May 2012 1

Undergraduate Edition for Psychology & Neuroscience Majors

May 2012 Vol. 13 No. 5 College of Arts & Sciences

Psychology NewsPsychology News Psychology NewsPsychology News

Class of 2012

Congratulations to Our Graduating Psychology and Neuroscience Majors!

May 2012 2

Congratulations to our new transfer student, Janae Deleon, who won the title of Miss Boca Raton on March 3rd. The senior, who brought home $500 in scholarship money, also won the overall interview and talent awards. Janae sang the Linda Eder Classic, “Gold.” In her 10-minute interview with the judges, Deleon spoke about the dangers of gang violence among adolescents. She has her own non-profit organization called “Corey’s K.I.D.S.- Kids in Desperate Situations,” inspired by personal experience of a close friend who died after being shot by gang members in a random shooting. Deleon has been competing in pageants since 2008 and has won over $30,000 in scholarship money. She will be competing in the Miss Florida pageant in July. The Miss Florida winner will then move on to compete for Miss America.

Best of luck Janae!

Welcome to UM, Miss Boca!

PAL Michael Ullo took home the trophy for 2012 Student Employee of the Year, Honorable Mention. PAL supervisor Sean Kilpatrick nominated Mike for the title based on his many admirable qualities, including but not limited to his professionalism, warm personality, and exceptional performance as a FORUM leader. As a true team player who buys into the mission of UASP, Mike is reliable and a problem-solver. Mike has been working as a PAL since fall, 2009 and will be graduating this May. UASP is proud to have him representing our office, and he will be missed when he graduates. This fall he will begin at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Another psychology major, Gilly Bortman, took home a trophy for the Miami Commitment Senior Excellence award. Through Miami Commitment, Gilly got involved with a program called America Reads as a freshman at UM. She works at West Lab Elementary School, teaching children who have below grade level reading skills in kindergarten and first grade. From the very basics of learning letters to reading together and sounding out words, Gilly is a valuable asset for these young children, and it is no surprise that she was chosen for this award. She has continued her work-study with America Reads throughout her undergraduate career, and has helped many struggling children learn to read. Gilly is also the current president of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology, and she remains involved in both the Department of Psychology and UM as a whole. Gilly will graduate with the Psi Chi Award as well as Departmental Honors.

Congratulations to Mike, Gilly, and all student employees nominated!

Student Employee of the Year Banquet

Psychology majors Michael Acosta and Emily Packard won the Vice President Award for Service during the annual Celebration for Involvement hosted by the Butler Center. This award is given to one male and one female every year. It recognizes superior community service and leadership throughout the UM years. Congratulations to both Michael and Emily!

Celebrating Service and Leadership, Psychology Majors Win Awards

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Mortar Board Inducts 2 PALs for 2013

Congratulations to PALs Chris Sterwald and Melanie Weinstein for being tapped into Mortar Board, the national honor society that recognizes seniors for their achievements in scholarship, leadership, and service. We are so proud of you!

UASP Welcomes the new PALs for 2012-2013!

Julia Harter Julia is a sophomore psychology major from London, England. “I am excited to begin my first year working as a Peer Advising Liaison and to get more involved with the Psychology Department!”

Keon Shahab Keon is a freshman psychology major from Atlanta, Georgia. He likes taking trips to the beach, relaxing, and becoming more familiar with the wonderful city of Miami. “I am very excited to become a new PAL and a member of the psychology department family!”

Lance Ludka Lance is a pre-med psychology major who is from Westbrook, Maine. He enjoys weightlifting and playing pickup sports. “I am very excited about this opportunity to be a PAL this upcoming semester!”

Katherine Zambrana Katherine is a sophomore Psychology major, religious studies minor, who aspires to become a clinical psychologist. She was born and raised in Miami, and her family heritage is Columbian and Bolivian. “I am excited to help and meet new people.”

