December 2023

We attended a department retreat at Drexel’s Health Sciences Building. Katie was awarded the “Chair’s Award *For unique achievements in research and service”, as well as Jason Wickman (Ajit lab).

We also had an end of the year celebration at the Mortensen’s house.

Christmas Party Mortensen labs December 2023

November 2023

We attended Discovery Day at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Katie was awarded the 1^st place for Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Poster!

We hosted Prof. Ricardo Leão from the University of São Paulo. His seminar was on the “Dynamic Control of Neuronal Firing by KATP Channels.”

Ricardo Leao Seminar November 2023

October 2023

Our lab attended the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society Annual Meeting at The University of Pennsylvania, Smilow Center for Translational Research, Philadelphia, Pa.

September 2023

Andreia and Rhea attended the International Congress on Neuropathic pain (NeuPSIG2023) in Lisbon, Portugal, on September 5-9. On top of experiencing cutting-edge scientific and clinical updates in the field of neuropathic pain with focused topic areas, engaging lectures, and more than 300 poster abstracts covering clinical and basic science, our poster was awarded one of the three top best posters! Congratulations Rhea on this amazing recognition.

August 2023

Nikki presented her STAR poster at the STAR summer showcase on August 31. She did very well, congrats!

June 2023

Katelyn Reeb gave a seminar in our department on June 27 titled “Determining the mechanism and clinical potential of positive allosteric modulation of glutamate transporters.” She did very well, congrats.

January 2023

Andreia gave a talk to the Drexel School of Biomedical Engineering on January 18.

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December 2022

Our department retreat happened on December 4-5. Our lab was well represented by talks, workshops and awards, including Katie who got the Best Elevator Talk and Rhea who got a Mary Hoffman Shaw Travel Award.

November 2022

On November 4 we had a successful MAPS (Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society, a division of ASPET) conference in our department.

Our lab also attended the annual meeting for the Society of Neuroscience (SfN) on November 22-25 in San Diego, CA. Katie, Simran and Rhea presented their posters successfully.

October 2022

Andreia attended the Annual International Course in Translational Medicine from October 21-28 by the Eureka Institute (https://eurekainstitute.org/eureka-initiatives/icc_tm/)

Andreia, Oscar, Gabe and dean Chuck Cairns at the Eureka 2022 meeting.

April 2022

Katie and Simran presented their work at the ASPET Annual Meeting at EB 2022.

Katie passed her qualifier, congratulations!

Rhea was awarded the Art Zwerling grant! Rhea was awarded a grant from the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Foundation to continue studying the development of glutamate transporter modulators as a novel, non-opioid treatment for chronic pain. We are so proud of you! Rhea was also awarded third Place In-Person Research Poster Presentation at the 2022 Drexel Emerging Graduate Scholars Conference (DEGS). Congratulations Rhea! Rhea’s award-winning poster was titled “Development of Glutamate Transporter Modulators as a Novel, Non-Opioid Treatment for Neuropathic Pain.” A complete list of award winners can be found on the conference website.

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December 2021

We had our end of the year holiday party at Rhea’s, and it was great. Thanks Rhea!

October 2021

July 2021

Double congratulations to Simran, who successfully defended her master’s thesis and was accepted into our PhD program!

We have earned a Scholarly Materials and Research Equipment Award for Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty. This award from the Office of Faculty Advancement is for the acquisition of materials, equipment, software, systems, library collections or other non-personnel items that will enhance the research enterprise.

We used the award to acquire a brand-new high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system for analytical detection of amino acids (including glutamic acid, aspartic acid, GABA, and others). Samples that can be analyzed include media from primary cultures (astrocytes, neurons, and others), and sample fluids from rodent brains and spinal cords (among others). We are excited about the research opportunities that this equipment will bring to the lab, department, and University!

April 2021

Congratulations Katelyn Reeb

Katie was a runner-up in the Science Sketch Competition of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (PCSFN) for her submission titled, “The mechanism of allosteric modulation of glutamate transporters.” Check out Katie's sketch at the links below:

• https://youtu.be/MR55-lRADP8
• https://pcsfn.org/2021/03/26/2021-pcsfn-science-sketches-winners/

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September 2020

NIDA Grant

Our collaborative grant with Dr. Scott Rawls at Temple University was funded! In this RO1, we will study non-beta-lactam GLT-1 activators, including our positive allosteric modulators, in preclinical models of opioid and cocaine addiction.

