Research

The BRI provides multiple mechanisms to invigorate research programs and support collaborations bringing together investigators from complementary fields. These mechanisms include:

  • Organizational and fiscal support for meetings, program project and center grants, affinity groups, departmental and BRI symposia, and the weekly neuroscience seminar series. For more information, visit Events Overview.
  • Facilitation of research cores including microscopic techniques, confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy. For more information, visit Core Facilities.
  • Faculty recruitment and retention: The BRI participates in and supports faculty recruitment through BRI endowment funds and endowed Chairs, working collaboratively with UCLA departments and schools. The BRI also helps organize and staff various committees and participates in space planning.
  • Oversight of three highly-productive research facilities within the Gonda building (approximately 20,000 square feet of premium laboratory space).
  • Organization of an annual Neuroscience Poster Session on the heels of the SFN meeting to enhance intra-UCLA collaborations. The session usually has approximately 200 posters and includes a lecture from a prominent neuroscientist. Recent speakers include Yuh-Nung Jan, Ph.D. and Carol Mason, Ph.D. For more information, visit Special Events.
  • Research support via several term chairs/scholarships and donations to enhance targeted areas of research that are cutting edge and generative for the community, including the Leslie Term Chair in Innovative Brain Research, the Leslie Term Chair in Pioneering Brain Research, the Joanne and George Miller and Family Term Chair, Frances M. O’Malley Administrative Chair in Neuroscience History, and the Carol Moss Spivak Scholarship. For more information, visit Endowed Term Chairs and Scholarships.
  • Publication of the BRI newsletter, Neuroscience News, which features member faculty and researchers’ achievements and activities. For more information, visit Neuroscience News.
  • Communication of neuroscience-relevant information to the academic and lay communities.
  • Funding of basic and clinical brain related research through BRI-CTSI Team awards, and more recently the BRI Core Voucher awards.

Analyzing the contractility of Trabecular Meshwork Cells in the presence of Dexamethasone

  Emmanuel Williams  

Home Institution: Oakwood University
Affiliated Program: Vision Science Summer Research...

Anti-apoptotic Proteins BCLXL and MCL-1 Promote Apoptotic Resistance in Glioblastoma

  Shango Rich  

Home Institution: Norfolk State University
Affiliated Program: HBCU Neuroscience Pathways

Cell Size Analysis Software to characterize Limbal Stem Cells

  Chelsea Thomas  

Home Institution: Oakwood University
Affiliated Program: Vision Science Summer Research...

Cortical gene expression is affected by inheritance pattern of chromosome 15q duplication

  Hyyat Sabree-Marshall  

Home Institution: Spelman College
Affiliated Program: HBCU Neuroscience Pathways

Discrete Non-REM delta band EEG waveforms in a model of Huntington’s Disease

Sonia C. Okekenwa

Home Institution: Fisk University
UCLA Mentor: Dr....

Effect of Timed Propranolol Treatment on Extinction Memory and Heart Rate Variability in a PTSD Rat Model

  Marissa O. Coppin  

Home Institution: The University of Texas San Antonio
Affiliated...

Identifying genetic links between Recovery and Baseline phenotypes

  Faduma Hassan  

Home Institution: Prarie View A&M University
Affiliated Program: HBCU Neuroscience Pathways

Identifying the Genetic Link between Sleep Phenotypes and Non-Sleep Phenotypes

  Abdullah Hasan  

Home Institution: Columbia College
Affiliated Program: BRI-SURE

Investigating Synaptic Correlates of Agility: A Cross-Species Study of Vestibular Synaptic Ribbon Morphology

  Isabell Sagar  

Home Institution: Harvard University
Affiliated Program: BRI-SURE

Language Acquisition: The Role of Circadian Rhythms and Virtual Reality in Impactful Learning Outcomes

  Malcolm Lee  

Home Institution: Virgina Union University
Affiliated Program: HBCU Neuroscience Pathways

Peak Alpha Frequency and Developmental Abilities in Infants with Familial Risk for Autism

  Krystal Alvarez-Hernandez  

Home Institution: California State University San Marcos
Affiliated Program: BRI-SURE

Sex differences in recovery sleep amount are driven by Y chromosome

Giselle Melendez

Home Institution: UCLA
UCLA Mentor: Dr. Ketema Paul

The effect of ASD risk group on infant joint attention

  Christina Kingsberry   

Home Institution: Spelman College
Affiliated Program: HBCU Neuroscience Pathways

The Effect of BMAL1 Overexpression on Memory Performance in Sleep Deprived Mice

Charles P. Smith

Home Institution: Morehouse College
UCLA Mentor: Dr....

The Effect of Increased Extracellular Serotonin on Sleep Architecture in Drosophila Mutants

Matthew Anderson

Home Institution: Hamilton College
UCLA Mentors: Dr. David...

The Effect of Increased Extracellular Serotonin on Sleep Architecture in Drosophila Mutants

  Matthew Anderson  
Home Institution: Hamilton...

The Effects of PAX6 on the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway in cultivated human limbal stem cells

  Matthew Dye  

Home Institution: Oakwood University
Affiliated Program: Vision Science Summer Research...