Vidhya Krishnan Vidhya is a sophomore Neurobiology major. She attended an international high school in India, middle school in Miami, and elementary school in California. “I'm all about diversity and I love that I've found it here at the U! I'm really looking forward to the coming year to start as a PAL .“

All the PALs are here for “U”!

Psychology Senior Selected for White House Roundtable

In Fall of 2011, Becky Espinosa was selected as one of 12 Latino students from across the country to participate in a round table discussion with the senior Obama Administration. Becky and the other promising young leaders were distinguished as an Agente de Cambio (Agent of Change). Becky’s admirable goal of “educating and preparing students for a better and brighter future” matches well with the philosophy of the group. Espinosa’s fundraising efforts on behalf of the victims of Haiti’s earthquake and numerous charities, her organization of tutoring programs, and her medical volunteering in Honduras all demonstrate her outstanding leadership and service. We sincerely congratulate Becky Espinosa for being selected for this rare and noble opportunity.

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2012 Lois Pope Neuroscience Summer Research Fellows This summer, 7 Neuroscience students will participate in the Lois Pope Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship. Each student will participate in an intensive Neuroscience research experience in a research laboratory with a UM faculty member. Each student researcher will be given a $2,500 stipend and will spend at least 40 hours per week for 10 weeks doing research. After completing the fellowship, students present their work at the Research, Creativity, & Innovation Forum, Neuroscience Day, or both.

Congratulations to the following students and their mentors!

Blake Hampton Jeffery Goldberg, M.D. Joachin Jimenez Vance Lemmon, Ph.D. Ryan Kowalsky Vance Lemmon, Ph.D. Allison Lapins Jeffery Goldberg, M.D. Keun Lee Isaac Skromne, Ph.D. Sarah Marmol Akira Chiba, Ph.D.

Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for New Neuroscience Building On Thursday, April 26th a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new neuroscience building, currently under construction on the Coral Gables campus. The building is a collaborative project between the Department of Psychology and the Department of Biology. It has been designed by scientists, as opposed to solely by architects, in order to truly accommodate research processes. Funded by a $14.8 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and

awarded by the National Institute of Health, the Neuroscience Annex will host researchers from multiple disciplines at UM including neuroscience, psychology, biology, and physics, as well as guests from across the nation and the world. Specially designed collaborative workspaces will be available for inter-university and international joint research efforts. This building and its resources will attract scientists from all over the globe. Speakers at the ceremony included the Dean of the College of Arts and Science, Leonidas Bacchus; Provost Thomas LeBlanc; Psychology Chair, Rod Wellens; and Biology Chair, Katherine Tosney. The speakers emphasized the collaborative nature of the building and the vast realm of possibilities it will open in the field of neuroscience research. One exciting component is that it will hold the Coral Gables Campus’ first and only human functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine and laboratory. Scientists, clinicians, and engineers will be able to work to understand brain function,

A commemorative beam featuring the “U” was signed by President Donna Shalala, as well as those in attendance of the event, including Sebastian the Ibis, neuroscience, psychology, and biology faculty members, administrators, and our very own UASP PALs. The beam will be incorporated into the building as symbolic support from the people who support the vision and promise of the building’s success. We look forward to the completion and opening of the new building sometime in 2013.

UASP would like to thank the PALs who volunteered their time to help prepare for the event bright and early at 7:30am. Thank you to Lizzie Hale, Kimberly Stanton, Will McAuliffe, Grace Madsen, Katherine Brisson, and Melanie Weinstein!

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2012 PRIME and JUMPSTART Summer Research Fellows Coming up on May 23rd is the 2012 PRIME Welcome Reception. It will be held at 10:30am in Flipse 502. This year, Dr. Victoria Noriega will be welcoming 24 PRIME students and their mentors as they begin a summer of research.

PRIME (Psychology Research Initiatives Mentorship Experience) is the summer research program designed for students interested in pursuing careers in the psychological sciences. From 1999 – 2009, the program was funded through a grant by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and administered by the American Psychological Association to increase minority participation in the psychobiological pipeline. The Provost at UM provided supplementary funds during that time to support all students interested in research. The program now continues under the auspices of the Fred C. and Helen Donn Flipse endowment to the Psychology Department.

