October 2024
> Elazar Barrett joins the lab as a undergraduate research assistant – welcome aboard!
> The lab attends the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago, where Dr. Lucas gave an oral presentation titled “Novel neural networks underlying ovarian hormone regulation of state-dependent memory” in the minisymposium “Sex differences in typically overlooked modulators of memory: Towards sex-specific therapies for memory dysfunction”. Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Nina Baumgartner presented a poster, and Dr. Lucas presented a poster on behalf of graduate student Alexa Jo Tellez (who unfortunately was unable to join us!). We were reunited with the lab’s first postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sreetama Basu after our big Sunday of presentations!
September 2024
> The lab attends the UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center annual retreat at Lake Guntersville. Postdoctoral scholar Dr. Nina Baumgartner takes first place in the trainee oral presentation competition, and undergraduate scholar Neysa Dechachutinan ties for honorable mention in the poster competition. Research resident Dr. Peter Teravskis and undergraduate scholars May Rudd and Molly McNulty also present posters. You all represented the lab so well!
August 2024
> Bryana Whitaker Harden rotates in the lab as a Ph.D. student in the GBS Neuroscience Theme. Welcome!
July 2024
> The lab celebrates its second year anniversary at UAB with a mini-retreat featuring dinner out at a classic Birmingham hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Happy anniversary to the lab!
> Alexa McDermott and May Rudd present posters at the UAB Summer Research Expo.
June 2024
> Alexa McDermott joins the lab as a Blazer BRAIN summer student. Her project will investigate estrous cycle regulation of stress – well aboard!
> Peggy McCluggage rotates in the lab as a first-year MSTP student. Her project will investigate engagement of central Glp1-releasing neurons in the brain stem following cued threat conditioning. We are so excited to have you rotate!
> Neysa Dechachutinan leaves the lab to spend the summer conducting research in the Tollkuhn lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. We look forward to learning about your summer research experience!
April 2024
> Undergraduate scholars Neysa Dechachutinan, Audrey Dahlen, May Rudd, and Molly McNulty present posters at the UAB Spring Research Expo, where Neysa earns the first-place poster award. Congratulations!
> Neysa takes third place in the trainee data blitz competition, and Neysa, Audrey Dahlen, and May Rudd present posters at the annual Psychiatry Research Symposium.
January 2024
> Julia Gonçalez rotates in the lab as a Ph.D. student in the Behavioral Neuroscience program. Welcome aboard!
December 2023
> Alexa Jo Tellez officially joins the lab as a Ph.D. student in the GBS Neuroscience graduate program. We are very excited to mentor our first graduate student at UAB.
> Happy holidays from the lab!
November 2023
> Alexa Jo Tellez rotates in the lab as a Ph.D. student in the GBS Neuroscience graduate program.
October 2023
> The lab’s third manuscript is accepted for publication in Hormones and Behavior. Congratulations to coauthors postdoctoral fellow Dr. Nina Baumgartner and our NCSU lab team including Garret Ryherd, Haley Edwards, and Averie Bunce. You can read the preprint here.
SEPTEMBER 2023
> Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Nina Baumgartner and undergraduate scholar May Rudd present posters at the annual UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Retreat in Homewood, AL. Nina earns the first place poster prize – very well deserved.
> Dr. Peter Teravskis joins the lab as a psychiatry research resident – welcome aboard!
August 2023
> Neysa Dechachutinan, Audrey Dahlen, and Kaitlyn Griggs join the lab as undergraduate research scholars, Teel Walters rotates in the lab as a Ph.D. student in the Behavioral Neuroscience program, and Aditya Subramanian rotates in the lab as a Ph.D. student in the GBS Genetics program – welcome aboard all!
July 2023
> Dr. Lucas and Dr. Baumgartner attend the Gordon Research Conference on Amygdala Function in Emotion, Cognition and Disease in Barcelona, Spain. We were very honored to be selected as late-breaking talks. Nina presented “Neural circuits underlying estrous cycle regulation of state-dependent emotional memory”, and Beth presented “Ovarian hormones tune amygdala inhibition to drive avoidance behavior across the reproductive cycle”. We really enjoyed catching up with our amygdala colleagues and their current research.
June 2023
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Learning, Memory, and Decision Neuroscience study section.
