Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI)

The Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) is proud to launch the Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI), focused on empowering women’s brain health across the lifespan. Women undergo unique biological transitions, including puberty, pregnancy, motherhood, menopause, and aging, that affect brain health, but females have long been underrepresented in medical and clinical research, leaving major knowledge gaps that the WBHI aims to close through targeted research and public education. The initiative will address women’s brain health topics spanning neurodevelopment, neurodegeneration, and mental health disorders. We encourage you to join the WBHI to help chart a new era in women’s brain health, where we will feature Rutgers faculty conducting research to understand the female brain, host world-renowned speakers leading efforts to advance women’s brain health research and provide research-vetted tool kits and resources to support women’s brain health. The WBHI will host a full-day symposium on female brain research on May 26, 2027. Learn more

Leading WBHI at Rutgers

Dr. Ioana Carcea, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience at NJMS and a core faculty member of the BHI, will lead the WBHI. Dr. Carcea directs a laboratory that uses systems neuroscience approaches to investigate the relationship between social behavior, health, and physiology.

Rewiring the Brain to Overcome Everyday Trauma

As part of the WBHI, we will feature Rutgers faculty leading innovative research in women’s brain health each month. This month, we are proud to highlight Distinguished Professor Tracey Shors, who shares a powerful and hopeful message: the female brain is not defined by stress or trauma, it is dynamic, resilient, and capable of remarkable recovery. According to Dr. Shors, the brain is best understood as a constantly adapting organ, where fear, memory, learning, and resilience act as dynamic, experience-shaped processes rather than fixed traits, responding to stress, life events, and intentional training. Learn more

Rutgers Symposium on the Intersection of Cognitive, Sensory and Affective Neuroscience

The Rutgers Symposium on the Intersection of Cognitive, Sensory, and Affective Neuroscience was held on May 11th, 2026, at Masker’s Barn, Deserted Village of Feltville, Glenside Park. The full-day event was an interdisciplinary and cross-area meeting of Rutgers neuroscientists that aimed to foster interactions and build collaborations across PIs and their labs whose work touched on cognition and sensation with those who studied affective processes in health and neuropsychiatric illness. The symposium was a joint retreat of the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Focus Area Working Group (FAWG) and the Motivational and Affective Neuroscience FAWG in the BHI to encourage cross-FAWG interactions and collaborations. It featured keynote speakers Dr. Jacqueline Gottlieb, Professor of Neuroscience and Principal Investigator at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute, and Dr. Luiz Pessoa, Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. The day concluded with a special Chapman Stick performance by Dr. David Zald. Watch the video. Ugne Ziausyte, MD/PhD student in Dr. Anna Konova’s lab, won the symposium’s poster award. Learn more

2026 Rutgers Health and BHI Postdoc Peek: Postdoc Recruitment Event

Rutgers Health and the BHI hosted Postdoc Peek, a two-day, all-expenses-paid campus visit program welcoming 13 highly qualified candidates selected from over 80 applicants nationwide. Participants explored diverse postdoctoral training and research opportunities across Rutgers, connected with faculty, and experienced campus life across the New Brunswick/Piscataway (May 19–20) and Newark (May 31–June 1) campuses. The May 20 session featured opening remarks from BHI Director Dr. Gary Aston-Jones and Rutgers Health Assistant Vice Chancellor Dr. Janet Alder, candidate presentations, lab visits, networking with current postdocs, and an iJOBS panel on medical affairs industry careers with distinguished alumni Drs. Luisa Fernanda Gomez-Alatorre, Robert Crozier, and Madison Godesky, and guided tours of the Busch campus core facilities. Learn more

BHI Plenary Seminar Featured Dr. Robert Gereau

Dr. Robert W. Gereau IV, Ph.D., Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Anesthesiology, Director of the Washington University Pain Center, and the Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology and Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, visited Rutgers to give a BHI Plenary Seminar on May 7. His presentation, titled “Rethinking translational pain research: Studies of human tissues for identification and validation of therapeutic targets”, offered insights into incorporating human tissues effectively into pain studies. Learn more

Latent Cause Inference Conte Center Holds Second Executive Advisory Board Meeting

The Latent Cause Inference Conte Center held its second Executive Advisory Board (EAB) meeting at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute on May 6, 2026. Center investigators, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, presented progress on all four projects and four cores to six external advisors. The day featured formal presentations and a shared lunch, providing an opportunity for informal scientific exchange between EAB members, PIs, and trainees, and the EAB and all PIs discussed the state of the center and future plans. Learn more