PRIME students are required to collect, analyze, and present results on original data at several conferences during the summer and coming year. JUMPSTART students will work with their mentors to develop a line of research, will do a literature search on the topic, and will present a proposal for future research.

Both PRIME and JUMP START students will work closely with their mentors and will present a brief synopsis of their research at the PRIME Poster Session to be held on July 27th. To get the most out of their summer research experience, students will also be assisted by other lab members, the Director, the graduate student coordinator, and other PRIME students.

Congratulations to the Summer 2012 PRIME Fellows!

Jessica Atick Madeleine Bezold Ornella Bricoune

Riana Brown Daniella Carucci

Mark Daigle Samantha Druckman

Melanie Feldman Dashawna Fussell-Ware

Kaela Glenn William Hurwitz

Katherine Kennedy

Lilly Kofler Brittany Mathes

William McAuliffe Elyse Mowle

Victoria Novinger Olivia O’Brien

Xeniamaria Rodriguez Rosemary Ros

Carly Schwartzman Suzanne Snyder

Kimberly Stanton Carolina Tauler

On Wednesday, April 11, students from all disciplines met to present their research projects

at the 2012 Research, Creativity, and Innovation Forum.

Psychology had a particularly strong presence, with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the

Behavioral Sciences!

Social Sciences 1st Place Charissa DiNobile 2nd Place Brittany Friedman 3rd Place Gilly Bortman

Neuroscience students also achieved victory, with our students tied with biology and RSMAS for first and second place, and having the winner for third place.

Biological Sciences 1st Place tie Alberto Vitores 2nd Place tie Mejdi Najjar 3rd Place Emily Packard

UASP Says Farewell to 5 Graduating PALs Andrew Bromley says sayonara and will be way off in Pennsylvania at Temple University, working hard to become Dr. Andrew Bromley. A PAL for three years, Andrew’s light-hearted sense of humor, excellent cooking tips, and kind presence will surely be missed. Brittany Friedman will be leaving us to prepare for graduate study in psychology. She served as a PAL for two years, working tirelessly on G.R.I.P.P. programs which became great successes. She will be working in a research lab after graduation and will be sorely missed as a co-worker, student, and friend. Kristina Samour will venture off to sunny Davie, Florida to pursue her Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. Kristina was a PAL for one year, and in that time she made herself an integral and beloved part of UASP. Best of luck in all you do, Kristina, we will miss you! Jaclyn Schroder will be rising and shining early in the mornings in the coming years, as she will be teaching at a Miami high school through Teach for America. A three year PAL veteran, Jaclyn’s dedication to the G.R.I.P.P. programs will surely be difficult to match. Michael Ullo says adios to UASP and moves north to New Jersey for Medical School at Rutgers University. Mike was a PAL for three years, and the first PAL ever to win an award for Student Employee of the Year. It is safe to say that we will miss his insightful problem-solving and quick wit in UASP.

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College of Arts and Sciences: Psychology

College of Arts and Sciences: Neuroscience

School of Communication

Congratulations Graduates!

