NeuroFest 2022 Celebrates 30 Years of Neuroscience Innovation

(DAVIS) The Center for Neuroscience (CNS) kicked off its 30th anniversary by hosting NeuroFest 2022: Celebrating 30 Years of Neuroscience Innovation on Saturday, March 12, 2022, at the UC Davis Conference Center.

NeuroFest attendees of all ages enjoyed an afternoon of neuroscience-themed exhibits and programs to include, NeuroActivities interactive booths, a NeuroArt Contest exhibit, the popular NeuroBlitz Competition by UC Davis graduate students and stimulating talks by renowned UC Davis neuroscientists.

“Educational outreach events like NeuroFest give us an opportunity to share the latest neuroscience research with our community and inspire the next generation of neuroscientists,” said Kimberley McAllister, director of the Center for Neuroscience and Professor of Neurology  and Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. “NeuroFest is important because it brings the UC Davis neuroscience community together."

Celebrating 30 Years of Neuroscience Innovation

In honor of CNS's 30th anniversary, NeuroFest presenters gave an overview of the advancements made in their neuroscience subfields over the past three decades, presented their research and discussed future breakthroughs and new treatments on the horizon. Click the talk titles below to watch recordings of the presentations: 

• David Segal, Ph.D. — Gene Editing Comes of Age: New Treatment for Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Christina Kim, Ph.D. — Transforming the Study of Mental Health: Using Light to Control Brain Activity and Behavior
• Kimberley McAllister, Ph.D. — Neuroplasticity and Neurodegeneration: NextGen Strategies for Improving Memory and Treating Dementia
• Sergey Stavisky, Ph.D. — Restoring Movement and Communication with Brain-Computer Interfaces

NeuroBlitz Competition: My Research in Three Minutes

A NeuroFest fan favorite, the NeuroBlitz Competition, gives graduate students the opportunity to hone their presentation skills and present their research to a general audience. Each trainee has only three-minutes to give an elevator pitch-style presentation of their research for a chance to win $200. This year's NeuroBlitz Competition contestants, Jessie Badley, Lukas Skuja and Stephanie Lozano, did an amazing job, and the competition was extremeley close. Congratulations to Lukas Skuja, who won this year's NeuroBlitz Competition!

Watch the following students compete in the 2022 NeuroBlitz Competition:

• Jessie Badley (Lein Lab) New Insights into the Effects of PCBs on Brain Cell Development
• Lukas Skuja (Lein Lab) The Role of the Immune System in Neurodegeneration
• Stephanie Lozano’s (Nord Lab) Using RNA-Sequencing to Study a Mouse Model of Autism

 

NeuroActivities Interactive Booths

Throughout the afternoon, NeuroFest attendees explored NeuroActivities, 14 hands-on interactive booths, led by UC Davis neuroscience graduate student volunteers.

“My favorite thing about NeuroFest was how enthusiastic and welcoming all of the booths were, thanks to the wonderful volunteers running them,” said Becca Wilson, 5th year Neuroscience Graduate Group Student and NeuroFest 2022 Committee Member. “It was so fun directly interacting with people at the Mind Your Muscles booth and seeing the looks on their faces when their arm movement caused my arm to move.”

 

NeuroArt Contest 2022 Winners

The eight finalists in this year's NeuroArt contest were displayed in a NeuroArt exhibit, and NeuroFest attendees voted for their favorite three images. Congratulations to the winners of the NeuroArt Contest 2022!: 1st Place: Danielle Beckman, Ph.D./Morrison Lab; 2nd Place: Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D./Knoepfler Lab; and 3rd Place: Cheyanne Lewis/Griffith Lab.
 

CNS Community Outreach Program Endowment

NeuroFest is held each March during Brain Awareness Week, a global effort organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and the Society for Neuroscience to promote the public and personal benefits of brain research. In addition to NeuroFest, UC Davis faculty and graduate students also bring neuroscience to the classroom, making presentations and providing hands-on activities to K-12 students throughout the region. Gifts to the CNS Community Outreach Program Endowment will help the Center for Neuroscience reach their goal of $75,000 to permanently endow this program to enable community outreach activities for generations to come and provide equipment, materials, and resources for meaningful learning experiences to the community in perpetuity.

Save the date for 2023!: Next year, NeuroFest will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2023.   

 

Media Resources

Media contact: Kimberly Cummings

kpcummings@ucdavis.edu