2026 UVA Brain Symposium Poster Session
Wednesday, May 20 | 3:15–5:15pm
The 2026 Brain Symposium is seeks to showcase groundbreaking neuroscience research at the University of Virginia and enhance the UVA neuroscience community, including through a poster session featuring researchers from across UVA.
Session A
3:15–4:15pm
1
Deciphering the role of bacterial extracellular vesicle metabolites in Alzheimer’s Disease
Samuel Wachamo
3
Regional Immuno-milleiu drives changes to Functional Connecitivty in an Alzheimer's Disease Context
Dennis Chan
4A
Comparing intratracheal and intraperitoneal injections of lipopolysaccharide at 48 hours in terms of microglial and capillary interactions
Mackayla Raynor
6A
Progesterone receptors regulate migraine susceptibility through delta opioid receptor signaling.
Daniel Etcheberrigaray
7
Targeting Mutant SOD1-Mediated Proteotoxicity in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) via Proteasome Activation
Bolade Ajibola
10
The Impact of Amyloid-β oligomers formed in the presence of GM1 on Insulin Receptor–AKT/PI3K–GSK3β signaling axis in Alzheimer's Disease
Kaifeng Wang
12
Prognostic Utility of Neuroimaging in Infants with Cramped Synchronized General Movements
Megan Trejo
14
The Effects of APOE Genotype on the Efficacy of Mitochondria-Targeted Potential Alzheimer's Disease Drug Therapeutics
Rachel Mulavelil
15
Testing a Model of Respiratory Infection on the Relationship Between Capillaries and Microglia at the 24 Hour Time Point
Allison Rubinstein
18
Behavioral Outcomes in a Mouse Model of Febrile Status Epilepticus
Everett Altherr
19A
Developmental changes in somatosensory cortical progesterone and estrogen receptor expression: Implications for migraine susceptibility
Phoebe van den Oord
21
The relationship between external attention and the encoding state
Subin Han
22
Identifying neuronal population-level activity changes in the development of viral infection-induced epilepsy
Laura Bell
23
Experience-Dependent Model-Based Syllabic Prediction in the Avian Auditory Pallium
Bao Le
25
Narrative Medicine as Emotional Processing: Neural Responses During Illness Narrative Creation
Nanaki Preet Kaur Bawa
27
Cocaine Increases Dopamine Signaling in the adult Drosophila melanogaster Mushroom Body
Samantha A. Webster
29
Beyond Spatial Navigation: dCA1 Population Dynamics Represent Abstract Reward Choices
Lizzie Zhang
31A
Modality Matters: Optimizing Temporal Summation Protocols for Mechanistic Pain Research
Eshal Farooq
32A
Affective Analgesia Without Alpha Modulation: Divergent Neural Dynamics in Healthy Adults and Knee Osteoarthritis
Sejal Mohapatra
33
Early default mode network connectivity predicts the emergence of social Smiling and Laughter: A longitudinal fNIRS study
Olivia Allison
34A
Postnatal serotonin depletion results in deficit in persistent ultrasonic vocalization rate
Michael Murphy, Abrielle Robare
35
Protection-Associated Schwann Cells (PASCs): A Novel Early Response State Preserving Axons After Peripheral Nerve Injury
Jingxuan Guo
37
Developmental Origins of Internalizing Risk: Functional Connectivity in Early Childhood and the Intergenerational Impact of Adversity
Halle Miller
39
Effects of Kinesin Kif20b Loss on Postnatal Cortical Neurons and Astrocytes in a Mosaic Model
Mariia Oliinyk
41
Dscamb regulates glial tiling during nervous system development
Brianna Peskin Gifford
43
TNFR1 signaling in neuroimmune control of Toxoplasma gondii infection
Abigail Kelly
44A
Microglia and Capillary Responses to Systemic LPS in Adulthood
May Zang
45
Associations between Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Neural Discrimination of Auditory Stimuli
Leslie Murphy
47
Investigating the Role of Ferroptosis in Epilepsy
Eric Steacy
49
Arl13b shapes olfactory glomerular structure and synapsing, potentially via modulation of protocadherin expression
Robert Campbell
51
Cellular context matters: Use of a genetic mosaic mouse model to identify autonomous and non-autonomous effects of a cytokinesis gene mutation in the developing cortex