Samar Abdulla

Michael Acosta

Natalie Aguilar

Juan Carlos Agundez

Kyoko Akimoto

Cristina Albeirus

Derek Almendares

Arielle Andreano

Brenda Apagueno

Jillian Armstrong

Melanie Baez

Justin Balik

Olajide Bamishigbin

Nikhil Banerjee

M. Barrett

Natasha Benitez

Jose Benito

Kimberly Berger

Ashley Blackwell

Denisse Bohrer

Thomas Bonan

Gilly Bortman

Diana Botros

Rochelle Bradley

Tiara Brown

Jessica Bryant

Nicole Bulas

Elektra Burgos

Nina Cabral Camero

Tiffany Caldas

Bryan Camps

Alyssa Cance

Adriana Cavassa

Audrey Chen

Lesly Chirinos

Henry Chu

Natalia Cintas

Lillian Clark

Lindsay Conner

Caroline Cooney

Laura Costa

Roxann Crenshaw

Raphaelle Cuenod

Yverose Dalembert

Cristina Damian

Emily Dantus

Jem Delos Santos

Edward DeMarchena

Brian Demers

Manuela Despian

Charissa DiNobile

Danielle Doumeng

Natalie Edgar

Samantha Elk

Rebecca Espinosa

Jordan Fencel

Melanie Ferras

Francesca Filiberto

Brittany Fowler

Randi Franklin

Brittany Friedman

Gabriela Gamero

Natalie Garcia

Sarah Garcia

Rebecca Gentsch

Sabrina Goldfarb

Gabrielle Goodman

Haley Gordon

Nicole Gordon

Sana Haddad

Fiyad Haniff

Luke Heggeness

Ashley Huergo

Alexa Iacovelli

Michelle Ingrosso

Stefania Ivan

Antonio Jackson

Alex Jameson

Brittany Kalish

Adonis Kanjee

Lauren Kessell

Katherine Kussman

Nadjib Lakehal

Lawrence Lamondin

Meghan Lane

Gustavo Lang

Jessica Lesage

Alexandra Levenson

Scott Livesey

Alexander Locust

Johanna Lopez

Emily Makynen

Shefali Mandhle

Christine Marrero

Claire McGowan

Monica Mengotti

Coral Millican

Alexandra Monzon

Amanda Moreno

David Motola

Melissa Moya

Maureen Myrtil

Kelechi Onyejiaka

Molly Orden

Ross Papitto

Bryan Pardo

Yuval Peleg

Estefania Pere

Laura Perrigo

Evan Peskin

Nicole Petroff

Valentina Podkowirow

Abigail Pooch

Alanna Pugliese

Alisson Quintana

Sophia Raymond

Marcus Reamer

Natascha Rincon

Veronica Rodriguez

Sarah Roesch

Theodore Rose

Joanna Rothschild

Gayle Rotmil

Ericka Ruiz

Davis Saadian

Estefany Saez-Flores

Kristina Samour

Myia Samuel

Gina Satriale

Jaclyn Schroder

Yashna Shah

Pooja Shankar

Nicholas Shuman

Corinne Smith

Catherine Solares

Ali Somerstein

Yuki Sotome

Heather Stevens

Sarah Thomas

Erica Thumen

Amanda Ting

Tara Turner

Michael Ullo

Michael Unger

Sarah Van Liew

Fabiola Velez

Annette Vera

Angie Villanueva

Victoria Vorperian

Zachary Wall

Brooke Weidhaas

Mackenzie Wheeler

Alyssa Wohl

Nicole Wright

Susannah Yigdal

Jonathan Yunes

Miguel Zegarra

Michelle Zeidan

School of Nursing

Sarah Keirstead

School of Music Keisha Baisden

Laura Blancato

Alissa Becker

Ross Devore

Dustin Doing

Britni Garcia

Alyssa Gear

Patricia Grande

Maria Mata

Felice Resnik

Jeffrey Ruiz

Laura Valdes

Ana Alba

Katherine Armstrong

Briana Bednarski

James Bloomfield

Alexandra Budenz

Vivian Chao

Molly Coller

Alexis De Seve

Ariel Felix

Nathalie Fernandez

Evan Garcia

Sean Goldfaden

Caitlin Good

Ariel Graham

Haley Gruber

Stefanie Hew

Yvette Jon

Alexander Llossas

Jose Maestri

Carter Manos

Allison Mathis

Shaquayla Mims

Dawn Minkow

Alyssa Morelli

Timothy O'Hanlon

Jessica Oring

Lourdes Ortiz

Ariel Penaranda

Miranda Ratcliffe

Lindsey Reiff

Astrid Rivera

Leeyen Rogers

Mary Rosato

Mary-Grace Roxas

Kari Scharf

Samantha Schosheim

Robin Segal

Christiane Sonoki

Genevieve Stack

Antonella Stelluto Alvarez

John Trainer

School of Business

Michael Aldemeyer

Allison Grimwade

Andrew Nasrinpay

Dardo Sabarots

John Agliano

Navid Ajabshir

Samantha Bapty

Mohga Behairy

Blaize Berry

Megan Besecker

Karthik Bhandari

Andrew Bromley

Dale Brown Jr.