> Molly McNulty joins the lab as an undergraduate research scholar, and Hannah Hughes begins a summer rotation in the lab as a Ph.D. student in the GBS P3 program – welcome aboard!
May 2023
> The lab’s second manuscript is accepted for publication in Neurobiology of Aging. Congratulations to coauthors postdoctoral fellow Dr. Nina Baumgartner and former lab manager Mandy Biraud! We are excited to pursue this new line of research in the lab. You can read the preprint here.
April 2023
> Dr. Lucas travels to the University of Toledo to give an invited seminar titled “Neural Networks Supporting State-Dependent Emotional Memory” – the very first time these data have been presented outside the lab.
> Undergraduate scholars Amuktha Dasari and Gavin Newberry tie for the first place poster prize in the biological and life sciences category at the annual UAB Expo – very well deserved!
> Dr. Lucas presents a seminar at the Annual Behavioral Neurobiology Retreat. Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Nina Baumgartner and undergraduate scholar May Rudd present posters and win the first and third place poster prizes, respectively – you make us so proud!
> The lab has an end of semester lunch to celebrate accomplishments. We are looking forward to a very productive summer.
February 2023
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Learning, Memory, and Decision Neuroscience study section.
January 2023
> Dr. Cristina Dieni joins the lab as Researcher V. She will assist with lab management in addition to leading research projects. We are very excited to have such a talented electrophysiologist join the team – welcome aboard!
> Dr. Lucas chairs the panel “Ovarian Hormone Regulation of Motivation & Emotion” and gives a talk at the annual Winter Conference for Brain Research in Snowbird, UT. She even attempts to ski for the first time!
November 2022
> Dara Russell joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant – welcome aboard!
October 2022
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Learning, Memory, and Decision Neuroscience study section.
September 2022
> Dr. Lucas gives a talk and postdoctoral scholar Dr. Nina Baumgartner presents a poster at the annual UAB Comprehensive Neuroscience Center Retreat at Lake Guntersville, AL.
> We hold our first lab meeting at UAB.
August 2022
> Amuktha Dasari, Gavin Newberry, and May Rudd join the lab as undergraduate research assistants – the lab’s first at UAB. Welcome aboard!
July 2022
> The Lucas Lab relocates to the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Bittersweet to leave our incredible colleagues at NCSU, but excited to expand our research horizons at UAB.
> Kamryn du Plessis leaves the lab to begin her doctoral studies in neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Best wishes!
> The lab’s two masters students Kristen Adcock Binion and Amy Farthing transition to lab manager positions at Duke University and the National Cancer Institute, respectively. We know that you are both going to do great!
June 2022
> Dr. Lucas gives a talk and postdoctoral scholar Dr. Nina Baumgartner and undergraduate student Kamryn du Plessis present posters at the annual Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology meeting in Atlanta, GA. Many congratulations to Kamryn for being selected for a travel award AND earning the best undergraduate poster award – very well deserved!
> Many congratulations to Amy Farthing for successfully defending her master’s thesis work for the GBS Neurosciences Concentration! We are so proud of you!
> The lab enjoyed a lunch to celebrate all recent accomplishments and bid farewell to NCSU.
April 2022
> The lab’s first manuscript is accepted for publication in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience special issue on negative valence systems. Congratulations to the authors on this milestone achievement!
> Postdoctoral scholar Dr. Nina Baumgartner and graduate student Amy Farthing present posters at the annual Litwack Research Day at the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine.
> Congratulations to Amy Farthing on receiving honorable mention in the Litwack Day image competition for her image titled “Netting Around a Neuron”.
February 2022
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Learning, Memory, and Decision Neuroscience study section.
> Mandy Biraud departs the lab to pursue a research associate position in industry at TCRCure Biopharma Corp. Many thanks for keeping our research alive during the pandemic, and best wishes!
> The lab visits their new home in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. We are so excited to join our new colleagues in July 2022!
January 2022
> Anna Rose joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant – welcome aboard!
December 2021
> Happy holidays + winter break from the Lucas Lab!
November 2021
> Congratulations to neurobiology graduate student Amy Farthing on passing her qualifying exam – very well earned!
> Kamryn du Plessis presents her honors thesis at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting.
October 2021
> Congratulations to undergraduate researcher Kamryn du Plessis on receiving the Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development Award – a huge honor! Check out her honors thesis research at the annual SfN meeting next month.
