The Graduate Program in Neuroscience (NEUS) at Drexel University College of Medicine embraces the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience. By incorporating expertise across departments and areas of research, the program offers a broad exposure to cellular, molecular, behavioral, developmental and systems neuroscience, with a strong emphasis on disease, injury and therapeutics. Students engage in rigorous research training using multidisciplinary approaches and cutting-edge technology. Their educational experience is not limited to the bench - they benefit from extensive interactions with the faculty, participation in scientific meetings and training in the panoply of skills (writing, teaching, formulation of hypotheses, experimental design) required for independence and success in a variety of career possibilities.
Students in the program can earn an MS or PhD degree, leading to careers in academic research, teaching, pharmaceutical research, industry, government, academic administration, public policy and beyond.
Download the Program Flyer [pdf]
Immunostaining of hiPSC-derived neurons (from veterans with Gulf War Illness) for neuronal markers. (Liang Qiang and Peter W. Baas)
Research
Drexel's Neuroscience program focuses on several key areas of research, including:
To demonstrate our commitment to the values of diversity and inclusion, the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy has allocated $60,000 in supplemental scholarships for Master of Science in Neuroscience program applicants who identify as an underrepresented population in biomedical research. Open to incoming master’s students, this scholarship will be awarded to two students each year to cover half the tuition for two years. Learn more.
News and Announcements
T32 Training Grant
Neuroscience PhD candidates Adam Hall and Jenna McGrath have been awarded two years of stipend and other support funding through the T32 Training Grant on Innovative Approaches to Spinal Cord Injury. Peter Baas, PhD, professor, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, is principal investigator on the grant and director of the T32 program. Michael Lane, PhD, associate professor, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, is co-PI and co-director.
2022-2023 Graduate Student Awards
- Prize for scientific illustration (cover of July issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry "Molecular and clinical markers of Neurodegeneration:" Shrobona Guha
- International Behavioral Neuroscience Meeting - Best Graduate Student Poster Award: Nancy Mack
- Dean's Graduate Student Travel Award: Xiaohuan Sun
- Optogenetics Gordon Research Conference: Excellence in Citizenship Honorable Mention: Ashley Opalka, Candace Rizzi-Wise
- Drexel University Global Engagement Funding Award: Ashley Opalka
- SFARI Thalamocortical Interactions Gordon Research Seminar Travel Award: Ashley Opalka
- NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship: Micaela O’Reilly, Trevor Smith, Nicholas Stachowski, Kathleen Bryant
- NSF GFRP Predoctoral Fellowship: Alison Bashford
- T32 Training Grant Appointees: Shayna Singh, Jeremy Weinberger, Jenna McGrath, Adam Hall
- Dean’s Fellowship for Excellence in Collaborative or Themed Research: Shrobona Guha
- Bondi Award for Research Excellence: Dana Lengel
- Drexel University Research Excellence Award: Sarah Bennison
- NIH Diversity-based Supplements to R01grants: Ash Islam, Taylor McCorkle, Candace Rizzi-Wise
- Graduate College Blue & Gold Fellowships: Alison Bashford, Sierra Coleman, Nishell Savory
- URM Master’s Scholarship: Giavanna deMarco
Recent Presentations
Jason Wheeler, Neuroscience master’s student in the Detloff Lab, presented a poster, “Intrathecal Injection of Polarized Macrophage Exosomes Reduces Mechanical and Thermal Pain Sensation in Spinal Cord Injured Rats,” at the World Congress for the International Association for the Study of Pain in Toronto, Ontario, on September 21, 2022.
Shrobona Guha, MS, Neuroscience PhD candidate, presented a poster, “Investigating the Role of Microtubule-associated Motor Protein KIFC1 at the Synapse,” at the Gordon Research Conference on Cell Biology of the Neuron in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, on June 27, 2022. Co-authors on the poster were her mentor, Peter Baas, PhD, professor of neurobiology and anatomy, and Hemalatha Muralidharan, PhD neuroscience ’20.
John Walker, MS, PhD candidate in the Detloff Lab gave a platform presentation at the Neural Control of Movement Meeting in Dublin, Ireland, entitled, “Nociception Impedes Grasping Recovery in the Spinal Cord Injured Rat.”
Taylor McCorkle MS, PhD candidate in the Raghupathi Lab was part of a symposium on Cognitive Deficits after Traumatic Brain Injury. Her talk was titled “The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor modulator AVL-3288 attenuates hippocampal-based cognitive deficits following repeated mild traumatic brain injury in adolescent rats.”
Jeremy Weinberger, MS, PhD candidate in the Côté Lab gave a platform presentation at the International Motoneuron Society meeting in Banff, Canada, entitled, “Multisite Electrode Array to Optimize Epidural Stimulation for Spasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury.”
Recent Publications
Katherine C. Locke, MS medical science ’19, fourth-year MD student; Margo Randelman, PhD neuroscience ’21; Lyandysha Zholudeva, PhD neuroscience ’18; and Michael Lane, PhD, associate professor, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, published “Respiratory Plasticity Following Spinal Cord Injury: Perspectives From Mouse to Man” in the October 2022 issue of Neural Regeneration.
Shrobona Guha, MS, Neuroscience PhD candidate, published an illustration titled “Neuronal Blossoms” on the front cover of the July 2022 issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, “Molecular and Clinical Markers of Neurodegeneration.” Muralidharan, Guha, Baas, Kazuhito Toyooka, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy, Ankita Patil, PhD neuroscience ’21, postdoctoral researcher, Sarah Bennison, PhD neuroscience ’22, and Xiaohuan Sun, MS, Neuroscience PhD candidate, published “KIFC1 Regulates the Trajectory of Migratory Neurons" in the Journal of Neuroscience on March 16, 2022.
Neuroscience PhD candidates Shayna Singh and Jenna McGrath; Ngoc Ha, PhD neuroscience ’20; and Kimberly Dougherty, PhD published “Identification of Adult Spinal Shox2 Neuronal Subpopulations Based on Unbiased Computational Clustering of Electrophysiological Properties” in the August 4, 2022, issue of Frontiers in Neural Circuits.
Andrew Gargiulo, PhD neuroscience ’19, Preeti Badve, MS interdisciplinary health sciences ’15, Genevieve Curtis, PhD neuroscience ’22, Breanne Pirino, Neuroscience PhD candidate, and Jessica Barson, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology and anatomy, authored “Inactivation of the Thalamic Paraventricular Nucleus Promotes Place Preference and Sucrose Seeking in Male Rats,” which was published in the August 2022 issue of Psychopharmacology.