Emily Cerniglia

Ariana Chirinos

Nisha Chowdhury

Kristina Chung

Alexandra Cocores

Cara Coleman

Danay Delgado

Kushal Desai

Rushil Desai

Joseph Diaz

Michelle Diaz

Margaux Dring

Elizabeth Elner

Thomas Fossler

Matthew Foster

Christopher Glover

Francisco Gortes

Alejandra Grana

Rachel Hamer

Daniel Hauth

Sasha Hayman

Bryant Huang

Armstrong Ibe

Ashley Jardine

Sarah Jones

Shani Jones

Ian Kaplan

Lara Kusnezov

Alexandra Lee

Adys Mendizabal

Mejdi Najjar

Emily Packard

David Painter

William Park

Kate Perri

Blake Priddy

Marieme Racine

Tamzid Rahman

Christine Roy-McMahon

Christina Sedaghat

Sanakausar Shamji

Ishna Sharma

Priya Singh

Naomi Yero

Mohammad Yousef

Sean Zajac

School of Education

May 2012 7

PAL Mike Ullo was accepted to Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Shani Jones will be joining City Year Miami before applying to medical school.

PAL Kristina Samour was accepted to several Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs, and has finally decided to attend Nova Southeastern University for a clinical Psy.D. program. Good luck in all you future endeavors,

Mohga Behairy, an honors thesis student, plans to take 2 years off before medical school. She plans to either accept her Peace Corps offer to work in Sub-Saharan Africa for 27 months, or work in a research lab or hospital. She also was accepted to Georgetown Summer Medical Institute, for a program that offers pre-med courses.

PAL Andrew Bromley will be attending Temple University School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. We are so proud of you Andrew!

Gina Satriale was accepted to the Master’s of Social Service program at Bryn Mawr College. She will also be working full time for Mission for Educating Children with Autism, who recently published her research.

Miranda Ratcliffe, a double major in Psychology and Motion Pictures will be attending Law School at Michigan State.

Rushil Desai will be getting his Master’s from Tufts University in Massachusetts before applying to medical school.

A tough decision between Teach for America and Law School, Valentina Podkowirow will be attending John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

Alexa Iacovelli will be doing her

post-bac pre-med studies while getting her Master’s from NYU.

Psychology major and honors thesis student, Haley Gordon, will be attending Virginia Tech for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Congratulations Haley!

The neuroscience research of Kushal Desai and her research team was published in the medical journal Stroke. Kushal will be studying Health Law and earning her MPH and J.D.!

Yashna Shah will be starting her Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Virginia Tech. Congratulations!

Bryant Huang will be joining the Oxford University Centre for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response for

a one-year internship. Afterwards, Bryant plans to either pursue a Fulbright scholarship for continued research, or to apply for M.D. Ph.D. programs.

Armstrong Ibe will be attending medical school at either UM’s Miller School of Medicine or at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.

Dustin Doing plans to participate in a City Year program in Miami. Way to help your community!

Senior Honors Thesis student, Emily Packard will be attending Baylor College of Medicine’s Interdepartmental Cell and Molecular Ph.D. program in Houston. Way to go Emily!

Miller School of Medicine welcomes David Painter!

Myia Samuel will be pursuing a Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from Barry University.

Nick Shuman, a double major in psychology and computer science, will be working full time at a cyber-security firm here in Miami.

City Year will be welcoming Ariel Penaranda as a tutor, mentor, and role model to high school students in Miami.

Good luck with your job search in the mental health field, during your year off, Charissa DiNobile!

Good luck on the MCAT, Christine Marrero!