> With the NC State Fair Grounds just across the street, we had to take a lab outing to partake in the festivities. We ate junk food and gazed upon giant gourds!
> Camille Brinkley joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant – welcome aboard!
> Dr. Lucas gives a talk at the East Carolina Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting.
September 2021
> Congratulations to Kristen Adcock Binion on passing the final exam for her masters degree in genetics – well done! We are very happy that Kristen plans to continue working in the lab as a technician for the next several months.
August 2021
> Undergraduate research assistant Kamryn du Plessis takes the first place poster prize at the annual Comparative Medicine Institute Research Summit – congratulations and very well deserved!
> Undergraduate research assistant Gaven Bell is selected as the lab’s Provost’s Professional Experience Program scholar – well done!
> Andy Cheung, Ari Ogunda, and Zakiyah McCullough join the lab as undergraduate research assistants – welcome aboard!
> The lab enjoyed a catered lunch to celebrate the new academic year. How could we pass up the opportunity for a new lab photo at the golden retriever statue?
June 2021
> Dr. Nina Baumgartner joins the lab as a postdoctoral scholar, and Gaven Bell joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant – welcome aboard!
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Learning, Memory, and Decision Neuroscience study section.
> Graduate students Amy Farthing and Kristen Adcock present research posters the annual meeting of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.
April 2021
> Kirsten Adcock Binion, Kamryn du Plessis, and Amy Farthing present research posters at the annual Triangle Society for Neuroscience meeting. Congratulations to Kristen for winning the best graduate student poster award!
> Undergraduate researcher Hugh Johnson is awarded a CVM Summer Research Fellowship. Well done Hugh!
March 2021
> Graduate students Amy Farthing and Kristen Adcock present research posters the annual NCSU CVM Litwack Research Day. Both were awarded poster prices – Amy as 2nd place and Kristen as honorable mention. Very well done!
> Averie Bunce leaves the lab to gain clinical experience as a medical scribe. As the standard bearer of our most challenging techniques, Averie has been a bedrock of the lab, especially throughout the pandemic. You will be missed – good luck!
february 2021
> Dr. Lucas is officially reappointed as assistant professor of neurobiology.
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Learning, Memory, and Decision Neuroscience study section.
October 2020
> Dr. Lucas serves as ad hoc reviewer for the NIH Neurobiology of Learning & Memory study section.
September 2020
> Research assistant Averie Bunce presents a research poster at the annual Pavlovian Society meeting.
June 2020
> We cautiously began re-opening the lab. The College has put strict guidelines in place for our safety, such as operating at reduced capacity, working in shifts, enhanced PPE, enhanced cleaning, and location tracking.
May 2020
> Congratulations to our recent NCSU graduates Averie Bunce, Arkady Bilenkin, and Suzette Ramirez – we know that you have bright futures ahead of you.
> Dr. Lucas received the notice of award for the lab’s first grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health. This R01 will investigate a novel sex-specific circuit for emotional memory. Many thanks are due to the hard working individuals of the lab (past and present) who generate the data!
April 2020
> Kamryn du Plessis was selected as a U-TEAM Scholar – congratulations and very well deserved!
March 2020
> Amy Farthing and Kristen Adcock join the lab – our very first graduate students! Amy is pursuing the Neurosciences concentration of the Comparative Biomedical Sciences program, and Kristen is a student in the Genetics Program. Welcome aboard!
> Undergraduate research superstar Averie Bunce is awarded a CVM Summer Research Fellowship for the second consecutive year. Well done Averie!
> Dr. Lucas receives an MBS Microgrant to purchase a much needed filter cube for a shared epifluorescence microscope. Many thanks to our wonderful department!
> We shut down on wet lab on March 13 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are missing the bench, rig, and behavior but have plenty of data analysis to work on from home. Hello microscopy backlog!
February 2020
> Dr. Lucas gives a talk and Averie Bunce presents a poster at the Center for Human Health and the Environment annual symposium themed “Interactions Between the Brain and the Environment”.
January 2020
> Mandy Biraud joins the lab as a senior research assistant/manager, and Kamryn du Plessis joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant – welcome aboard!
