Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases, sponsored by Plexon Neurotechnology Systems
The Center for Paralysis Research hosts a seminar event each semester as a way to bring the neuroscience community at Purdue together to build collaborations and foster deeper research. The series brings researchers together from various backgrounds including neuroscience, biomedical engineering, auditory science, drug delivery, and more. Since its founding in 2017 by Dr. Riyi Shi, the seminar fosters a multidisciplinary community that aims to expand domestic and international relations for further research collaborations and funding projects. The combination of academic and research institutes has resulted in long-lasting impacts on neurotrauma research.
Fall 2025
A Conceptual Ecology of the Engram: Using Philosophical Tools at the Intersection of Neuroscience and Memory
November 12 | Sarah K. Robins, Ph.D. (Professor of Philosophy; Co-Director, Cognition, Agency, and Intelligence Center, Purdue University)
Sponsors and Supporters
This seminar series is made possible by our generous sponsors and supporters.
Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience
Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery
We would also like to thank Plexon for their generous support of our seminar series from 2021-2024!
Archives
Please note that recordings are not available after Fall 2023.
Spring 2025
The Spring 2025 Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases was an abbreviated session featuring two distinguished speakers: Dr. Ananth Grama and Dr. Aaron Bowman, both from Purdue University.
Modeling persistent and chronic effects of neurodevelopmental exposures in human stem cells derived neurons
April 30 | Aaron Bowman, Ph.D. (Dean, College of Health and Human Sciences; Professor, School of Health Sciences, Purdue University)
Computational Analysis of Neuronal Responses to Naturalistic Stimuli
March 26 | Ananth Grama, Ph.D. (Samuel Conte Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Purdue University)
Fall 2024
The Fall 2024 Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases featured six speakers, from Purdue University, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, and Eli Lilly.
Intersection of brain organoids and AI
November 20 | Feng Guo, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Intelligent Systems Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington)
Designing AI-driven Behaviorally-Intelligent Agents: Modeling Motion, Interactions, and Collaborations
November 6 | Aniket Bera, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Director, IDEAS Lab, Purdue University)
The Assembly and Disassembly of the Visual Nervous System in Health and Disease
October 23 | Patrick Kerstein, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, School of Health Sciences, Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University)
A journey from basic neuroscientist to clinical oncologist to leading Lilly Oncology/Hematology drug development efforts
October 14 | Negin Ashki, MD, Ph.D. (Senior Medical Director, Global/US Medical Affairs-Oncology, Eli Lilly and Company)
Cortical homeostatic plasticity in the mechanism and treatment of posttraumatic epilepsy and neuropathic pain
September 25 | Xiaoming Jin, Ph.D. (Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Stark Neuroscience Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine)
Enhanced Neuromodulation for Sensation and Therapy
September 18 | Kevin Otto, Ph.D. (Dane A. Miller Head and Professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University)
Spring 2024
The Spring 2024 Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases featured six distinguished speakers from Purdue University, IU Health Medical Center, Temple University, and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Compensatory adaptation mediated by rehabilitation promotes skilled forelimb recovery after spinal cord injury
April 24 | George Smith, Ph.D. (Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Neural Sciences; Interim Director, Shriners Children Hospitals Pediatric Research Center; Professor of Bioengineering, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Management of spinal trauma and spinal cord injury
April 17 | David W. Stockwell, MD, FAANS (Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery, Medical Director, Spine Surgery, IU Health Medical Center, Methodist Neurosurgery Section Chief)
Image-Based Models of Cerebral Flow Dynamics and Biomechanics
April 3 | Vitaliy L. Rayz, Ph.D. (Associate Professor and Associate Head of Academic Programs, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering; Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University)
Tackling Alzheimer’s disease using human iPSC-based neuro-immune organoids and human-mouse chimeric brains
March 20 | Ranjie Xu, Ph.D. (Assistant Professor of Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University)
α-synuclein modulates DP-43 phase transitions to induce heterotypic amyloids – Implications in Neurodegenerative diseases
February 21 | Vijay Rangachari, Ph.D. (Professor of Biophysical Chemistry, University of Southern Mississippi)
This special seminar was collaboratively hosted by CPR and the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience!