Adys Mendizabal will be attending Temple University for Medical School.

Lara Kusnezov will be pursuing a Master’s in Global Health at Emory University—Rollins School of Public Health.

Honors Thesis student Olajide Bamishigbin has accepted an invitation to attend the University of California at Los Angeles for a Ph.D. program in Health Psychology, studying with Dr. Annette Stanton. He has worked in the FAMILY lab at UM with Dr. Kim since 2009, and his primary interests lie in the field of Psycho-Oncology.

Brooke Weidhaas will be attending law school either at Rutgers or the University of Chicago.

Senior

Shout

Outs!

May 2012 8

Michael Acosta, with Craig Marker, Ph.D. Generalized Anxiety Disorder and it’s Explicit Measures Jillian Armstrong, with Youngmee Kim, Ph.D. The Effects of Personality on Benefit Finding Amongst Cancer Patients Olijide Bamishigbin, with Youngmee Kim, Ph.D. Effects of Optimism, Benefit-finding and Spirituality on Depression and Life Satisfaction in Cancer Caregivers Natasha Benitez, with Annabel Gutierrez, Ph.D. An Evaluation of Two Social Reinforcer Preference Assessments for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Gilly Bortman, with Rebecca Shearer, Ph.D. Friendship Type as a Moderator of Withdrawn Behavior and Academic Achievement Tiffany Caldas, with Amy Weisman de Mamani, Ph.D. A Comparison of Positive and Negative Symptoms in Anglo and Latino Patients with Schizophrenia Charissa DiNobile, with Heather Henderson, Ph.D. Parent-Child Emotion Discourse and Social Competencies in the Younger Siblings of Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder Randi Franklin, with Jutta Joormann, Ph.D. Cognitive Reappraisal in Depressed Individuals Brittany Friedman, with Annabel Gutierrez, Ph.D. A Comparison of Parent Report to Child Preferences for Social Reinforcers in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Rebecca Gentsch, with Jutta Joormann, Ph.D. Romantic Preoccupation in Adolescents Text Messaging and its Relationship to Maladjustment Haley Gordon, with Jennifer Durocher, Ph.D. Collateral Effects of a Joint Attention Intervention on Language in Children with Autism

Maureen Myrtil, with Gail Ironson, Ph.D. Relationship between Spiritual Coping, Depression and Risky Sexual Behavior Among People with HIV Laura Perrigo, with Jutta Joormann, Ph.D. Attentional Biases Across Personality Traits and Psychological Symptoms Abigail Pooch, with Rebecca Shearer, Ph.D. Ethnic Variations in Academic Outcomes with Family Involvement in Head Start Preschoolers Gayle Rotmil, with Michael Alessandri, Ph.D. Social Responsiveness as a Predictor of Developmental Language Rates of Children with Autism in LEAP and TEACCH Classrooms Kristina Samour, with Jennifer Durocher, Ph.D. Parental Synchrony and Joint Attention Gains in Children with ASD Jaclyn Schroder, with Mike McCullough, Ph.D. The Effects of Environmental Factors on Rates of Cooperation in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game Yashna Shah, with Mike McCullough, Ph.D. Welfare Trade-off Ratios and Intervention in Conflict Situations Sana Sherali, with Jill Ehrenreich-May, Ph.D. Mediation of Patient’s Rating of 3rd Session Therapeutic Alliance on Parental Relationship and Post-Treatment Outcome Amanda Ting, with Youngmee Kim, Ph.D. Association Between Gender, Adult Attachment Orientation, and Cardio- vascular Reactivity to Laboratory-Induced Stress