> Dr. Lucas gives a talk on the panel “The Highs and Lows of GABAergic Transmission in anxiety: Reconciling Contradictory Findings from Rodents and Humans Studies” at the Winter Conference on Brain Research in Big Sky, Montana. Many thanks to Dr. Laurence Coutellier for organizing the panel and to WCBR for the travel fellowship.
december 2019
> Happy holidays + winter break from the lab!
> Garret Ryherd leaves the lab to relocate to Wisconsin. Garret was the lab’s first employee and has been an invaluable resource for our many ongoing projects. We will miss you!
november 2019
> Dr. Lucas presents research posters at the annual meetings of the Society for Neuroscience and the Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society in Chicago, Illinois.
> Dr. Sreetama Basu leaves the lab to continue her postdoctoral studies at the Cleveland Hospital. We will miss you!
October 2019
> Dr. Lucas receives a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. This award will provide funding for 2 years to investigate the lateral septum as a novel locus for sex differences in fear-based psychiatric disease. BBRF Announcement – CVM Press
August 2019
> Dr. Sreetama Basu and Averie Bunce present research posters and original artwork at the annual NCSU CVM Litwack Research Day.
> Dr. Lucas presents research poster at the 2019 Amygdala Function in Emotion, Cognition, and Disease Gordon Research Conference in Easton, Massachusetts.
> Suzette Ramirez and Liz Kennelly join the lab as undergraduate research assistants – welcome aboard!
> We enjoyed an end of summer lab outing with food from the Morgan Street Food Hall prior to escaping The Tower successfully. Lots of fun!
July 2019
> Dr. Sreetama Basu’s poster “Associative Fear Learning Engages a Novel Sex-Specific LS Circuit for Memory Encoding” won 3rd place (out of 87 posters) at the 8th Annual North Carolina State University Postdoctoral Research Symposium, which included trainees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University as well as North Carolina State University. Well done Sreetama!
May 2019
> Dr. Lucas gives a talk at the “Sex Differences, Dimorphisms, Divergences: Impact on Brain and Behavior in Health and Disease” workshop in Erice, Italy. Many thanks are due to the NCSU Keck Center for Behavioral Biology for providing travel funds to attend this workshop.
> Arkady Bilenkin joins the lab as an undergraduate research assistant – welcome Arkady!
> Ka’ayla Jones leaves the lab to focus on her new found passion of becoming a physician’s assistant. Good luck!
April 2019
> Postdoctoral scholar Dr. Sreetama Basu and research assistant Garret Ryherd presented the first ever Lucas Lab posters at the 2019 Triangle Chapter for the Society for Neuroscience meeting. Be on the lookout for our most recent work at the annual Molecular & Cellular Cognition Society and Society for Neuroscience meetings in Chicago this October.
> Averie Bunce receives a NCSU CVM Summer Undergraduate Fellowship to work in the lab full time this summer – congratulations Averie!
January 2019
> Alex Yankoglu joins the lab as a postbaccalaureate research assistant. Welcome Alex!
December 2018
> Happy holidays + winter break from the Lucas lab!
November 2018
> Dr. Sreetama Basu joins the lab as a postdoctoral scholar. Welcome Sreetama!
September 2018
> Kenny Hlewicki, Averie Bunce, and Ka’ayla Jones join the lab as undergraduate research assistants – welcome!
August 2018
> The NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine has selected our project “A Novel, Sex-Specific Lateral Septum Circuit for Enhanced Fear Memory Persistence in Females” for a 2018-2019 research grant! We will use this award to pilot activity-dependent tagging of neuronal ensembles that are engaged during emotional learning to determine their behavioral relevance, neurochemical identity, and circuit connectivity.
> Lab presents first research image at the NCSU CVM Litwack Research Day: “Constellations of neuronal activity following emotional learning”. Super excited about doctoral student Haley’s rotation project on sex-specific neural circuits for emotional processing.
June 2018
> Garret Ryherd joins the lab as a research assistant – welcome Garret!
> Haley Edwards rotates in the lab as a CBS Neurosciences PhD student – welcome Haley!
April 2018
> Dr. Lucas gives the lab’s first invited talk on the “Sex Differences at the Electrophysiological Level: A Focus on the Limbic System” panel at the 12th annual meeting of the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences in Atlanta, Georgia. Many thanks to Dr. Lisa Briand (Temple University) for organizing this panel!
January 2018
> Dr. Lucas joins the NCSU CVM Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences as an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology.
