A group of students, faculty and alumni attended the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2024 Annual Meeting at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago from Oct. 4-9, 2024. Over 21,000 attendees came from all over the world to present their research, learn about others' research and participate in professional development workshops and networking opportunities.
Current St. Mary's College of Maryland students and faculty presented their neuroscience research at the conference. Julia Thomas '26 and Anjali Raheja '26 presented research that they conducted during the 2024 St. Mary's Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Thomas worked under the mentorship of Associate Professor Torry Dennis to test the effects of environmental enrichment on morphine-induced withdrawal symptoms and anxiety-like behavior, and Raheja worked under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Sarah Latchney to investigate how the gene Pten regulates microglial cells in the hippocampus. Associate Professor Liz Leininger spoke about her educational research as a panelist on the professional development workshop "Demystifying the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning". Assistant Profesor Daniel Tobiansky presented his research on woodpecker brain physiology at the pre-conference meeting of the J.B. Johnston Club Meeting for Evolutionary Neuroscience.
Additionally, students experienced the conference as part of their participation in Leininger's NEUR 310 course "Individualized Inquiry in Neuroscience". Some students attended in person and some attended virtually, allowing for engagement with the conference without the need for physical travel to the conference site. Either way, students saw the application of neuroscience methods and concepts from class applied to cutting-edge international research efforts in neuroscience and will apply the lessons learned to their coursework. The class' virtual and onsite attendance was supported by the College's Globalization at Home Initiative, which expands the College community’s national and global awareness and engagement.
The 20+ year legacy of the Neuroscience program at St. Mary's College of Maryland has created a community of alumni working in Neuroscience. Thus, students, faculty and alumni once again gathered for a social meetup at SfN, which has become a multi-year tradition. This year's meetup welcomed alumni who graduated between 2006 - 2024 and are researching topics such as traumatic brain injury, human episodic memory, neural development, neuroendocrinology, stress and addiction, and more.