Psychology Senior Honors Theses

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Navid Ajabshir, with Damian Pearse, Ph.D. Expanding the Pool of Endogenous Neural Progenitor Cells and Their Differentiation Within the CNS and Following Trauma Mohga Behairy, with Ami Raval, M.D. Pre-Natal Nicotine Exposure and the Post- Natal Development of Estrogen Receptors a and b in Rat Brains Dale Brown, with Jeffery Goldberg, M.D. A Novel Rodent Model of Optic Nerve Stroke: Laser-Induced Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Alexandra Carroll, with Dr. Sari Izenwasser, Ph.D. Inhibition of PKC ßII/EGFR May Increase Axonal Outgrowth to Facilitate CNS Regeneration Kristina Chung, with Mansoor Ahmed, Ph.D. Effects of Irradiation on TNF-α and TRAIL Gene Expression in Lewis Lung Carcinoma-1 Cells Alexandra Cocores, with Vance Lemmon, Ph.D. Differential Effects of Ecstasy on Behavior and Biochemistry of Male and Female Adolescent Rats Rushil Desai, with Roberta Brambilla, M.D., Ph.D. Inhibition of Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Promotes Axon Remyelination Bryant Huang, with Isaac Skromne, Ph.D. Comparative Expression Patterns of GDF-8 and GDF-11 During Zebrafish Development Shani Jones, with Ross Bullock, M.D., Ph.D. The Effect of Perfluorocarbons on Membrane Integrity Following In Vitro Injury

Mejdi Najjar, with Isaac Skromne, Ph.D. Examining the Function of Growth Differentiation Factor 11 in Dorso-Ventral and Antero-Posterior Neural Patterning in Zebrafish Emily Packard, with Helen Bramlett, Ph.D. A Model of Polytrauma: Exacerbation of Neuronal Death and Contusion Volume William Park, with Damian Pearse, Ph.D. Axon Regeneration Following Spinal Cord Injury Blake Priddy, with Jacqueline Sagen, Ph.D. Gene Therapy with a Novel Analgesic Peptide SIIIA, a Sodium Channel Blocker, for the Alleviation of Neuropathic Pain Tamzid Rahman, with Damian Pearse, Ph.D. Axon Regeneration and Improved Function in Rats with Polysialic acid-Modified Schwann Cells following Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Christina Sedaghat, with Juan Pablo De Rivero Vaccari, Ph.D. Rig-1 Signaling in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease Nikesh Shah, with Timothy Murray, M.D., FACS The Use of an AMPK Activator, AICAR, and its Effects on Tumorigenesis in the Treatment of Retinoblastoma in the LHbetaTag Murine Model

Graduates who complete their senior honors thesis will be granted

Departmental Honors in Psychology

Neuroscience Senior Honors Theses

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Hello psychology and neuroscience majors! We hope that you all had a great semester and have some exciting plans for this summer. Psi Chi had an eventful year full of educational and diverse experiences pertinent to the study of psychology. We hope that you have found our meetings beneficial. In our SPSS meeting, Whitney Herge taught us the in's and out's of using SPSS. In this meeting, students ran analyses using t tests, ANOVAs, ANCOVAs, regressions, and correlations. Psi Chi also worked on the Education Room with Kids and Culture for the Tunnel of Oppression. We also had a meeting on trauma treatments in which Dr. Gail Ironson spoke about treatment methods including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. This year's E-Board would like to send a hearty welcome to the new members of next year's E-Board. We wish you all the best and hope to see you at our meetings in the Fall of 2012!

Gilly Bortman - President Tiffany Caldas - Vice President

Alice Mathew - Treasurer Madeleine Bezold - Secretary

Ericka Ruiz - Historian Katherine Kennedy - Public Relations Chair

Questions? E-mail us at umiamipsichi@gmail.com Check out our Facebook group! PSI CHI (National Psychology Honor Society) at UM

We’ve made it through another year and it has been a good one for TUNS! Over the course of the year we have invited several great speakers such as Dr. Coleen Atkins to discuss her work on traumatic brain and spinal cord injury; Dr. Richard Bookman relating his journey in a career in neuroscience, and Dr. Justin Sanchez explaining his work on the bioengineering of neuroprosthetic devices. We also played a larger role than ever in the annual Miami Brain Fair through developing and presenting our own exhibit and lesson plan entitled “Pin the Function on the Brain.” As always, membership for TUNS is completely free, and all members will receive a club t-shirt! So if you are interested in learning more about the opportunities available to you in graduate or medical school, want to be a leader in the field of neuroscience, and meet some great people, join TUNS next year! I would like to thank all of our speakers, the Psychology Department, and Dr. McCabe for making this a successful year. I would also like to introduce next year’s executive board. I have no doubt that they will be an incredible asset to the organization.

