Cornell Neurotech lecture to feature Caltech scientist
Renowned neuroscientist David J. Anderson of the California Institute of Technology will discuss the relationship between brain circuitry and behaviors in the 2019 Cornell Neurotech Mong Family Foundation Lecture.
The talk will be held Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. in the Biotechnology Building, with a reception to follow. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Anderson’s talk is titled “Neural Circuits Controlling Innate Social and Defensive Behaviors.” A professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech, Anderson is director of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Anderson’s most recent work, in studies using mice and fruit flies, tackles how brains generate social behaviors. His lab works to understand how fundamental properties common to emotional states, such as arousal, are encoded in the circuitry and chemistry of the brain, and how these internal states combine with sensory stimuli to elicit specific emotional behaviors.
“Dr. Anderson is at the very top of individuals throughout the world studying how brains work,” said Joseph Fetcho, Director of Cornell Neurotech-Arts and Sciences and professor of neurobiology and behavior. “He is a clear thinker and wonderful speaker, so it will be a real treat to listen to his insights into how brains control social and defensive behaviors.”
“We hope the talk will bring researchers across a broad spectrum together, generate new excitement on brain research and stimulate new interdisciplinary collaborations,” said Chris Xu, the Mong Family Foundation Director of Cornell Neurotech-Engineering and professor of applied and engineering physics.
Cornell Neurotech launched in 2015 as a joint initiative between the College of Arts and Sciences and Cornell Engineering, funded by a seed grant from the Mong Family Foundation through Stephen Mong ’92, M.Eng. ’93, MBA ’02. The gift was intended to catalyze collaborative efforts across campus at the interface of technology and brain, as well as bring individuals at the forefront of neurotechnology to campus.
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/09/cornell-neurotech-lecture-feature-caltech-scientist
2018 Mong Family Foundation Symposium
The Third Annual Cornell Neurotech
Mong Family Foundation Symposium 2018
Thursday, September 27
Biotechnology Building, Room G10
| 1:30 pm | Opening remarks – Andrew Bass, Cornell University Senior Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences | |
| 1:40 pm | Welcome and Speaker introduction – Chris Xu | |
| 1:45 pm | Michale Fee – Massachusetts Institute of Technology “Music in the Brain: How Neural Circuits in the Songbird Learn to Sing” |
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| 2:45 pm | Coffee Break | |
| 3:05 pm | Gail Mandel – Vollum Institute, OHSU “How Close Are We to Curing Multi-Cellular Neurological Diseases: Lessons from Rett Syndrome” |
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| 4:05 pm | Kamil Ugurbil – University of Minnesota “Imaging Function and Connectivity in the Human Brain withHigh Magnetic Fields: Spanning Scales from Cortical Columns to the Whole Brain” |
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| 5:05 pm | Concluding remarks – Joe Fetcho | |
| 5:10 pm | Reception (open to all) outside G10 |
For more information email: neurotech@cornell.edu
NeuroNex Technology Conference
Wednesday, July 18 and Thursday, July 19, 2018
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
The goal of the NSF NeuroNex initiative is to clear major technological hurdles in order to better study and understand the brain. Thank you to those who who made the 2018 NeuroNex Technology Conference possible. Please stay tuned for next year’s details. Co-organizers: Chris Xu, Joe Fetcho, Mert Sabuncu, Chris Schaffer, and Nilay Yapici. For details please visit: http://neuronex.cornell.edu
Top neuroscientists headline Mong neurotech symposium
In his opening remarks at the second annual Cornell Neurotech Mong Family Foundation Symposium Sept. 22, Cornell Provost Michael Kotlikoff said: “The goals of Cornell Neurotech are vital ones, with life-changing implications, and I am grateful to Stephen Mong and the Mong Family Foundation for enabling Cornell faculty and staff to strive toward them. Cornell Neurotech fosters connections across the Ithaca campus and our Ithaca and NYC campuses, one of our major strategies for strengthening Cornell.” Read the Full Cornell Chronicle article here.
Top neuroscientists to speak at Cornell Neurotech symposium
The second annual Cornell Neurotech Mong Family Foundation Symposium on Sept. 22 will feature three renowned neuroscientists who will discuss their research and techniques exploring the brain: Edward Boyden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Catherine Dulac, Harvard University; and Thomas Jessell, Columbia University. Cornell Provost Michael Kotlikoff will offer opening remarks. Read the full article here.
Early career scientists named 2017 Mong Fellows in Cornell Neurotech
Ten new Mong Family Foundation Fellows in Neurotech will work under the mentorship of faculty across Cornell to advance technologies that promise to provide insight into how brains work, as well as strategies to fix them when they don’t. Read the full Cornell Chronicle article here.
NeuroNex—a Radical Collaboration
An engineer and a neuroscientist gathered a group of Cornell scientists and engineers to tackle a frontier of science—the brain. Now, they form a hub.
by Jackie Swift, CornellResearch
Read the article and learn more here.
$9M grant will create neurotech research hub at Cornell
Aug. 1, 2017
By Syl Kacapyr for the Cornell Chronicle
As neuroscientists examine challenging questions about the complexities of the central nervous system, new tools to be developed at Cornell will provide them with an unprecedented glimpse into the inner workings of the brain thanks to a five-year, $9 million grant…Read the full article here.
3-photon imaging of mouse brain activity is published in Nature Methods
Dimitre G Ouzounov, Tianyu Wang, et al. record spontaneous activity from up to 150 neurons in the hippocampal stratum pyramidale at ~1-mm depth within an intact mouse brain.
Using three-photon microscopy at 1,300-nm excitation, the authors of a recently published Nature Methods paper, demonstrated that functional imaging of GCaMP6s-labeled neurons can be achieved beyond the depth of two-photon microscopy. The method creates opportunities for noninvasive recording of neuronal activity with high spatial and temporal resolution deep within scattering brain tissues.
Neurotech symposium on the brain spotlights new discoveries
Researchers plumbing the mysteries of the brain gathered to share their discoveries at the inaugural Cornell Neurotech Mong Family Foundation Symposium, Sept. 29 in the Biotechnology Building.
The daylong symposium featured three of the winners of the prestigious Brain Prize – Winfried Denk, Ph.D. ’89; Karel Svoboda ’88; and David Tank, M.S. ’80, Ph.D. ’83 – all graduates of Professor Emeritus Watt Webb’s applied physics laboratory. The three built on their work in the Webb lab to develop multiphoton microscopy as an essential tool in brain research, allowing observation of minute brain structures and dynamic brain functions in real time.
Provost Michael Kotlikoff began the day with thanks for the “extraordinary generosity” of the Mong Family Foundation, guided by Stephen Mong ’92, M.Eng. ’93, MBA ’02, which enabled the university to launch Cornell Neurotech and sponsored the symposium. Cornell Neurotech’s efforts to understand how the brain produces behavior, thoughts and feelings “are vital goals with life-changing implications, and I am grateful to Stephen Mong and the Mong Family Foundation for enabling Cornell faculty and staff to strive toward them,” Kotlikoff said.
