December 2, 2023| University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon, PR
For the past 31 years, the Puerto Rico Neuroscience Conference has been an excellent venue of communication and interactions among students and faculty with research interests in Neuroscience. It is a one-day meeting consisting of four plenary talks by invited local and international speakers, and poster/oral presentations from high-school, undergraduate, graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.
New in the Conference:
PROGRAM
8:00 AM Registration and Poster-set-up
8:30 AM Opening Remarks
Dr. Waleska Crespo-Rivera, President
Universidad Central del Caribe
Dr. Diana M. Fernández-Santos, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies
Universidad Central del Caribe
Dr. Miguel Vélez, Chancellor
Dr. Darinel Ortiz
Co-Sponsoring Institution
University of Puerto Rico, Bayamo
Dr. David E. Rivera-Aponte, Member Organizing Committee
Universidad Central del Caribe
9:00 AM Dr. Daniel A. Colón-Ramos
Title: “Specific configurations of electrical synapses filter sensory information to drive choices in behavior”
Yale University School of Medicine
Invited by: University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
10:00 AM Coffee Break and Poster Section 1
Concurrent Activity: NeuroArt Exhibition
11:30 AM Dr. Pedro A. Feliciano
Title: “Dynamic Interplay Between Hippocampal Memory Reactivation and Cortical States during Sleep”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Invited by: Universidad Central del Caribe
12:30 PM Lunch and Poster-set-up
AFTERNOON CONFERENCE
1:30 PM Dr. Bianca Jones Marlin
Title: “Bridging the gap between innate and learned: A parent’s role in promoting survival”
Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University
Invited by: University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
2:30 PM Coffee Break and Poster Section 2
4:00 PM Dr. Mark Harnett
Title: “Biophysics for Neural Computation”
McGovern Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Invited by: Ponce Health Sciences University
5:00 PM Closing remarks and Business Meeting
Speakers
Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD
Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD is a neuroscientist and Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Cell Research at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University in New York City. Her research investigates how organisms unlock innate behaviors at appropriate times, and how learned information is passed to subsequent generations via transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Dr. Marlin’s experimental approach combines neural imaging, behavior, and molecular genetics to uncover the mechanisms by which learning and emotion are biologically transmitted from neurons of the parent to neurons of their offspring. The resulting insights into how learned behavior in the parent can become innate behavior in the offspring promise to make a profound impact on societal brain health, mental well-being, and parenting.
Daniel A. Colón-Ramos, PhD
Daniel Alfonso Colón-Ramos is the McConnell Duberg Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine, where his lab uses the nematode C. elegans to study the cell biology of the synapse during development and learning. He is also the founder of the nonprofit organization Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), a collaborative network for people interested in science and Puerto Rico. In 2020, he was named to the National Academy of Medicine.
Mark Harnett, PhD
Associate Professor and Graduate Officer, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, McGovern Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mark Harnett studies how the biophysical features of individual neurons, including ion channels, receptors, and membrane electrical properties, endow neural circuits with the ability to process information and perform the complex computations that underlie behavior. As part of this work, the Harnett lab was the first to describe the physiological properties of human dendrites, the elaborate tree-like structures through which neurons receive the vast majority of their synaptic inputs.
Pedro A. Feliciano Ramos, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following his graduate studies, Pedro expanded his expertise during postdoctoral training in Systems Neurosciences at MIT's Dr. Matthew Wilson's Lab. As a postdoctoral researcher, he conducted multisite and large-scale electrophysiological recordings, combined with controlled neurophysiological manipulations in freely behaving animals. During this time, he also received an F32 award. In his current role as a postdoctoral researcher, Pedro has been exploring the interactions between the cortex and hippocampus during awake and sleep states, focusing on their roles in learning and memory. His recent work has unveiled novel insights into the complex and bidirectional communication that occurs between the hippocampus and various cortical areas during sleep. This research has significant implications for our understanding of how the cortex and hippocampus collaborate to store memories in long-term storage.
Venue
University of Puerto Rico
Bayamon Campus
Carr 174 Num 170 Industrial Minillas
Bayamon, PR 00959
Sponsors
Thanks to our sponsors for making this event FREE to attend
