High School Summer Internship-Coronado High School Senior, Saad Chowdhry

The Kinney lab welcomed Saad Chowdhry, a rising high school senior to join the lab for a summer internship. The Kinney lab values the development of the Las Vegas youth and is excited to offer this opportunity to a dedicated student. Saad joined the laboratory to advance his knowledge and scientific skill set as he gets ready to apply to premed programs. Saad will graduate from Coronado High School with an Advanced Honors Diploma in 2020.

Jefferson Kinney hosts Nevada Regional Neuroscience Meeting 2018

Dr. Jefferson Kinney and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas hosts an afternoon of neuroscience research presentations from investigators at UNLV, UNR, and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

Presenters Included:

o   Marwan Sabbagh MD, FAAN, CCRI, Director Camille and Lary Ruvo Endowed Chair for Brain Health.

(Marwan Pictured Below)

o   Dietmar Cordes, PhD, Head of Imaging, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

o   Mishra Virendra, PhD, Imaging Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

o   Aaron Ritter, MD, Cleveland Clinic Lou RUvo Center for Brain Health.

o   William Torch, MD, Limbic Anterograde Trans-Neuronal Degeneration.

o   Jiang Feng, Ph.D, Department of Psychology, UNLV.

o   James Hyman, Ph.D, Department of Psychology, UNLV.

o   Reuben Dagda, Ph.D, Department of Pharmacology, UNR.

o   Akiyoshi Uezu, Ph.D, UNLV & Duke University Medical Center

o   Nora Caberoy, Ph.D, School of Life Sciences, UNLV.

New Graduate Student - Andrew Ortiz

The Neurobiology of Disease and Behavior laboratory welcomes it's newest doctoral Ph.D. student, Andrew Ortiz. As a native to Las Vegas, and with an impressive background in neuroscience research, the Kinney Lab is excited to welcome Andrew! Ortiz graduated from UNLV with a major in psychology and a minor in  neuroscience. His research path began in the Hyman In Vivo electrophysiology laboratory under the supervision of Dr. James Hyman where he focused on investigating the systematic synchronization of brain function. Andrew is now interested on investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how metabolic alterations (e.g. diabetes) and chronic neuroinflammation confer significant increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s Disease. More specifically, he is interested on how diabetes affects learning and memory & Alzheimer’s Disease-related pathogenesis utilizing various rodent models and molecular biology techniques. He plans to further investigate this in human samples for a translational approach. Welcome to the lab/program Andrew!

Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium 2018

Chelsea Tran and Renzo Chuapoco from the Neurobiology of Disease and Behavior Laboratory were invited to present at the summer undergraduate research symposium held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Under the supervision of Dr. Jefferson Kinney and with the help of post-doctoral fellow, Arnold Salazar, Tran and Chuapoco represented UNLV undergraduate research with confidence and excitement. Presenting novel ideas linking GABA in various forms to inflammation and the ever pressing epidemic of Alzheimer's Disease. With the work of both Tran and Chuapoco alongside many other undergraduate scientists they continue to advance the research initiatives on the UNLV campus. Stay tuned for future work from the research students of the Kinney Lab. 

Summer Internship - Liberty High School Senior, Josh Gordon

The Kinney lab welcomed Josh Gordon, a rising high school senior to join the lab for a summer internship. The Kinney lab values the development of the Las Vegas youth and is excited to offer this opportunity to a dedicated student. Josh joined the laboratory after a short internship at The Naval Academy and has devoted his summer to advancing his knowledge and scientific skill set. Josh has aspirations of pursuing a medical career after graduating high school. Josh will graduate from Liberty High School with advanced accolades in 2019. 

New Publication — Effects of Fatigue on Balance in Individuals With Parkinson Disease: Influence of Medication and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Genotype

New Graduate Student — Amanda Leisgang

Amanda Leisgang will be joining our laboratory as a graduate student in the Ph.D. program starting Fall 2017. Amanda graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2015 with degrees in biology, psychology, and chemistry. Amanda has previously worked in the laboratory of Dr. Devinder Sandhu specializing in plant genetics and is excited to focus her attention on her passion for neurodegenerative diseases. 