Unexpected new animal models of neuromuscular diseases
February 7 | Shihuan Kuang, Ph.D. (Cancer Center Chair in Stem Cell Biology, Professor of Animal Sciences, Purdue University)
Fall 2023
The Fall 2023 Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases featured six distinguished speakers from Purdue University, Indiana University School of Medicine, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine, and the University of Tokyo.
Conversion of proteins into DNA mimetics by reactive aldehydes
November 29, 2023 | Koji Uchida, Ph.D., Professor of Food Chemistry, The University of Tokyo
Unraveling the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling activity-dependent myelin formation and restoration in the central nervous system
October 25, 2023 | Wenjing Sun, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University
Civilian Gunshot Wounds and Neurotrauma
October 18, 2023 | Richard Rodgers, MD, Neurosurgeon, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine
Decoding the Vagus Nerve
October 4, 2023 | Matthew P. Ward, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine
Tellurene wearable sensors
September 20, 2023 | Wenzhuo Wu, Ph.D., Ravi and Eleanor Talwar Rising Star Associate Professor, School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University
The brain's waste disposal system: how glymphatic flow happens
September 6, 2023 | Charles F. Babbs, MD, Ph.D., Founding Member of Purdue's Biomedical Engineering Center and Senior Lecturer, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Spring 2023
Spring 2023's Seminar for Neurotrauma and Diseases featured six distinguished speakers from Purdue University, UC Irvine, and Leiden University, and were presented in a hybrid in-person/virtual format.
Drug Delivery Systems: The Revolution-Evolution Cycle
April 19, 2023 | Kinam Park, PhD, Showalter Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Advances in non-invasive MRI for assessing brain physiology: hemodynamics and brain clearance
April 5, 2023 | Matthias van Osch, PhD, Professor, C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Department of Radiology, Leiden University
Detection of autonomic dysreflexia in persons with spinal cord injury using noninvasive sensors
March 22, 2023 | Brad Duerstock, PhD, Professor of Practice, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Reconstructing inhibitory circuits in an injured brain
March 8, 2023 | Robert F. Hunt, PhD, Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Director of the UCI Epilepsy Research Center, UC Irvine
This special seminar was collaboratively hosted by CPR and the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience!
How movements during sleep teach infant brains how their bodies move
February 22, 2023 | Jimmy Dooley, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University
Towards understanding persistent molecular markers after traumatic injuries
February 8, 2023 | Chongli Yuan, PhD, Charles Davidson Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University
Fall 2022
Fall 2022's seminar series hosted seven speakers from Purdue University, Oxford University, and the University of Pittsburgh, with two seminars hosted in-person and the other five held on Zoom.
Targeting stem cells in neuromuscular diseases
November 30, 2022 | Shihuan Kuang, PhD, Cancer Center Chair in Stem Cell Biology, Professor of Animal Sciences, Purdue University
Cryo-EM structural characterization of amyloid fibrils in neurodegenerative diseases
November 9, 2022 | Wen Jiang, PhD, Professor of Biological Sciences, Scientific Director of Purdue Cryo-EM Facility, Purdue University
Targeted therapies for inflammatory, malignant and infectious diseases
November 2, 2022 | Philip Low, PhD, Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery, Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University
The neuron, a firing machine or a multiphysics system?
October 19, 2022 | Antoine Jérusalem, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Oxford University
Halide Perovskite Electronics, Optoelectronics, Photonics - Room for Biosensing?