Joint Neurodegeneration and Injury & Neurodevelopment FAWG Workshop on June 3

This joint workshop brings together two BHI Focus Area Working Groups (FAWG), the Neurodegeneration and Injury FAWG and the Neurodevelopment FAWG, to spawn new scientific interactions by exploring shared areas of common interest and overlap across the two groups. It will feature eight scientific presentations focused on the intersection of both FAWGs’ research areas to jumpstart new discussions and generate ideas for future collaboration. The workshop will take place on June 3, 1:30 - 5:30 PM in Conference Room 3101, Child Health Institute, 89 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ. Learn more

Conducting Industry-Sponsored CNS Clinical Trials at Rutgers on June 11

Join us for a half-day event on June 11, 2026, 1-5 PM in the CAHBIR Staged Research Bldg. 661 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854, Conference Room 127. The event is designed for teams evaluating CNS trial sites, research partnerships, recruitment feasibility, imaging resources, regulatory support, and collaboration models. Attendees will hear from Rutgers leaders and connect directly with the faculty, clinical trial experts, and research core teams that support CNS studies across the Rutgers ecosystem. Learn more

BHI Spotlight

Ioana Carcea: Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems Award

Dr. Ioana Carcea, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience at NJMS and BHI core faculty member, won a Scialog: Neurobiology and Changing Ecosystems award. Dr. Carcea’s interdisciplinary team project, "Identifying Mechanisms of Social Resiliency to Heat Stress," will advance fundamental understanding of how neural systems adapt to rapid environmental changes. The award provides $60,000 in direct research support. Learn more

Dr. Sharon Sanz Simon Launches MUST Study to Help Older Adults Master Multitasking and ACTIVE-BrainWoMen to Investigate Effects on Brain in Women at Menopause

Dr. Sharon Sanz Simon, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at NJMS and core faculty member of the Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center (KKARC) within the BHI, has launched the MUST Study (MUltitasking STrategy Training Study). Dr. Sanz Simon seeks to understand how targeted online cognitive training can improve people’s ability to multitask, a skill that is essential for independence but naturally declines as we age. The study is recruiting cognitively healthy older adults, typically ages 60–75. Recruitment will continue through mid-2027. Learn more

Dr. Sanz Simon also launches the ACTIVE-BrainWoMen (Aerobic-Resistance ExerCise Trial Investigating Vital Effects on Brain in Women at Menopause) study. The study investigates how physical activity impacts cognition, brain vasculature, and Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in sedentary postmenopausal women, an understudied group at elevated dementia risk. The study features a multidisciplinary team including Drs. Brandon Adelman (Department of Kinesiology and Health), Gloria Bachman (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Associate Dean for Women’s Health), Michal Beeri (Director, Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center), David Zald (Director, Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research), Jack Tsao (Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center), and Lan Luo (Biostatistics).

Drs. Michal Schnider Beeri and Zhiping Pang Awarded NIA T35 Grant for New ASPIRE Summer Research Program

Dr. Michal Schnider Beeri, Director of the KKARC in the BHI, and Dr. Zhiping Pang, Director of the Center for Neurometabolism in RWJMS have received a T35 grant from the National Institute on Aging for ASPIRE: Alzheimer’s Summer Program Inspiring Research Engagement. Designed to inspire and prepare medical students to pursue careers bridging ADRD research and clinical care, this 10-week full-time immersive program hosts medical students each summer under the mentorship of accomplished, NIH-funded scientists. Participants engage in research spanning epidemiological observational studies, clinical trials, big data and omics analyses, digital health innovations, and basic science research, while building data science and biostatistics skills, learning the responsible conduct of research, and presenting findings in a concluding symposium. The program aims to cultivate future physician-scientists dedicated to advancing innovative ADRD research and compassionate care for the rapidly growing geriatric population. Learn more

Dr. Pingyue Pan Receives NIA R21 to Study the Role of Synaptojanin1 in Age-Dependent Motor Decline

Dr. Pingyue Pan, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology at RWJMS, has received an R21 award from the National Institute on Aging. The project examines the role of PD risk gene SYNJ1 (murine Synj1), which encodes a lipid phosphatase essential for synaptic membrane trafficking. Dr. Pan will test whether elevating Synj1 level in DA neurons improves motor performance and increases striatal/axonal DAT surface expression, and explore underlying lipid signaling mechanisms. This work will reveal the causal role of Synj1 in age-dependent motor decline and provide proof-of-concept evidence for elevating Synj1 expression as a therapy to improve motor ability in older adults. Learn more

Dr. Dah eun (Chloe) Chung Awarded NIA K22 to Study Big Tau’s Role in Preventing Tau Pathology

Dr. Dah‑eun (Chloe) Chung, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers School of Arts & Sciences, has received a K22 grant from the National Institute on Aging for her project "The Role of Big Tau in Preventing Tau Pathology". The project focuses on big tau, a tau isoform highly expressed in the cerebellum and brainstem. Big tau resists pathological aggregation and hyperphosphorylation. Dr. Chung will test its role in suppressing tau pathology, examine its unique structure, and investigate splicing factors regulating its expression to inform Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic strategies. Learn more

