with colleagues across Rutgers, as well as our clinical and community partners, while reflecting on the past year and looking ahead. Dr. Danielle Dick will share brief remarks on the current state of the Center during the event.
Ahead of the main event, we will also host a trainee meet & greet beginning at 3:00 p.m., designed for postdocs, graduate students, research assistants, and other trainees involved in addiction research.
RSVP: https://rutgers.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79AHmgm3LT87XNA

Rutgers Symposium On The Intersection Of Cognitive, Sensory And Affective Neuroscience
2026-05-11 10:00 - 16:00 | Masker’s Barn, Berkeley Heights, New Jersey
The Rutgers Symposium on the Intersection of Cognitive, Sensory, and Affective Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary and cross-area meeting of Rutgers neuroscientists. The event aims to foster interactions and build collaborations across PI’s and their labs whose work touches on cognition and sensation with those who study affective processes in health and neuropsychiatric illness. Register Now
The Rutgers Brain Health Institute is organized into distinct focus area work groups (FAWGs). The symposium represents a joint retreat of the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience FAWG and the Motivational and Affective Neuroscience FAWG to specifically encourage cross-FAWG interactions and collaborations. It also aims to help facilitate work that crosses between basic science and clinical science with patient populations.
Faculty, staff, and trainees are all invited to attend.
Trainees are encouraged to submit poster presentations, and all poster presenters will receive a refund of their registration fee. Please submit your poster title and abstract (no more than 300 words) to Ms. Rose Smith at rs1771@bhi.rutgers.edu by April 11.
Date and Time: May 11th, 2026, 10 AM – 4 PM
Venue: Masker’s Barn, Deserted Village of Feltville, Glenside Park, Union County (Learn more)
Early registration is open until April 11, 2026.
Register Now

RWJ-NCB Seminar Series (Hybrid): Dr. Thomas S. Vierbuchen - Sloan Kettering Institute
2026-05-12 10:00 - 11:00 | Research Tower, Room V12
“A Pluripotent Stem Cell Platform for Systems Genetics Studies of Mouse Development and Disease”
Please join us on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 10:00 am in the Research Tower, Room V12 for an RWJ-Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology Seminar Series featuring Thomas S. Vierbuchen, PhD, Assistant Member, Developmental Biology Program in the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Sloan Kettering Institute. The host for this seminar is Dr. Tulsi Patel (RWJ-Neuroscience and Cell Biology). All are welcome to attend.
Click Here to Join
Meeting ID: 991 8562 6685; Password: [REDACTED]

BHI Special Seminar: Katerina Akassoglou, Ph.D.
2026-05-13 12:00 - 13:00
“Neurovascular interactions: from mechanisms to clinical trials”
Speaker: Katerina Akassoglou, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology
Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes
Professor, Department of Neurology
University of California, San Francisco
Date and Time: Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 12 Noon (EDT)
Zoom Meeting: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/98749402685?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 987 4940 2685; Password: [REDACTED]

Neuroscience Seminar Series for Rising Scholars (Hybrid): Sunyoung Park, PhD (Noelle Stiles lab)
2026-05-18 12:00 - 13:00
“Functional changes in visual areas during imagination in the blind following vision restoration”
Speaker: Sunyoung Park, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, PI: Noelle Stiles
Date and Time: Monday, May 18, 2026, 12:00 PM
In-Person: Room 127, Staged Research Building (SRB), Busch Campus
Join via Zoom: Please email the host, Dr. Noelle Stiles (noelle.stiles@rutgers.edu), or check the CAHBIR Slack #General thread for the link
Abstract: The Argus II retinal prosthesis can restore ultra-low vision in the late blind through electrical stimulation of ganglion cells. Our previous study showed that cortical thickness increases following the Argus II device implantation in visual areas, such as cuneus cortex and lateral occipital cortex, suggesting partial reversal of visual cortex atrophy associated with long-term vision loss. However, it remains unclear whether these structural changes are accompanied by increased functional engagement of visual areas during visual tasks. Here, we investigated changes in visual cortex activation during a visual imagery task using fMRI in ten Argus II patients, four blind controls, and three sighted controls. The visual imagery task was used as it has been shown to functionally engage visual areas and the Argus II device cannot be activated inside the scanner. During the task, participants alternated between imagination blocks in which they imagined visual objects or places, and rest blocks in which they did not perform a task. We extracted task-related univariate activations (imagination > rest) from anatomically defined visual regions of interests (ROIs). On average, the Argus II group showed greater activation than the blind control group, approaching but not fully reaching the activation levels observed in sighted controls. In addition, longitudinal comparisons in two participants revealed differing post-implantation patterns: The participant with longer device use (44.5 months) showed increased activation across most ROIs after implantation relative to pre-implantation, whereas the participant with shorter device use (6.5 months) showed a mixture of increases and decreases across ROIs. These findings suggest that cortical re-engagement following vision restoration may evolve over time, and that both upregulation and downregulation of task-relevant regions may contribute to functional reorganization after visual restoration. Together, these results complement prior evidence of structural cortical changes by demonstrating functional changes in visual areas following vision restoration in late-blind individuals.

