Summer Students
Program Director
Ana Pocivavsek, PhD
Program Director
Undergraduate Research Program, Conte Center, MPRC
apocivavsek@som.umaryland.edu
Undergraduate Research Program
This 10-week summer program is designed to introduce undergraduate students to neuroscience research in an academic setting and to prepare them for a career in mental health research.
Each year, six stipends are awarded competitively to enthusiastic and promising young scholars to participate actively in original studies under the mentorship of Conte investigators.
Projects are divided equally between basic and clinical research laboratories, taking into account the preferences of the budding scientists.
The Program also includes a lecture series in basic and clinical neuroscience, exposure to clinical activities at the MPRC, and career counseling.
On the final day, students present their accomplishments to the Conte Center faculty
Conte Scholar Research Symposium
Friday, August 3, 2018
Renay Friendshuh
Mentor: Deanna Kelly, PharmD
Gluten-Free Diet in Patients with Schizophrenia
Anti-Gliadin Immunoglobulin G Antibodies: Immune Markers and Kynurenine Pathway Metabolites from Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial
Moriah McGuier
Mentor: Tonalil Bianco Ayala, PhD
Effects of Ketamine on Kynurenic Acid: Studies using Rat Brain and Liver Tissue Slices
Noor Talib
Mentor: Peter Kochunov, PhD
Development and Dissemination of Tools and Knowledge to Facilitate Imaging
Genetic Research: Focus on Kynurenine-2-2 Monooxygenase
Zain Baig
Mentor: Leon Brown, PhD
Modulation of Cortical Signal Propagation by Genetic Disruptions of the Kynurenine Pathway
Danielle McGinn
Mentor: Gloria Hoffman, PhD
Establishment of KAT II Microassay to Assess Relative Enzyme Levels in Rat and Human Brain Tissue
Rachael Spruill
Mentor: Sai Kumar, PhD
5-Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid and Kynurenic Acid Levels in Mouse Central Nervous System and Periphery after Systemic Tryptophan Challenge
2017
Friday, August 4, 2017
Zoe Keskey
Mentor: Deanna Kelly, PharmD
Validation of Oxidative Stress Assay in Tryptophan Challenged Schizophrenia Patients and Healthy Controls
Yasmeen Murtaza
Mentor: James Waltz, PhD
MEffects of Acute Tryptophan Depletion on Reinforcement Learning in Schizophrenia
Mitali Sarkar
Mentor: Sathyasaikumar Korrapati, PhD
Plasma 5-Hdyroxyindoleacetic Acid, Kynurenine and Kynurenic Acid Levels in Patients with Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls after Tryptophan Challenge
Shareejit Padmanabhan
Mentor: Paul Shepard, PhD
Effects of Prenatal Kynurenine Elevation on Plasticity within the Hippocampal-Prefrontal Pathway
Lela Walter
Mentor: Francesca Notarangelo, PhD
Administration of [3H] Kynurenine in Mice in Vivo: Evaluation of Kynurenine Pathway Metabolism and Possible Role of the Gut Microbiota
Morris Mou
Mentor: Leonardo Tonelli, PhD
Expression of KAT II mRNA during Ontogeny and the Effects of Inflammation: in situ Hybridization Studies
2016
Friday, August 5, 2016
Mackenzie Yedlin
Mentor: Frencesca Notarangelo, PhD
Kynurenine Pathway Metabolism in Microbiota-deficient Mice
Silas Buck
Mentor: Ana Pocivavsek, PhD
Rat Prenatal Kynurenine Elevation: Deficits in Hippocampal-Mediated Learning and Memory
Kathleen Wilson
Mentor: Deanna Kelly, PharmD
Relationship of Interferon-y to Cognitive Function in Midlife and Post-Menopausal Women with Schizophrenia
Madison McGann
Mentor: Sathyasaikumar Korrapati, PhD
Production and Modulation of Kynurenic Acid in Maternal, Fetal, and Placental Rat Tissue Slices
Ian Persaud
Mentor: Joshua Chiappelli, MD
Relationship of Cortisol to Brain Morphological Abnormalities in Schizophrenia
Brynn McGovern
Mentor: Andrea Wijtenburg, PhD
Examining Visual Plasticity in Adults with Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls using fMRI and MRS
2015
Friday, August 7, 2015
Bridget Shovestul
Mentor: Deanna Kelly, PharmD
Relationship of KYNA and Inflammatory Markers in Symptoms and Clinical Variables in Patients with Schizophrenia
Meredith Pecukonis
Mentor: Molly Erickson, PhD
The Effects of Prenatal Kynurenine Exposure on Predictive Coding in Rats: a MMN Study
Franchesca Kuhney
Mentor: Laura Rowland, PhD
Multimodal Assessment of Visual Plasticity
Austin Buchla
Mentor: Ana Pocivavsek, PhD
Sexually Dimorphic Increase in Brain Kynurenic Acid after Sleep Deprivation
Jennifer McGuire
Mentor: Peter Kochunov, PhD
Developing a Porcine Neuroimaging Model of Brain Inflammation
Taylor Radden
Mentor: Britta Hahn, PhD
The Effect of Elevated Kynurenic Acid in Rats on Performance in the Five Choice Test
2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
Frempongma Wadee
Mentor: Deana Kelly, PharmD
Estrogen and Gluten Sensitivity in Schizophrenia
Belle Benanzea-Fontem
Mentor: Ana Pocivavsek, PhD
Developmental Time Course of KYNA Synthesis and Inhibition
Julia Mitchell
Mentor: Greg Elmer, PhD
Life Threatening Trauma, RMTg Circuitry, Neurogenic Inflammation and MiRNA Expression: A Novel Approach to Investigating PTSD
Zoe Garcia
Mentor: Josh Chiappelli, MD
Stress Induced Inflammatory Response in Schizophrenia
John Janousek
Mentor: Leo Tonelli, PhD
Expression of IDO-1 in the Rodent Brain
Alexandra Gradzka
Mentor: Molly Erickson, PhD
The Impact of Anesthetic on the Measurement of MMN and OEP in the Rat