Dr. Keesha Roach Receives NHLBI R03 to Uncover Stroke Mechanisms in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease

Dr. Keesha Roach, Assistant Professor in the Division of Nursing Science at Rutgers School of Nursing, has been awarded an R03 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for "Proteomic Profiling and Neurocognitive Assessment to Uncover Stroke Mechanisms in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease”. The study will quantify neurodegeneration-associated and mitochondrial proteins, and examine associations between hemoglobin levels, neurodegeneration, and cognitive function to identify protein biomarkers for better diagnostics and targeted therapies. Learn more

Dr. Brian Corbett Awarded NIMH R15 Grant to Study Stress-Induced Noradrenergic Neurotransmission of Inflammatory Transcription in the Hippocampus

Dr. Brian Corbett, Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Rutgers‑Camden School of Arts and Sciences, has received an R15 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for "Investigating the Effects of Stress‑Induced Noradrenergic Neurotransmission on Inflammatory Transcription in the Hippocampus”. The project investigates how stress-induced noradrenergic neurotransmission affects inflammatory transcription in the hippocampus. Chronic social defeat stress increases pro-inflammatory transcription in the hippocampus. Dr. Corbett will test if inhibiting the locus coeruleus, the primary source of noradrenaline in the brain, mitigates this and if α1 adrenergic receptor agonists drive NFkB-mediated transcription, focusing on sex differences. Learn more

Claim your minute (and possibly more) of fame!! If you want to share any news (e.g., awards, grants, publications, patents, donor gifts) in future monthly newsletters, please send them to Lily Zhang (lily.zhangty@rutgers.edu) or use this Microsoft form to submit your news. We will also push these out on social media. So don’t be shy! Share your good news with us! We would love to hear from you!!

Event Calendar Aggregator on the BHI Website

We encourage the Rutgers Neuroscience community to add their neuroscience and brain health research-related events to the Event Calendar on the BHI website. This will minimize scheduling conflicts for neuroscience and brain health events at Rutgers. To put your events on the BHI website Event calendar, BHI has obtained an event calendar aggregator software that can pull events you post on a shared Outlook or Google calendar created by BHI. If you’d like instructions on how to add your event, or if you have any questions, please contact Lily Zhang (lily.zhangty@rutgers.edu) to request access to the shared BHI Event Outlook or Google Calendar. Learn more

Banner Ad and Sponsorship Opportunities at BHI

We’ve launched a new banner ad section on the BHI website to help faculty and trainees promote events, study recruitment, job openings, and news announcements. With monthly traffic averaging over 10,000 visitors, and placements on the most-visited pages, your message will gain high visibility across Rutgers and beyond. Your ad will reach not only the Rutgers community but also external experts, prospective students, and potential collaborators and donors who visit the site. We will assist with designing engaging graphics and placing your announcement on high-traffic pages across the site. If you are interested in featuring your announcement, please contact Lily Zhang (lily.zhangty@rutgers.edu). Advertise with us

NEW!! We are looking for sponsors to support BHI events. Faculty, Staff and Trainees, please let us know about vendors you all work with who might be interested in sponsoring BHI events. Please reach out to kuzhikev@bhi.rutgers.edu with names and contact information of vendors who might be interested in partnering with BHI to sponsor neuroscience and brain health events at Rutgers.

BHI Feedback Hub

BHI Announcements & Opportunities

BHI Motivational and Affective Neuroscience FAWG Mock Grant Review Program

The BHI and the RARC are pleased to announce the mock grant review program at Rutgers University. The primary objective of this program is to increase the success of grant proposals submitted to NIH by Rutgers investigators from the BHI and/or the RARC. Learn more

South Asian Memory, Aging, and Risk Tracking for Brain Health study (SAMARTH)

The study aims to understand the characteristics that may place South Asian populations at heightened risk for Alzheimer's disease. The study seeks to recruit individuals with ethnic or racial backgrounds from the South Asian subcontinents, aged 45-70, who have a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (one or more parents with Alzheimer’s Disease, high blood pressure, BMI >30, or Type II diabetes/pre-diabetes). Learn more

Multitasking Strategy Study (MUST Study): Neuroscience and Aging Study

The Rutgers Krieger Klein Alzheimer's Research Center and EngAGING Lab are recruiting older adults (60–75) for the MUST Study, a non-pharmacological research trial focused on cognitive training to support attention control and multitasking. Overall eligibility: ages 60–75, overall good health/cognitively healthy, English-speaking, and able to use a computer and the internet. Participation includes home-based online sessions (brain health education and cognitive training) and 3 in-person assessments over approximately 5–6 months. Participants may receive up to $275. Learn more