Hayley Dingsdale
52A
Concussion Awareness in Young Adults: A Pre- and Post-Injury Perspective
Nora Fotuhi
53
BRD4 Is Required for Developmental Angiogenesis and Its Inhibition Extends Survival in a CRISPR-Based Mouse Model of Glioblastoma
William Gillespie
55
Exploring the role of oligodendrocyte mitochondrial DNA stress signaling in multiple sclerosis
Emily Golden
57
Astrocytic but not Microglial Antigen Presentation Shapes Protective Immunity to Toxoplasma gondii Neuroinfection
Sydney A. Labuzan
59
Connexin 43 controls astrocyte organization and growth in the developing zebrafish spinal cord
Lauren Jung
61
Midbrain computations of visual motion in the superior colliculus
Jiale Ren
62A
Isolating dexmedetomidine's glymphatic effect: independent comparison with isoflurane, ketamine, and combination anesthesia
Abdulrahman Algantiry
63
Oxygen-Plasma Activated Pyrolyzed Parylene Electrodes for the Detection of Cationic Dopamine, Anionic Ascorbic Acid, and DOPAC
Rhoda Asiamah
65
Midbrain hyperexcitability as a mechanism of seizure-induced apnea
Crystal Dezha-Bolteada
67
GPX4 Regulates Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cell-Mediated Immune Modulation and Differentiation in Multiple Sclerosis
Ruonan Duan
69
Seizures induce an astrocyte state change via cFos activation
Madison Failor
71
Energy-based Slab Profile Encoding for 3D Multi-slab Diffusion-weighted Imaging (EPEN)
Reza Ghorbani
73
Investigating the role of cortex glia in controlling neural stem cell behavior
Sagar Kasar
76
Dissociable effects of a complex acoustical environment during development
Robert Williams
77
Seizures Decrease Central CO2 Chemoreception in a Mouse Model of Scn8a Epilepsy
Talia K. Marc
79
Electrochemical detection of serotonin in sert mutant Drosophila larvae
Emily Miller, Jeff Copeland, B. Jill Venton
81
Metabolic β-hydroxybutyrate signaling suppresses neuronal excitability through GIRK channel activation
Soudabeh Naderi
83
Mapping the Dynamic Proteome of Brain Aging and Tauopathy in Wild Type and PS19 Mice via In Vivo Proximity Labeling
Shuo Yuan
84A
Region-Specific GLP-1R Neural Dynamics During Feeding
Orien Li
Session B
4:15–5:15pm
2
Exploring pathological factors that initiate oligodendrocyte-derived amyloid beta production and disrupt myelination in Alzheimer's disease
Julianna King
4B
Dual Chemical Modulation of the Wnt Signaling Pathway in Danio rerio Embryos: Lithium Chloride Mitigates FH535 Toxicity During Gastrulation
Vani Gupta
5
Age-Related Social Memory Dysfunction is Associated with Diminished Perineuronal Nets in the Hippocampal CA2 Region
Jacqueline M. Moats
6B
Review of Literature: In adult surgical populations in critical care settings, does the use of a dynamic delirium prediction model impact early recognition of delirium?
Tuyet Chuong, Regina DeGennaro
8
The Alzheimer’s Disease Genetic Risk Factor RIN3 Acts in Microglia to Restrain Neuroinflammation and Neuropathology
Benjamin Wendell
9
Investigating the Neuroinflammatory Response in Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (bAVMs)
Kandace Moore
11
Linear and B-tensor Encoding Comparison for Diffusion Microstructure Parameter Estimation on Ultra High Performance Gradient
Mahsa Rajabi
13
Lipid metabolism drivers of Alzheimer’s disease risk: APOE and ABCA7
Dana A. May
16
APOE Genotype-Dependent Regulation of Glial Metabolism in Alzheimer's Disease
Deborah Olagbenro
17
Effects of Short-term vs. Long-term Inhibition of the Serotonin Transporter SERT on Intracellular Serotonin and Induced Serotonin Release
Simi Chakravarty, Lucas Musico
19B
Innovative ApoE4 Neuron-Glial Brain Assembloids Identify IGFBP as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Alzheimer’s Disease
Eliana Sherman
20
Assessing Pericyte Bridging in Brain and Retina of Alzheimer’s Disease, Diabetes, and a Comorbid Model
Tess Eluvathingal Muttikkal
24
