2025 Eleventh Annual Rutgers Brain Health Institute Symposium

Keynote Speaker

Moses V. Chao, PhD

Professor of Cell Biology, Neuroscience & Physiology, and Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center

Research areas: metabolism, molecular, cellular, & translational neuroscience, molecular mechanisms of trophic factor action

Seminar title: “Mysteries of Neurotrophic Factors”

Trainee Poster Session

Please submit your poster title, author names, PI name, and abstract (250-word limit) to bhi@bhi.rutgers.edu. Only one poster submission per lab will be accepted. Due to limited space, only first 50 poster abstract submissions will be accepted.

Poster Abstract Submission Deadline: November 1, 2025.

Two-Minute Flash Talks

Agenda

TimeSpeakerAffiliation
8.15 AM
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8.45 – 9.00 AM
Welcome Remarks- Dr. Brian Strom
Chancellor of Rutgers Health
9.00 – 9.15 AM
BHI Updates- Gary Aston-Jones
Director of BHI
9.20 – 9.30 AM
Detlev Boison, PhD- Professor
What Turns a Healthy Brain into a Diseased Brain?
RWJMS- Neurosurgery/BHI
9.35 – 9.45 AM
David Barker, PhD- Assistant Professor
Reversing the Lasting Impacts of Traumatic Stress on Pain and Fentanyl Use Through Lateral Habenula Inhibition
RU-NB- Psychology/BHI
9.50 – 10.00 AM
Juan Mena Segovia, PhD- Associate Professor
Multiplexed Motor Functions of the Midbrain
RU-Newark- CMBN
10.05 – 10.15 AM
Ioana Carcea, MD, PhD- Assistant Professor
Mechanistic Links Between Social Isolation and Glucose Homeostasis
NJMS- Pharm, Phys, Neuro/BHI
10.20 – 10.35 AM
Coffee/Tea Break
10.40 – 10.50 AM
Luciana Mascarenhas Fonseca, PhD- Assistant Professor
Rethinking Early Cognitive Markers of Dementia: From Traditional Testing to Intraindividual and Momentary Approaches
RWJMS-Psychiatry/BHI/IFH/KKARC
10.55 – 11.05 AM
Suchismita Ray, PhD- Associate Professor
Addiction Neuroimaging, Motivation, and Interventions (ANMI) Lab: Past, Present, and Future Directions
SHP- Health Informatics/BHI
11.10 – 11.20 AM
Morgan Firestein, PhD- Assistant Professor
Prenatal Origins of Neurodevelopment
RWJMS-Pediatrics/BHI/CHI/RUCARES
11.30 – 12.30 PM
Keynote– Moses V. Chao, PhD
Mysteries of Neurotrophic Factors
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
12.30 – 1.30 PM
Hot Buffet Lunch
1.30 – 1.40 PM
Hyung Jin Ahn, PhD- Assistant Professor
Vascular and Pathological Mechanisms of Motor Dysfunction in AD/ADRD
NJMS- Pharm, Phys, Neuro/BHI
1.45 – 1.55 PM
Pabitra Sahoo, PhD- Assistant Professor
Local Translation in Regeneration, Trauma, and Developmental Disorders
RU-Newark- Biology
2.00 – 2.10 PM
Miriam Bocarsly, PhD- Assistant Professor
Brain Insulin Signaling Rescues Striatal Dopamine Deficits in Overweight Mice
NJMS- Pharm, Phys, Neuro/BHI
2.15 – 3.00 PM
Special presentation: “Current Federal Funding Landscape”
Lewis Burke
3.15 – 4.15 PM
Two-Minute Trainee Flash Talks
Top 25 poster submissions
4.15 – 5.30 PM
Trainee Poster Session
4:00 – 5.30 PM
Wine and Cheese & Reception Awards Ceremony

Pictures from the 2024 Tenth Annual BHI Symposium

The 2024 BHI Symposium marked the 10th anniversary of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute, a milestone for celebrating a decade of innovation, collaboration, and groundbreaking advancements in neuroscience. Held on November 14–15 at the Douglass Student Center, the two-day event brought together more than 300 academic leaders, researchers, trainees, and industry professionals. Learn more