(December 4, 2008)

Contact: Rick DelaHaya, Centenary News Services, 318.869.5073

Centenary Students Present Research at D.C. Conference

SHREVEPORT, La.— Several Centenary College students had the opportunity recently to take part in a premier venue for neuroscientists to share research findings and experience cutting-edge research when they attended the Society for Neuroscience's 38th annual meeting, Neuroscience 2008.

Deana Apple and Marco Rajo
Deana Apple and Marco Rajo

Held November 15-19 in Washington, D.C., the event drew more than 31,000 neuroscientists from around the globe, and is the world's largest conference devoted specifically to neuroscience and neurological research.

Tyler Smith
Tyler Smith

Neuroscience majors Deana Apple, Mark Moehle, Marco Rajo and Tyler Smith presented their research at the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) poster session. FUN represents the voice of undergraduate neuroscience within both the Association of Neuroscience Departments and Programs and the Society for Neuroscience. In partnership with Project Kaleidoscope, FUN has brought faculty together from across the country to discuss, develop, and refine undergraduate neuroscience education. The organization provides an array of resources for faculty, and sponsors student travel awards and a poster session so that the best and brightest of undergraduate researchers can both attend and present work at the Society's annual meeting.

Mark Moehle
Mark Moehle

The student's presentations were among the 14,000 posters and 1,500 talks given during the week long event. In addition to the poster session, Mark Moehle presented his project on Elucidating Mechanisms of Methamphetamine-Related Aggression on the main floor of the meeting along side leading experts in the field. Other topics for poster presentation included PKMζ in the Suprachiasmatic Nuclei by Deana Apple and Marco Rajo, and Activators of AMP kinase and protein phosphatase 5 prevent cadmium-induced neuronal cell death by inhibiting MAPK cascade by Tyler Smith.

"Students who present their own data at a scientific meeting, like the Society for Neuroscience conference, experience firsthand the cutting edge of science," said Dr. Greg Butcher, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience. "They have the opportunity to meet experts in the field and talk to potential employers or graduate school mentors. But they also get to participate in the excitement of sharing their discoveries with fellow scientists from around the world. In several cases, our students got to meet and answer questions from the authors of papers and textbooks they had read for their coursework at Centenary. This is an experience that simply can't be replicated in the classroom and one not available to all undergraduates."

Funding to support the student travel to the meeting was provided by the Provost's Travel Fund, the Women's Endowment Quorum and the Neuroscience Professional Development Award. The development award was established in 2007 by Neuroscience program coordinator Dr. Greg Butcher to provide travel awards for Centenary students to present their neuroscience research at a national meeting. Contributions to this fund are exclusively used to support neuroscience student travel. Donations to the Neuroscience Professional Development Award can be arranged through Jennifer Pearson, Director of Capital Gifts email, 318.869.5103.


About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and is regularly rated as one of the top colleges in the South. In 2008 Centenary College celebrates 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.