Topic
Cryptic Changes to Degenerate Neurons and Circuits in Response to Environmental Alterations

Join Julie Hang, Staff Psychologist and Outreach Coordinator of the Drexel Counseling Center, and Wydelah Llanos, Art Therapy and Counseling Graduate Student and Outreach Assistant, to discuss some of the impacts of high-pressure academic environments, including the fatigue, detachment, and lowered sense of personal achievement known as "burnout." Dive deeper into understanding burnout, learn the signs of how to catch it early, and manage these experiences along with an experiential exercise to tend to your needs.

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Please join the Queer Inclusion, Equity, Health, & Rights (QuIEHR) Working Group at our 4th Annual Symposium for sexual and gender minority health. This year's theme is "Aging with Pride: Health, Resilience, and Equity for Older Queer Philadelphians."

Dr. Steve Vásquez Dolph, Drexel University Associate Teaching Professor: Global Studies and Modern Languages and Associate Dean for Culture and Community: College of Arts and Sciences will discuss “How to Learn from the Land.”

Abstract:
In response to climate anxiety and post-pandemic grief, this lecture proposes a shift from extractive place-based pedagogies toward a model of community reciprocity through the "classroom as milpa." Drawing on my experience developing an intensive course in collaboration with Philadelphia-based urban gardens, I explore the ways that aesthetically and emotionally potent hand-to-hand labor at local community sites like Sankofa Community Farm, Iglesias Gardens, and Villa Africana Colobó facilitates an embodied "diasporic lens" for participants. By centering culturally-rooted responses to environmental racism, this pedagogical framework uses "companion planting" as a metaphor for social change—repairing ancestral knowledge and bridging the gap between campus and community through an "ethic of abundance."

Bio:
https://drexel.edu/coas/faculty-research/faculty-directory/global-studies/dolph-steve/

Finding the right data for your research can be a daunting task given the number of datasets available online. In this workshop, librarian Sarah Hughes offers practical tips and strategies for locating both data and statistical resources. Topics will include: the difference between data and statistics, where to locate data by topic using library and web resources, and thinking critically about the reliability and validity of data and statistical resources.

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BIOMED PhD Thesis Defense

Title: 
Transcriptomic Analysis of Circadian Rhythm Disruption and Intercellular Desynchrony in the Human Brain with Alzheimer's Disease

Speaker:
Henry Hollis, PhD Candidate
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University

Advisors:
Ron Anafi, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania

Andres Kriete, PhD
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Teaching Professor
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University 

Details:
Disrupted behavioral circadian rhythms are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but transcriptional rhythms in AD subjects have not been well studied. To address this, we informatically ordered post-mortem human brains with and without AD to reconstruct molecular rhythms in control (CTL) and AD samples. We found that while core clock rhythms remained largely intact, critical metabolic output pathways, specifically ribosome and oxidative phosphorylation, were severely dampened. 

Our experimental validation in mice mirrored these transcriptomic findings. A fundamental ambiguity in circadian biology is whether this type of tissue-level dampening stems from a loss of individual cellular amplitude or an increase in intercellular phase dispersion (cells drifting out of sync). To resolve this, we developed a novel computational framework: ORPHEUS. Applying this tool revealed that phase dispersion, rather than strictly weakened individual cellular rhythms, drives the dampened metabolic rhythms observed in AD. Ultimately, this work provides a detailed understanding of circadian disruption in neurodegeneration and introduces a powerful computational tool for analyzing complex tissue rhythms.

Health Management and Policy Department Dissertation Defense

Pennoni will be visiting Drexel University’s campus to host an information session focused on civil engineering and the firm’s work in Philadelphia. This event will provide insight into Pennoni’s projects, company culture, and opportunities for students interested in civil engineering.