If you have any questions or want to be added to the TUNS list-serve, please email Stephanie Fernandez directly at s.fernandez13@umiami.edu. Have a great summer and good luck next year!

~Dale Brown, President (2011-2012)

The Psi Chi Connection News & Briefs for Psi Chi University of Miami Vol. 13 Num. 5

E-Board for 2012-2013

Madeleine Bezold - President Andrea Lafnitzegger - Vice President

Kimberly Stanton - Treasurer Rebecca Levine - Secretary

TBD - Historian Katherine Kennedy - Public Relations Chair

The Undergraduate Neuroscience Society

E-Board for 2012-2013 Stephanie Fernandez—President Christina Robinson—Vice President

Melanie Weinstein—Treasurer Daniel Valenzuela—Secretary Roxanne Mayrand—Historian Jocelyn Polansky—Webmaster

Sam Powell and Radhika Joshi—Volunteer and Events Co-Chairs

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Alumni News

On March 7 the White House honored psychology alum Susan Amat as a “Champion of Change” for outstanding leadership in entrepreneurial mentoring, counseling, and training. Susan is the co-founder and executive director of UM’s The Launch Pad, who has now been officially recognized as an exceptional leader supporting small businesses to develop.

2007 UM Psych Alumnus, Chloe Markowicz is now a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She earned her Master’s from Nova University and works in Jewish Community Services. Chloe is also now married to a music composer. While a student at UM, Chloe worked in Dr. McCullough’s research laboratory enjoyed their studies on relationships.

Film and Psychology double major Kevin Sharpley entered his short film, The Beach Chronicles into the 29th Annual Miami International Film Festival, which was shown on March 8, 2012. Kevin is the President and CEO of a full service production company called Kijik Multimedia Inc. He is also the Executive Director of a non-profit organization supporting independent media and film. “As a University of Miami Alumni, I am happy that the education I received at the school allowed me to excel in my career, and to be in the festival in this competition brings it around full circle .”

2012 Undergraduate Awards Outstanding Psychology Major

Gayle Rotmil Ed Green Outstanding Neuroscience Major

Emily Packard Eber Award

Kristina Samour Psi Chi Award

Gilly Bortman TUNS Award

Dale Brown Outstanding Service to UASP—Psychology

Jaclyn Schroder Outstanding Service to UASP—Neuroscience

Andrew Bromley

Psychology and Neuroscience Phi Beta Kappa

Vandita Acharya Michael Acosta

Samantha Bapty Tara Brah

Sara Bressler Daniela Delgado

Lindsey Eikenburg Jessica Gelman

Alejandro Gomez Allison Lapins Dayaris Morffi Olivia O’Brian

Christina Robinson Lindsay Rosen

Christopher Sterwald Carolina Tauler

Daniel Valenzuela Julia White

Alexandra Wick Marissa Wong

Michelle Zeidan

May 2012 12

Department of Psychology Undergraduate Academic Services for Psychology P.O. Box 248185 Coral Gables, FL 33124-0751

101972 Psychology News Thanks to . . . Alida Lambert B.A. Sean Kilpatrick, M.S.Ed. Rod Wellens, Ph.D. Richard Williams, Ph.D. Psychology & Neuroscience Peer Advising Liaisons Editor Victoria Noriega, Ph.D.

In this issue . . . Student Awards and Recognition New PALs for 2012-2013 Neuroscience Building Groundbreaking PRIME, JUMP START, and Lois Pope Summer Research Scholarships Research Creativity and Innovation Forum Graduating Class of 2012 Senior Shout Outs Senior Honors Theses Psi Chi Connection TUNS Alumni News