Program News Congratulations to Dr. Jonathan Verrier who successfully defended his doctoral research titled "Post-transcriptional regulation of myelin genes by microRNAs" on November 18th. Jonathan entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2005. He is mentored by Dr. Lucia Notterpek. Congratulations to Karthik Bodhinathan who was named the COM winner of Alec Courtelis Award-2009 and Sunitha Rangaraju, Dr. Mercedes Prudencio and Jeff Boychuk who were all named winners of International Student Outstanding Achievement Award-2009.  Congratulations to Dr. Mercedes Prudencio, who successfully defended her doctoral research titled "Implication of detergent-insoluble aggregates of SOD1 in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis " on October 7th. Mercedes entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2005. She is mentored by Dr. David Borchelt. Congratulations to Dr. Shelby Suckow, who successfully defended her doctoral research titled "Identification and characterization of colospinal afferent neurons" on September 4th. Shelby entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2005. She is mentored by Dr. Robert Caudle. Congratulations to Dr. Kristina Aenlle who successfully defended her doctoral research titled "Estrogen treatment in the hippocampus: Analysis of gene expression and cognitive function in the aging female mouse" on August 24th. Kristina entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2003. She is mentored by Dr. Tom Foster. Congratulations to Dr. Arseima Del Valle-Pinero who successfully defended her doctoral research titled "N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors in the Enteric Nervous System" on July 23rd. Areseima entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2003 She is mentored by Dr. Robert Caudle. Congratulations to Dr. Jeremy Flint, who successfully defended his doctoral research titled "Examination of Tissue Microstructure, Contrast Enhancement and Neural Activity in the Brain Slice Model Using Magnetic Resonance Microscopy" on June 26th. Jeremy entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2004 and has one first author published paper (Neuroimage) and four additional published manuscripts. Jeremy is mentored by Dr. Stephen Blackband. Congratulations to Dr. Kelly Miller, who successfully defended her doctoral research titled "Microglial Function in the Aged and Injured Rodent Brain" on May 19th. Kelly entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2004 and has one first author paper in press (Neuron Glia Biology) and four additional published manuscripts. Kelly is mentored by Dr. Wolfgang Streit. We wish Kelly continued success in her postdoctoral studies. She will be moving to Charite University Berlin, Germany, to work with Dr. Frank Heppner, Director of the Institute of Neuropathology. Congratulations to Emalick Njie who was recently awarded a research grant from the B.W. Robinson Memorial Endowment for the Neurosicences, Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Foundation, Inc. for his research titled " Neuronal stem cells as a therapeutic delivery vehicle for the Abeta degrading protease MMP9". Emalick is mentored by Dr. David Borchelt and Dr. Wolfgang Streit. Congratulations to Mercedes Prudencio who recently published her second first author paper this year titled "Variation in aggregation propensities among ALS-associated variants of SOD1: Correlation to human disease" in Hum Mol Genet. The paper appeared online May 30, 2009 and is the 100th peer-reviewed, published work for her mentor, Dr. David Borchelt. Congratulations to Dr. Ben Nahir, who successfully defended his doctoral research titled "Endocannabinoids: Linking GABA and Glutamate in the Hilus" on May 19th. Ben entered the Neuroscience IDP program in 2004 and has one first author published paper (J. Neurophysiol) and three additional published manuscripts. Ben is mentored by Dr. C. Jason Frazier. We wish Ben continued success in his postdoctoral studies. He will be moving to the Orgeon Health and Science University in Portland, OR to work with Dr. Craig Jahr.