Weekly Seminars
The Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology conducts a weekly seminar series during the spring and fall semesters, wherein we enjoy presentations from national and international experts in their respective fields. The seminar series covers wide-ranging topics including central nervous system (CNS) circuit function, CNS injury and repair, glial cell biology and molecular mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders.
All seminars are open to interested faculty, postdocs, staff and students, and we welcome your attendance.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will conduct our spring 2021 seminars virtually. We look forward to engaging with even more participants now that you can Zoom in from the comfort of your own home or office.
You must have a registered Zoom account in order to access these seminars. For the Zoom meeting link for these virtual seminars, please contact Sharon Toussaint (sharon.toussaint@vcuhealth.org).
January 29, 2021
Genetic and Metal Neurotoxicant Interactions in Neurological Disease
Speaker: Aaron Bowman, PhD, Professor and Head
School of Health Sciences, Purdue University
Host: Andrew Ottens
February 5, 2021
Targeting Microglia in Neurodevelopment Injury and Disorders
Speaker: Ukpong Eyo, PhD, Assistant Professor
Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia
Host: Audrey Lafrenaye
February 12, 2021
Title To Be Announced
Speaker: John Povlishock, PhD, Professor and Chair
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Host: Andrew Ottens
February 19, 2021
Tuning Cortical Microcircuits by Myelination
Speaker: Maarten Kole, PhD, Professor and Department Head
Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Utrecht University
Host: Kimberle Jacobs
February 26, 2021
Target-specific Delivery of CRISPR/Cas Genome Editors to Fight Virus Infection
Speaker: Wenhui Hu, MD, PhD, Associate Professor
Center for Metabolic Disease Research, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University
Host: Dong Sun
March 5, 2021
Steady-State Intracellular pH and the Recovery from NH4+-Induced Acidosis in Rat Hippocampal Neurons and Astrocytes: A New Look on the Analysis
Speaker: Vernon Ruffin, PhD, Assistant Professor
Department of Natural Sciences, Virginia Union University
Host: Kelly Harrell
March 26, 2021
Using Human iPSCs to Model the Neurodevelopmental Impact of Drug Exposure
Speaker: Kimberly Christian, PhD, Research Assistant Professor
Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Host: Pam Knapp
April 9, 2021
Sex Differences in Striatal Neurons
Speaker: John Meitzen, PhD, Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University
Host: Peter Hamilton
April 16, 2021
Using Transcriptional Regulation of the Glutamate Transporter 1 (GLT-1) to Define Mechanisms that Contribute to Astrocyte Development
Speaker: Zila Martinez-Lozada, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania
Host: Babette Fuss
April 23, 2021
Magic Mushrooms: New Hope for the Treatment of Depression?
Speaker: Javier Gonzalez-Maeso, PhD, Professor
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Host: Babette Fuss
April 30, 2021
Early Life Origins of Risk and Resilience: Exploring Sex Differences following Neuroinflammation
Speaker: Amanda Kentner, PhD, Associate Professor
Department of Psychology, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Host: Gretchen Neigh
May 7, 2021
CSF Peptidome Marks Dysfunction at the Neurovascular Unit and Hyperexcitation following Pulmonary Exposure to Carbon Nanotubes
Speaker: Ekaterina Mostovenko, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Host: Andrew Ottens
For more information, please contact:

Andrew K. Ottens, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Andrew K. Ottens, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Phone: 804-628-2972
Fax: 804-828-9477
Email: andrew.ottens@vcuhealth.org