Congratulations Amanda on your acceptance into the program!

Dementia 2017: The Brain Under Assault

The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is hosting Dementia 2017 on June 10, 2017. Dementia 2017 is a continuing education conference focusing on the impact that head trauma, metabolic disturbances, and vascular disease can have on the onset and progression of dementia. This is a clinical based conference but is open to anyone interested in furthering their understanding of dementia — medical and health care providers, neurologists, research scientists, and students. Numerous UNLV research faculty members and graduate students will be in attendance to assist in bridging the translation gap that exists between clinical care and pre-clinical research as we attempt to further our understanding more about the clinical population that we are trying to emulate in our pre-clinical models. 

Additionally, sometimes it seems like there can be a dearth of science-related events, particular neuroscience, here in our Las Vegas valley home and it is important to help spread the word whenever there is an opportunity to support our health-care professionals and our science community in any way that we can. Please pass along this information to anyone that you think might be interested or benefit from attending.

There is a registration deadline and fee associated with this conference so please plan accordingly.

13th Annual Southern Nevada Alzheimer's Education Conference

Interested in learning more about Alzheimer's disease and meeting with other Alzheimer's disease researchers, graduate students, and other neuroscience and medical professionals? The Alzheimer's Association Desert Southwest Chapter is hosting an Alzheimer's Education Conference on Thursday April 27, 2017. This clinical-oriented education workshop is open to anyone interested in learning more about Alzheimer's disease, whether you are a research scientist, a clinician, a student, a caregiver, or simply a member of the community seeking to further your education. You must register for the event so please plan accordingly.

2017 Las Vegas Brain Bee

Another year, another successful Brain Bee here at UNLV. Congratulations to our three winners, especially Sona from Clark High School for taking 1st place.

If you know a high school student who would like to participate in the next Brain Bee (Spring 2018), please have them view the information on our Outreach page, which includes the required study material, and check out the Nevada Brain Bee website for up-to-date information on the next Brain Bee.

UNLV Faculty and Graduate Students who participated in the 2017 Las Vegas Brain Bee include:

• Dr. James Hyman
• Dr. Dustin Hines
• Monica Bolton
• Andrew Murtishaw
• Austin Boren

All of our 2017 Brain Bee participants and our three judges in the back (Dr. Hyman, Austin Boren, Dr. Hines).

Congratulations to our three winners: Taylor, Sona, and Lucia.

Congratulations Dr. Bolton!

Monica successfully defended her dissertation and is officially Dr. Bolton now! Congratulations, Dr. Bolton!

Dr. Bolton at her public defense.

Society for Neuroscience 2016 Annual Meeting

Another busy year for the Kinney Lab at the Society for Neuroscience 2016 Annual Meeting. This year we had just two poster presentations. Monica Bolton presented some of her dissertation research in a poster titled, "An Evaluation of GABA-B receptors in modulating inflammation." Andrew Murtishaw presented some of his dissertation pilot data in a poster called, "The effects of insulin impairments in CX3CR1 knockout mice on dementia-related pathology and neuroinflammation,"

Per tradition, we were able to coordinate a Kinney Lab dinner with our current lab members and many previous lab members — our Kinney Lab family tree is certainly growing every year. 

Monica Bolton in front of her 2016 SfN poster.

Dr. Kinney standing in for Andrew Murtishaw's 2016 SfN while Andrew took off for a little bit to track down another poster/presentation that he didn't want to miss. Thanks Dr. Kinney!

Kinney Lab Family Dinner with current and former lab members. Left to right: Michael Langhardt, Jon Sabbagh, Dr. Kinney, Austin Boren, Krystal Belmonte, Stephanie Nagl, Andrew Murtishaw, Monica Bolton, Chelcie Heaney, Christy Magcalas

Michael Langhardt, Andrew Murtishaw, Christy Magcalas, Sheida Rabipour, Monica Bolton, Chelcie Heaney — all being great allies and supporting Andrew at the SfN LGBT Social that he hosts every year.