2026 Rutgers Health and Rutgers Brain Health Institute Postdoc Peek: Postdoc Recruitment Event
2026-05-19 - 2026-05-20
Rutgers Health and Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) invite senior graduate students and early postdoc fellows to apply for Postdoc Peek, a two-day, all-expenses-paid, on-campus visit on May 19–20, 2026.
Participants will explore postdoctoral training and research opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines at Rutgers, connect with faculty, and learn about life and research across Rutgers campuses. Learn more
Key Dates:

Application submission deadline: February 23
Faculty application review period: February 24 – March 23
Virtual information session: March 23, 12–2 PM
Faculty Zoom interviews with top candidates: March 24 – April 6
On-campus visit for selected candidates: May 19–20

Please fill out this application form. If you have any questions, require further information, or have trouble submitting your application, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by email

CCNP Seminar: Vanessa Brown (Emory University)
2026-05-20 10:00 - 11:00
Anxiety is distinctly associated with maladaptive exploration of uncertainty
Speaker: Vanessa Brown
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Emory University
Date and Time: Wednesday, May 20th, 10-11 am EDT (Eastern)
Zoom: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/6397147065
Avoidance is a central impairment in anxiety disorders, but what causes maladaptive avoidance in this population is unclear. To date, empirical data suggest that the uncertainty associated with negative outcomes, rather than the presence of negative outcomes alone, drives avoidance in anxiety. Here, we used the explore-exploit dilemma – whether to explore options with uncertain options versus stay with known choices with certain options – to understand how exploration goes awry in anxiety and leads to avoidance. Across two tasks, we did not find an overall avoidance of uncertainty, manifesting as increased exploitation, in anxiety. Instead, people with anxiety were unable to adaptively adjust exploration, under-exploring when exploration was adaptive and over-exploring when exploration was harmful. This impairment was specific to anxiety and not to depression or general internalizing symptoms. In a follow-up study, we tested whether this maladaptive exploration of uncertainty was distinct from previously established alterations in model-based decision-making in compulsivity. Anxiety was associated with increased model-based planning while compulsivity showed patterns of exploratory behavior distinct from anxiety. These results show a computational dissociation of exploratory behavior among internalizing symptom clusters and suggest that maladaptive exploration of uncertainty is a unique signature of anxiety-related disorders.
FYI, abstracts for previous talks are posted on the CCNP website: ccnp.princeton.edu. A list of upcoming seminars, job announcements, and other info about CCNP are available there as well.

BHI Research Seminar (Hybrid): Shaoyu Ge, PhD (Stony Brook University)
2026-05-21 10:00 - 11:00 | Staged Research Building Conference Room (661 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway NJ 08854, Busch Campus)
“Newborn neurons in the hippocampus: from birth to maturation”
Speaker: Shaoyu Ge, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. College of Arts and Sciences, Stony Brook University, State University of New York
Date and Time: Thursday, May 21, 2026, 10:00 AM (EST)
In-person location: Staged Research Building Conference Room
(661 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway NJ 08854, Busch Campus)
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/95385482824?pwd=[REDACTED]
Zoom Meeting ID: 953 8548 2824; Password: [REDACTED]
Hosted by Mi-Hyeon Jang, Department of Neurosurgery