IFPR – Rutgers Research Collaboration

The RARC is partnering with the Institute for Prevention and Recovery (IFPR) to establish a streamlined process for collaboration among Rutgers researchers who want to partner with RWJBarnabas to analyze substance use disorder outcome data and/or implement new studies in the health system. Learn more

Rutgers Research Community Partnership (RCP)

The RCP, overseen by the RARC, is a central enrollment hub for community members to participate in Rutgers research projects, and for researchers to recruit for their studies. By signing up for the RCP, individuals agree to be contacted by approved researchers to participate in projects. Learn more

Join the ADRD Research Center Community

The Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center in BHI will serve as a hub for collaboration, innovation, and transformative research, with the mission of making meaningful strides in the prevention, diagnosis, and care of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD). If you are interested in learning more or collaborating with the center, please submit the form to provide your contact information. Learn more

Join us and make a lasting impact in neuroscience research and education. Discover current opportunities to advance your career and collaborate with leading experts at Rutgers. View all open positions HERE

If you want to share any opportunities (e.g., open positions, grants, surveys) in future monthly newsletters, please send them to Lily Zhang (lily.zhangty@rutgers.edu) or use this Microsoft form to submit your opportunities.

Save the Date

June 3, 12 PM



Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia Translational Work-in-Progress (ADRD-TWIP)

The Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center (KKARC) in the BHI is organizing a series of translational work-in-progress talks, alternating between clinical and basic presentations to open new opportunities for translational research and discussions from different perspectives. Alice Butera, PhD Student, Christoph Buettner Lab, will discuss “Role of Adipose Tissue Lipolysis in Alzheimer’s Progression”. Learn more

June 3

1:30-5:30 PM



Joint Neurodegeneration and Injury & Neurodevelopment FAWG Workshop

This joint workshop brings together two BHI Focus Area Working Groups (FAWG), the Neurodegeneration and Injury FAWG and the Neurodevelopment FAWG, to spawn new scientific interactions by exploring shared areas of common interest and overlap across the two groups. It will feature eight scientific presentations focused on the intersection of both FAWGs’ research areas to jumpstart new discussions and generate ideas for future collaboration. Learn more

June 5, 10 AM



Special BHI Seminar

Rajiv R. Ratan, MD, PhD, serves as Winifred Masterson Burke Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience Associate Dean (affiliate), Weill Cornell Medicine, CEO, Burke Neurological Institute, and Director, Laboratory for Neural Redox Biology and Homeostatic Transcription. Dr. Ratanwill present “Resilience or Ruin: The Janus Faces of Stress signaling in stroke, cognitive aging, and Alzheimer’s disease” Learn more

June 11, 1-5 PM

Conducting Industry-Sponsored (CNS) Clinical Trials at Rutgers

Join us for a half-day event in the CAHBIR Staged Research Bldg. Conference Room 127. The event is designed for teams evaluating CNS trial sites, research partnerships, recruitment feasibility, imaging resources, regulatory support, and collaboration models. Attendees will hear from Rutgers leaders and connect directly with the faculty, clinical trial experts, and research core teams that support CNS studies across the Rutgers ecosystem. Learn more

September 16

5th Annual RARC Symposium

The 5th Annual Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC) Fall Symposium will feature keynote speaker Dr. Yasmin Hurd, Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai. The all-day event will showcase cutting-edge addiction research, clinical insights, and community partnerships across Rutgers.

September 24

2026 NJACE and RUCARES Conference

Register for the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence (NJACE) and the Rutgers University Center for Autism Research, Education, and Services (RUCARES) in the BHI annual conference. Keynote speakers are Dr. Brian Boyd, William C. Friday Distinguished Professor in Education, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Director, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and Dr. Xinyu Zhao, Professor, Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Register by September 10. Register now

September 24

2nd Annual International Brain & Spine Tumor Symposium

Save the date for the 2nd Annual International Brain & Spine Tumor Symposium to learn from national and international experts at NJ’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Medical students, residents, fellows, graduate students, and other trainees are welcome to submit abstracts. Learn more

December 2

12th Annual Rutgers Brain Health Institute Symposium

Save the date for the 12th Annual Rutgers Brain Health Institute Symposium. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Joseph E LeDoux, Professor Emeritus at New York University, where he was a University Professor, Henry and Lucy Moses Professor, Professor of Neural Science and Psychology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical School.

Please visit the BHI Event Calendar page to view other upcoming neuroscience and brain health research events. Learn more



If you want to share any events in future monthly newsletters, please send them to Lily Zhang (lily.zhangty@rutgers.edu) or use this Microsoft form to submit your events.

If you want to feature any news, opportunities, and events in future monthly newsletters, please send them to Lily Zhang (lily.zhangty@rutgers.edu) or use this Microsoft form to submit your news. Thank you for your cooperation and support!

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