COBRE CNTN 1st Annual Meeting

We had the pleasure of getting together with other researchers working on our COBRE grant here in Southern Nevada, as well as those working on a separate COBRE up at the University of Nevada, Reno, in our first annual COBRE Meeting held at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Among the many speakers were Dr. Jeff Cummings from the Cleveland Clinic, who oversees the COBRE grant, and Dr. Bruce Lamb, from the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, whom we work closely with on several aspects of this grant.

Members from our lab highlighted our role in this grant, work currently underway, as well as data that has already been collected. Dr. Kinney gave a talk on the translational work that we are doing to bridge some of the gaps between clinical studies and animal research, Monica Bolton gave a short presentation on the project she is currently working on from her dissertation research, and Andrew Murtishaw displayed a poster on some of his previous work.

Dr. Jefferson Kinney presenting at the COBRE CNTN 1st Annual Meeting.

Monica Bolton presenting data from her dissertation research.

Monica Bolton Elected Student Councilor of International Behavioral Neuroscience Society

Monica Bolton was elected as the 2017 Student Councilor for the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society. Monica was nominated, along with several other graduate and post-doctoral students from across the world, for the position and was ultimately elected to the post following member-wide voting. Monica's dedication and many years of service to IBNS has been noticed by the members and rightfully resulted in her being elected.

Monica Bolton Receives Travel Award

Monica Bolton has been selected to receive a travel award by Amgen to attend the 2016 National Biotechnology Conference to present some of her recent work on ketamine and mTOR signaling. Additionally, Monica has been asked to moderate the session "Pre-existing antibody risk assessment and mitigation strategies" and also to be a contributing writer for their blog with a piece entitled, "From Drug Abuse to a Glimpse Into Depression."

Congratulations, Monica! 

Brain Awareness Outreach — Wallin Elementary & Kitty Ward Elementary

Volunteers from Dr. Kinney's Neurobiology of Disease & Behavior Lab and The H.i.v.e (Hyman's in vivo electrophysiology) Lab spent a couple of days teaching fourth grade students at Kitty Ward Elementary (April 11) and Wallin Elementary (May 2) all about the brain.

If you are interested with having our group come to your school for a Brain Awareness Outreach event, please contact Dr. James Hyman at james.hyman@unlv.edu.

Monica Bolton leads a group discussion on the different cerebral lobes at Kitty Ward Elementary.

Monica Bolton and Taylor Guthrie lead a group activity with Kitty Ward Elementary students. 

Andrew Murtishaw Named 2015-2016 Outstanding Graduate Teacher of the Year

Andrew Murtishaw was selected as the 2015-2016 UNLV Outstanding Graduate Teacher of the Year. The selection was multi-tiered with Andrew originally put forward as the UNLV College of Liberal Arts' nominee before being selected from that pool of nominees from each college as the overall winner.

Las Vegas Brain Bee 2016

Congratulations to Jay for winning the Las Vegas Brain Bee 2016!

Students from several Las Vegas high schools competed on February 20, 2016 for an all-expense-paid trip to Baltimore to compete in the USA National Brain Bee. The winner of the USA National Brain Bee will receive an all-expense-paid trip to compete in the International Brain Bee, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Thank you to our judges and to all the volunteers involved with Nevada Brain Bee. More importantly, thank you to all of our high school participants! 

UNLV Faculty and Graduate Students who participated in the 2016 Las Vegas Brain Bee:

• Dr. James Hyman
• Dr. Dustin Hines
• Monica Bolton
• Andrew Murtishaw
• Ryan Wirt

The judges (Monica Bolton, Dr. Hyman, Dr. Hines) deliberate during the brain bee.

Winners and judges of Las Vegas Brain Bee 2016.

Dr. Kinney Speaks About Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Kinney gave a talk at the Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine (NIPM) 2016 Annual Retreat on Feb. 12, 2016. Dr. Kinney discussed Alzheimer's disease and some of the results from our recent publication with the Cleveland Clinic involving bexarotene, a drug that may potentially be used in the fight against Alzheimer's disease . 

New Publication — Double-blind, Placebo Controlled, Proof-of-Concept Trial of Bexarotene in Moderate Alzheimer's Disease