BHI/SHP Virtual Seminar: Hemant Bhargav, MD, PhD
2026-05-21 11:00 - 12:00
“Yoga for Stress Management and Mental Resilience”
Rutgers Brain Health Institute and Rutgers School of Health Professions Virtual Seminar
Speaker: Hemant Bhargav, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Medicine, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India
Adjunct Associate Professor, Massachusetts Mental Health Centre, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
Date and Time: Thursday, May 21, 2026, 11:00 AM (ET)
Zoom Meeting:
https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/91022658183?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 910 2265 8183; Passcode: [REDACTED]

RARC Interest Group on Cannabis with Dr. Malik Burnett
2026-05-28 13:00 - 14:00
Join us for the next RARC Interest Group on Cannabis meeting featuring Dr. Malik Burnett on Thursday, May 28, at 1:00 PM. Dr. Burnett will present “In the Weeds: An Overview of the Cannabis Rescheduling Rollercoaster.”
Dr. Burnett is a physician, entrepreneur, and drug policy expert whose work focuses on shifting U.S. drug policy from a criminal justice framework to one grounded in public health. Drawing on his experience in addiction medicine, harm reduction, opioid treatment, and public policy, Dr. Burnett will provide an overview of the evolving cannabis rescheduling landscape and its implications for researchers, clinicians, and public health professionals.

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026
Time: 1:00-2:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/98341604328?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 983 4160 4328
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Rutgers Network Neuroscience Interest Group: Lucina Uddin, PhD (University of California, Los Angeles)
2026-05-29 13:00 - 14:00 | SRB seminar room
“Towards a universal taxonomy of functional brain networks”
Speaker: Lucina Uddin, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences University of California, Los Angeles
Date and Time: Friday, May 29, at 1:00 PM
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/my/lp756?pwd=[REDACTED]
In-Person: SRB seminar room
Abstract: While the idea that the human brain is composed of multiple large functional networks has been gaining traction in cognitive and network neuroscience, the field has yet to reach consensus on several key issues regarding terminology. What constitutes a functional brain network? Are there “core” functional networks, and if so, what are their spatial topographies? What naming conventions, if universally adopted, will provide the most utility and facilitate communication amongst researchers? Can a taxonomy of functional brain networks be delineated? The Workgroup for HArmonized Taxonomy of NETworks (WHATNET) was formed in 2020 as an OHBM–endorsed best practices committee to provide recommendations on points of consensus, identify open questions, and highlight areas of ongoing debate in the service of moving the field toward standardized reporting of network neuroscience results. The group has developed a Network Correspondence Toolbox (NCT) to permit researchers to examine and report spatial correspondence between their novel neuroimaging results and multiple widely used functional brain atlases. The adoption of the NCT will make it easier for researchers to report their findings in a standardized manner, thus aiding reproducibility and facilitating comparisons between studies to produce interdisciplinary insights.
The interest group is sponsored by Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) and the Cognitive And Sensory Neuroscience Focus Area Working Group of the BHI.
If you have questions about the interest group, please email Dr. Linden Parkes linden.parkes@rutgers.edu or Dr. David Zald david.zald@rutgers.edu

NCB Seminar (Hybrid): Jakob Voigts, PhD (HHMI Janelia Research Campus)
2026-06-02 10:00 - 11:00
Please join us on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 10:00 am in the Research Tower, Room V12 for an RWJ-Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology Seminar Series featuring Jakob Voigts, PhD, Group Leader at HHMI Janelia Research Campus. Dr. Voigts will be presenting on the topic of “Mice Use a Sparse Vocabulary of Paths to Navigate Complex Environments.” The host for this seminar is Dr. Ipshita Zutshi (RWJ-Neuroscience and Cell Biology). All are welcome to attend.
Click Here to Join
Meeting ID: 991 8562 6685
Password: [REDACTED]