July 2020

Bhumi Patel Defends Her Master’s Thesis

Congratulations to Bhumi for a successful thesis defense, titled "The Role of Glutamate Transporters in Neuroprotection After in vitro Stroke and Cocaine Seeking Behavior in vivo."

March 2020

Katie Gives a Rotation Talk

Congratulations to Katie for giving a terrific rotation talk! The wonderful news is that she has chosen to stay in our lab for her PhD thesis, and we are thrilled!

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December 2019

NINDS Grant

We are glad to announce that our lab was awarded a RO1 grant from NINDS for the project “The mechanism of allosteric modulation of glutamate transporters”

This collaborative project with Olga Boudker (Cornell) and Nico Reyes (Bordeaux) will use structure/function, FRET and crystallography studies to understand the molecular mechanisms of allosteric modulation of glutamate transporters, using positive and negative allosteric modulators as tools.

This work will provide an understanding of glutamate transport mechanisms, and this information may generate new avenues for drug discovery, as these transporters serve as important drug target for many severe, debilitating CNS conditions.

November 2019

Discovery Day

Bhumi presented a poster at Discovery Day, the College of Medicine's annual day of research, held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on November 7. The poster highlighted Bhumi's work with mGluRs and cocaine addiction in vivo.

October 2019

Society for Neuroscience

Andreia and Jennifer attended the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Chicago, and presented a poster, "Development of broad activity positive allosteric modulator of glial glutamate transporters EAAT1 and EAAT2."

Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society Meeting

Bhumi presented a scientific poster at the Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society (MAPS) meeting at Temple University. Her poster was “The Role of Glutamate Transporters in Neuroprotection After in vitro Stroke and Cocaine Addiction in vivo.”

June 2019

Jennifer Green Defends Thesis and Receives Honor

Jennifer Green successfully defended her master's thesis in Drug Discovery and Development on June 12, 2019. Jennifer received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Drug Discovery and Development this year.

Left: Jennifer Green and Andréia Mortensen celebrate Jennifer's successful thesis defense. Right: Jennifer and her mother with her award in Philadelphia.

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December 2018

Secret Santa

End of the year Secret Santa in the lab. Happy 2019!

October 2018

Discovery Day

Jennifer Green presented a poster at Discovery Day, the College of Medicine's annual day of research, on October 23 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

August 2018

Successful Thesis Defense

Apeksha Khatiwada successfully defended her master's thesis on August 10, 2018. Congratulations Apeksha, we will miss you!

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October 2017

Book Published

The new book, Biochemical Approaches for Glutamatergic Neurotransmission, in which Dr. Mortensen has authored a chapter titled "Drugs to alter extracellular concentration of glutamate: modulators of glutamate uptake systems," has been published.

The book is available on the Springer website.

July – September 2017

Successful Thesis Defenses

Congratulations to Ryan Wertz and Mike Duffield, who defend their master's theses in July and September of 2017, respectively.

Good luck on your new endeavors, Ryan and Mike!

January 2017

Happy New Year!

Our lab and Dr. Ole Mortensen’s lab went for lunch in early January to welcome 2017 and wish all a happy and productive year!

New Book Chapter Accepted for Publication

Dr. Andréia Mortensen wrote a chapter entitled “Drugs to alter extracellular concentration of glutamate: modulators of glutamate uptake systems,” which was accepted for publication in the book Biochemical Approaches for Glutamatergic Neurotransmission.

The book will be published by Springer Business + Science Media in spring of 2017.

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November 2016

Society for Neuroscience 2016

Our lab was selected to present a Neuroscience 2016 Hot Topic at the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting, which was held November 12–16 in San Diego, Calif. Our presentation is entitled "Neuroprotective properties of novel positive allosteric modulators of EAAT2.

October 2016

Coulter Funding Received

Our lab received an award from the Coulter program for the in-life, plasma and brain exposure studies (oral and IV) and ADME assays of novel EAAT2 activators.

Discovery Day 2016

Ryan Wertz presented a poster at Discovery Day on October 20, 2016, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, entitled “Characterization of in vitro neuroprotective properties of novel positive allosteric modulators of EAAT2.” Congratulations, Ryan, on your presentation!

June 2016

CURE Funding received

Our lab was awarded a CURE Grant (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) entitled “Novel allosteric modulator of glutamate transporter EAAT2 for neuroprotection after brain trauma.” The project will be performed in collaboration with Dr. Ramesh Raghupathi and Dr. Joseph Salvino.