Toward Reliable Biomarkers of Pain Inhibition: A Laser-Evoked Potential Study of Conditioned Pain Modulation
Aryan Mhaskar
26
Social support, physiological regulation, and task performance in minimally/nonspeaking autistic adolescents and adults
Kayden M. Stockwell
28
Craving Mediates the Association between Sleep Disruption and Opioid Use in Chronic Low Back Pain
Eleanor Blair Towers
30
Early-life infection and immune signaling perturb development
Omina Nazarzoda
31B
Towards Reliable Pain Phenotyping: Laser-Evoked Potentials Preserve Conditioned Pain Modulation Across Experimental Orders
Averie Jacobson
32B
Deconstructing Temporal Summation: Dissociating the Probability and Magnitude of Pain Facilitation
Maggie Shi
34B
The Microbiome Modulates Critical Period Plasticity in the Visual System of Drosophila Larvae
Grace Burke
36
Integrating structure-function coupling across multiple connectivity domains
Isaac Levy
38
Oligodendrocyte Lineage Cell Dynamics and Myelination in SCN8A DEE
Gabriel Miller-Oskolkoff
40
Evaluating Focused Ultrasound as a Non-invasive Strategy for Delivering AAV Gene Therapy in Rett Syndrome
Denise Pahang
42
Leveraging imaging mass cytometry to quantify the contributions of intermediate filaments to sensory neuron development
Isaiah Swann
44B
Perinatal Insult Results in Disparate Behavioral Phenotypes in Mice
Mya Marquez, Eva Portillo, Abrielle Robare, Rachel Woods
46
Developing a method for the spatially resolved detection of neuroactive steroids in rat brain tissue using desorption electrospray mass spectrometry imaging
Adrian Coello
48
How Brain Maturation Shapes Mechanical Response: Age‑Specific Computational Modeling of Pediatric Brain Deformation
Gabriella Wynn
50
Characterization of a novel SEL1L ERAD mutation causing neurological and developmental disorders in humans
Jason Zexin Li
52B
Role of Junctional Adhesion Molecules in Central Nervous System (CNS) Developmental Myelin Targeting
Anna Kutelia
54
Combination CD40 and TLR3 agonism drives durable anti-tumor immunity through cDC1-mediated intracranial and peripheral CD8+ T cell stimulation in a murine model of glioblastoma.
Claire Ann Conarroe
56
Role of Jam3a in Myelin Targeting and Growth in the Developing Central Nervous System.
Andrew Perl
58
SHP-1 loss enhances microglial immune functions and reduces Aβ plaque burden via MMP-12-mediated degradation in Aβ amyloidosis
Joshua D. Samuels
60
A Single-Cell Signaling Atlas of Spinal Cord BDNF Responses Reveals Determinants Beyond Receptor Expression
Jonathon M. Sewell
62B
Oligodendrocyte tmem125b Regulates CNS Myelin Targeting and Growth
Andrew Latimer
64
A Rapid Kindling Model of Seizure-Induced Apnea to Investigate the Brainstem’s Role in Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy
Selena Garcia DuBar
66
GLP-1R Neurons in Homeostatic and Hedonic Feeding
Chloe Guo
68
Lactate potentiantes NMDAR-mediaited excitability in dentate granule cells
Daphne Gyamfi
70
Cerebral Metabolism and Cerebral Oxygen Tension in Brain Hemorrhage and Alzheimer Disease Animal Models: A non-invasive 2-photon FLIM and PLIM microscopy approach
Vijay Kumar Sagar
72
niBuild: Enabling Construction of FAIR Multimodal Neuroimaging Data Workflows
Kunaal Agarwal
74
Predicting individual differences in 18-month motor, cognitive, and language development from neonatal functional connectivity.
Ethan Ding, Mia Tan, Samantha Stewart
75
Associations of Perceived Social Status and Socioeconomic Factors with Preterm Infants EEG
Ziyi Diana Zhang
78
Sex Differences in Cue-Induced Fentanyl Seeking and Ketamine Treatment Effects During Withdrawal
Abhinaya Kodali, Raiya Nathan, Reena Sayani
80
IL1RAP-Dependent Alarmin Signaling Supports Protective Neuroimmune Responses in Chronic Toxoplasma gondii Infection
Annie Marchildon
82
Micro-scale Cerebrovascular Finite Element Modeling Reveal Hidden Amplified Strain Concentrations
Jared A. Rifkin
84B
Structural Collapse and Heightened Stress: Investigating the Importance for Peripherin in Regenerating Axons
Maxwell Lu