Completed CoNDA Projects
Neural Basis of Cognitive Impairments in Older Adults with Myeloid Malignancies
Vijaya Bhatt, MBBS, MS
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Bhatt is an Associate Professor and Medical Director of the Leukemia Program in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology. He has also completed a Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Research. He manages patients with acute leukemia, myeloid malignancies and other hematologic disorders and those who have undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplant. He finds great joy in interacting with his patients and working in a multidisciplinary team to support patients through the course of their treatment. Dr. Bhatt's CoNDA Pilot Project aimed to identify the nature, prevalence, severity, and the underlying neural mechanisms of cognitive impairments in older adults with myeloid malignancies, utilizing EEG/MEG and fMRI technology.
CEST MRI for Neuropathology of ART and Nicotine
Yutong Liu, PhD
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Yutong Liu is an Associate Professor of Radiology at UNMC, the Bioimaging Core Lab Director, and Director of the CoNDA Center’s Small Animal MRI Core. The goal of Dr. Liu’s Pilot Project was to deploy “novel” magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques developed in his team’s laboratories to noninvasively track drug and metabolites linked to neuropathological and neuroprotective outcomes resulting from the synergetic effects of ART and nicotine. The MRI techniques developed employ a novel contrast coined as “chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST)”. The overarching goal was to develop CEST as a reliable biomarker for measures of ART neurotoxicity in the context of SUDs that can be translated for future human clinical research.
Neuroinflammation in Neurodegeneration and Cognitive Impairment associated with Global Ischemia
Jee-Yeon Hwang, PhD
Creighton University
Dr. Hwang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at Creighton University. The goal of her research is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of neurological diseases and disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. Another goal is to identify novel therapeutic targets for these devastating diseases. This CoNDA Pilot Project examined the role for TREM1-mediated neuroinflammation in global ischemia-induced neuronal death and cognitive deficits. Dr. Hwang saught to establish TREM1 inhibition asa novel therapeutic strategy for the amelioration of global ischemic stroke. To perform her research, she utilized the small animal MRI system, hippocampal based learning and memory behavioral assays.
Bioelectrical Brain Markers for Early Diagnosis of Neurodegeneration in Temporal and Frontal areas in patients with FTD, LDB and AD: EEG/MEG study
Valentina Gumenyuk, PhD
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Valentina Gumenyuk is an Assistant Professor of Neurophysiology and the Director of the CoNDA's MEG Core at UNMC. Her Pilot Project saught to collect clinical and scientific data measured by Magnetoencephalography (MEG) to test the working hypotheses. MEG is a noninvasive method to measure and evaluate neurophysiological activity related with cognitive functions (language, attention, and memory) or with sensory-motor, -auditory and -visual primary functions. MEG data was recorded from patients with different forms of dementia while they performed cognitive tasks. Dr. Gumenyuk used brain localization analysis to differentiate the abnormal brain activity between participants, specifically across temporal and frontal brain regions. The sleep onset parameters in all participants were evaluated while they performed the sleep-nap during the MEG recording. The goal of this study was to identify the early onset impairments in the brain activity caused by the frontotemporal dementia and dementia Lewy body.
The Impact of Aging on the Neural and Behavioral Bases of Empathy
Janelle Beadle, PhD
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Dr. Beadle completed her CoNDA Research Project in January 2023. She completed her doctoral training in neuroscience at the University of Iowa under the mentorship of Drs. Daniel Tranel and Sergio Paradiso. Following this, she completed postdoctoral training in social neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Angela Gutchess at Brandeis University. The final phase of her postdoctoral training was completed back at the University of Iowa under the mentorship of Drs. Melissa Duff and Laurie McCormack and focused on the neural bases of social cognition. Her current work examines the neural and psychological bases of empathy through studies of patients with acquired brain injury, psychiatric disease, and healthy aging.
Ontogeny of Attention Dysfunction in Early Childhood
Anastasia N. Kerr-German, PhD
Boys Town National Research Hospital
Dr. Kerr-German completed her CoNDA Pilot Project in January 2023. Anastasia Kerr-German graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2019 with a PhD in Experimental Psychology with a concentration in Development Cognitive Neuroscience. She is currently faculty at Boys Town National Research Hospital and the Director of the Brain, Executive Functioning, and Attention Research (BEAR) Laboratory in the Center for Childhood Deafness, Language and Learning. One of the goals of her research program is to understand how children’s brains process the information in the world around them and what individual factors might lead to different developmental trajectoriesand long-term outcomes for psychopathology. To explore these questions, she utilizes methods such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), eye-tracking, and hyper-scanning. Currently, she is exploring the relationship between early developing attentional processing and executive functioning in toddlers, risk for ADHD in toddlers, and the relationship between functional connectivity and ocular-motor control and behavior in children ages 2 to 7 years old as well as those with an ADHD diagnosis.
Age-Specific Impacts in Neurocognitive Outcomes Following Prolonged Social Isolation
Aaryn Mustoe, PhD
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Dr. Mustoe is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and a Research Associate at the Callitrichid Research Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He received his BS degree in Biology and Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, a PhD in Neuroscience and Behavior from UNO, and was a postdoctoral researcher at UNO/University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr Mustoe is trained as a behavioral endocrinologist and pharmacologist and studies neural, hormonal, and behavioral mechanisms underlying individual differences in prosocial behavior and vulnerabilities and resilience to social stressors.
Neuromagnetic Signatures of Down Syndrome
Max Kurz, PhD
Boys Town National Research Hospital
Dr. Kurz completed his CoNDA Pilot Project in 2021. Dr. Kurz is a scientist in the Institute for Human Neuroscience and Director of the Physiology of Walking & Engineering Rehabilitation (PoWER) Laboratory. His research program uses a blend of multimodal neuroimaging (EEG, MEG, sMRI) and advanced biomechanical engineering methods to uncover the neurophysiology of how individuals make cognitive-motor decisions, integrate sensory information and generate motor actions. Primary areas of interest include igniting beneficial neuroplasticity in children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (i.e., cerebral palsy, Down syndrome) for improved mobility. In addition, his research is directed at the development of innovative rehabilitative solutions that can eliminate barriers and unlocking an individual's true potential.
Immunometabolism in Parkinson’s Disease: Peripheral Marker and Correlation with Neuroimaging
Kelly Stauch, PhD
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Stauch completed her CoNDA Pilot Project in 2021. Dr. Stauch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Sciences at UNMC. Her research examines the mechanisms leading to bioenergetic dysfunction and the role this plays in modulating pathogenesis of brain injury, aging, and neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Her CoNDA Pilot Project utilized her expertise and novel reproducible rat model of PDto elucidate the relationship of peripheral and neuroimaging biomarkers to PD disease course.