CCNP Seminar: Christopher Rozell, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology)
2026-06-03 10:00 - 11:00
“Brain Biomarkers for Understanding Depression Recovery with Deep Brain Stimulation”
Speaker: Christopher Rozell
Professor, Executive Director of Institute for Neuroscience, Neurotechnology & Society (INNS)
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Simultaneous advances in neurotechnology and data science have created new opportunities to measure, modulate and understand the neural activity underlying complex psychiatric disorders such as treatment resistant depression (TRD). Despite promising explorations of deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a therapy for TRD, one of the barriers to scaling this treatment is the lack of objective information supporting clinical decision making during recovery. I will describe our recent efforts collecting and analyzing longitudinal intracranial electrophysiology data from TRD patients undergoing subcallosal cingulate cortex (SCC) DBS, as well as our development of novel AI techniques to identify electrophysiology biomarkers of disease recovery state. Finally, I will show how this data-driven biomarker can potentially be used in clinical decision support through patient case studies, as well as shed light on the microcircuit structures and complex behaviors that underly TRD pathology and recovery.
Date and Time: Wednesday, June 3rd, 10-11am EDT (Eastern)
Zoom: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/6397147065
FYI, abstracts for previous talks are posted on the CCNP website: ccnp.princeton.edu. A list of upcoming seminars, job announcements, and other info about CCNP are available there as well.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Translational Work-in-Progress (ADRD-TWIP): Alice Butera, MS (Christoph Buettner Lab)
2026-06-03 12:00 - 13:00
“Role of Adipose Tissue Lipolysis in Alzheimer’s Progression”
Speaker: Alice Butera, MS
PhD Student, Christoph Buettner Lab
RWJMS Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology
Date and Time: Wed, June 3, 2026, 12-1 PM
Zoom: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/94769804345?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting code: 947 6980 4345
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Alice studies the role of peripheral metabolic dysregulation in modulating neuroinflammation in normal physiology, Alzheimer’s disease, and traumatic brain injury. She will present preliminary findings suggesting that adipose tissue lipolysis contributes to neuroinflammation and hyperactivity in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (5xFAD). She would appreciate any feedback on future research aims, focusing on improving clinical significance and methodology.
This is not a formal talk, and thus discussion and critiques are much appreciated.

Joint Neurodegeneration and Injury & Neurodevelopment FAWG Workshop
2026-06-03 13:30 - 17:30 | Conference room 3101, Child Health Institute, 89 French Street, New Brunswick
The purpose of this workshop is to spawn new scientific interactions by bringing two Focus Area Working Groups (FAWGs) of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute together. The Neurodegeneration and Injury FAWG and Neurodevelopment FAWG will explore areas of common interest and overlap.
Eight scientific presentations at the intersection between both interest groups are expected to jumpstart new discussions and ideas for future collaboration. Learn more
Date and Time: Wednesday, June 3, 1:30 to 5:30 pm
Location: Conference room 3101, Child Health Institute, 89 French Street, New Brunswick
View event program

Special BHI Seminar: Rajiv R. Ratan, MD, PhD
2026-06-05 10:00 - 11:00
“Resilience or Ruin: The Janus Faces of Stress signaling in stroke, cognitive aging, and Alzheimer’s disease”
Speaker: Rajiv R. Ratan, M.D., Ph.D.
Winifred Masterson Burke Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience
Associate Dean (affiliate), Weill Cornell Medicine
CEO, Burke Neurological Institute
Director, Laboratory for Neural Redox Biology and Homeostatic Transcription
Date and Time: Friday June 5th, 2026, at 10 AM (EDT)
Join Zoom Meeting: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/97065237648?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 970 6523 7648
Passcode: [REDACTED]

CCNP Seminar: Alex Shackman, PhD (University of Maryland)
2026-06-17 10:00 - 11:00
“The Nature and the Neurobiology of Anxiety”
Speaker: Alexander Shackman, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland
Date and Time: Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 10-11 AM
Zoom: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/6397147065
Abstract: Anxiety—widely conceptualized as a sustained state of heightened distress and arousal triggered by uncertain threat—is a fundamental aspect of mammalian experience and a key component of the National Institute of Mental Health’s influential RDoC framework. When extreme or pervasive, anxiety imposes a staggering burden on patients, public health, and the global economy. Existing treatments are far from curative for many, underscoring the urgency of developing a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here, I will highlight data gleaned from studies of humans and monkeys. Using a combination of approaches—from genetic assays and loss-of-function experiments to ecological momentary assessment and computational neuroimaging—this work provides fresh insights into the nature and the neurobiology of anxiety-related states, traits, and psychiatric disorders.