October 5, 2022 | Letian Dou, PhD, Charles Davidson Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University
Tackling human neurological disorders via neuro-immune lens: harnessing the power of human induced pluripotent stem cells-based brain organoids and human-mouse chimeras
September 21, 2022 | Ranjie Xu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University
Toward precision medicine for post-TBI cognitive, affective, and psychosocial dysfunction: a translational engineering, neuroscience, and clinical perspective
September 7, 2022 | Nicholas Race, MD, PhD, Resident Physician-Scientist, University of Pittsburgh School of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Spring 2022
Spring 2022's seminar series hosted six speakers from Purdue University, Harvard University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Controlled Drug Release and Medical Gas Therapy for SCI: Targeting Recovery Neurobiology Mechanisms
April 20, 2022 | Yang D. Teng, MD, PhD, Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard University, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Contributions of the retrosplenial cortex to learning and memory throughout the lifespan
April 6, 2022 | Sydney Trask, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University
Effects of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss on the Neural Coding of Speech
March 23, 2022 | Michael Heinz, PhD, Professor of Speech, Hearing, and Language Sciences, Purdue University
Exploring Synuclein Dependent Neurodegeneration
March 9, 2022 | Allison Schaser, PhD, Assistant Professor of Speech, Hearing, and Language Sciences, Purdue University
The superior colliculus combines tactile cues with an internal model of self-motion to localize objects
February 23, 2022 | Scott Pluta, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University
Nature's Unifying Theories and How They Can Be Used For Good
February 9, 2022 | Philip LeDuc, PhD, William J. Brown Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Fall 2021
Fall 2021's series hosted seven speakers from Purdue University, Harvard University, and Oxford University.
Understand Fluid Dynamics in the Brain Using MRI
December 1, 2021 | Yunjie Tong, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Brain multiphysics
November 17, 2021 | Antoine Jérusalem, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Oxford University
Imaging neuroinflammation
November 3, 2021 | John Chen, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Institute for Innovation in Imaging; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School; Radiologist, Massachusetts General Hospital
Identifying global targets of senescence and neurological diseases by functional proteomics
October 20, 2021 | Uma Aryal, PhD, Research Assistant Professor and Director, Proteomics Facility, Purdue University
Neuroimaging of toxicity in humans: Neurotransmitters and metals
October 6, 2021 | Ulrike Dydak, PhD, Professor of Health Sciences; Director, Purdue Life Sciences MFRI Facility; Associate Director, Women's Global Health Institute, Purdue University
Novel neurotechnologies for mapping brain circuits activity in health and disease
September 22, 2021 | Krishna Jayant, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Sodium channel Nav1.2 related autism and epilepsy: From mouse models to iPSCs models and potential implications in TBI
September 8, 2021 | Yang Yang , PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University
Spring 2021
The Spring 2021 series, hosted by Plexon for the first time, brought in eight speakers from Purdue University, Harvard University, and Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine.
Gene bytoxicant interactions in neurological disease
April 28, 2021 | Aaron Bowman, Professor and Head, School of Health and Human Sciences, Purdue University
Functional proteins in extracellular vesicles as potential biomarkers for neurological diseases
April 14, 2021 | Andy Tao, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Purdue University
Trauma network design: Approaches for provision of prompt and definitive care
March 31, 2021 | Nan Kong, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue University
Axon regeneration and function recovery after CNS injury
March 17, 2021 | Zhigang He, PhD, Professor of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Investigating CNS trauma with both human and experimental pig model
March 10, 2021 | Richard B. Rodgers, MD, Neurosurgeon, Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine Neurosurgery Group
Protein stability under mechanical stress
March 3, 2021 | Tonglei Li, PhD, Allen Chao Professor of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, Purdue University
AMPylation - a novel post-translational modification in neurodegeneration
February 17, 2021 | Seema Mattoo, PhD, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Purdue University
A multi-faceted approach to addressing the problem of protein aggregation in neurodegenerative disease
February 3, 2021 | Chris Rochet, PhD, Professor and John and Donna Krenicki Director of Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University
