Kelsie Smith Hayduk

Research

A revolutionary map of the fly brain could change how we study our brains

• Oct. 2, 2024

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking new resource—the FlyWire Connectome, described today in the journal Nature—that maps every neuron and synaptic connection in the central brain of ...

People

A Gallery: Neuroscientists in Color

• Sep. 25, 2024

Nathan Anthony Smith, PhD, My lab studies two very unique brain cells called astrocytes and microglia. Collectively, these two cell types are known as glia – which derives from the Latin word for ...

Community

Building on a legacy of intellectual and developmental disabilities research and care

• Jul. 26, 2024

The foundational work of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) related care and research has been underway at the University and Medical Center for more than a half-century. Clinicians ...

Research

Connection speed in the brain may impact how people with autism process visual illusions

• Jul. 22, 2024

Researchers are finding the process in our brain that allows us to see these visual distinctions may not be happening the same way in the brains of children with autism spectrum disorder. They may be ...

Community

Golisano Makes $50 Million Commitment to Build the New Golisano IDD Institute

• Jun. 13, 2024

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano has made a historic $50 million commitment to build the Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Institute at the ...

Research

Can ketones enhance cognitive function and protect brain networks?

• May. 31, 2024

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have identified mechanisms in the brain’s hippocampal network that are rescued by ketones. These findings build ...

Research

Hearing, balance & the brain

• Apr. 25, 2024

The University of Rochester is among the top 20 institutions in the United States in funding for hearing—and balance—related research from the National Institute on Deafness and Communication ...

Research

Batten Research Day fosters collaboration and growth

• Apr. 25, 2024

The University of Rochester Intellectual and Developmental Research Center (UR-IDDRC) and the University of Rochester Batten Center (URBC) hosted a Batten Research Day in March. The event brought ...

People

Faculty Q&A: Manoela Fogaça, PhD

• Apr. 25, 2024

Manoela V. Fogaça, PhD, is an assistant professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). She received her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at ...

People

Postdoctoral Spotlight: Daniel Guest, PhD

• Apr. 25, 2024

Daniel Guest, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Laurel Carney, PhD, at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of Minnesota, and his ...

People

Postdoctoral Spotlight: Dana Boebinger, PhD

• Apr. 25, 2024

Dana Boebinger, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow working in the lab of Samuel Norman-Haignere, PhD, at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She received her doctoral degree from Harvard ...

People

URMC Biomedical Genetics Professor named a fellow of the AAAS

• Apr. 18, 2024

Douglas Portman, PhD, holds the Donald M. Foster, MD Professorship in Biomedical Genetics and is a professor of Neuroscience and Biology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, was named a ...

Education

A Match Made; Medical Students Learn Where They Will Train During Nationwide Ceremony

• Mar. 15, 2024

Medical students at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and across the country learned where they will train as residents during the annual Match Day ceremony.

Research

Turns out—male roundworms are picky when choosing a mate, new research finds

• Mar. 11, 2024

The Portman lab at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester discovered that the male roundworms use pheromones and touch signals to determine the sex, age, nutritional ...

Research

Transforming Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research

• Jan. 29, 2024

The University of Rochester Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center is transforming the landscape of exploration.

Education

Student Spotlight: John Gonzalez-Amoretti

• Jan. 29, 2024

John Gonzalez-Amoretti is a 4th year Neuroscience graduate student. He is currently working in the lab of Adam Snyder, PhD, in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department at the University of ...

People

Faculty Q&A: Archan Ganguly, PhD

• Jan. 26, 2024

Archan Ganguly, PhD, is an assistant professor of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center. His research aims to understand how proteins essential for synaptic communication between ...

Research

Researchers find possible neuromarker for ‘juvenile-onset’ Batten disease

• Jan. 8, 2024

New research suggests an easy-to-measure brain process may be a target or biomarker in measuring treatment outcomes in clinical trials for patients with Batten disease.

Research

Researchers identify path to prevent cognitive decline after radiation

• Jan. 3, 2024

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester find that microglia—the brain’s immune cells—can trigger cognitive deficits after radiation exposure and may be ...

Research

Researchers find neurons work as a team to process social interactions

• Nov. 27, 2023

Researchers have discovered that a part of the brain associated with working memory and multisensory integration, may also play an important role in how the brain processes social cues.

People

Postdoctoral Spotlight: Erin Bojanek, PhD, BS (’14)

• Oct. 23, 2023

Erin Bojanek, PhD, BS (’14), is an instructor in the Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Lab.

Education

Pathway program proves access can cultivate scientists

• Sep. 11, 2023

NEUROCITY alumni pursue research at the University of Rochester following the ten-week summer program that puts undergraduate students from historically marginalized groups in labs across the ...

Research

Wired for research

• Aug. 17, 2023

A biomedical engineering student explores how the brain processes speech syntax—and discovers the benefits of conducting research as an undergraduate.

People

Postdoctoral Spotlight: Allison Murphy, PhD

• Jul. 24, 2023

Allison Murphy, PhD (’23), a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Farran Briggs, PhD, received a doctoral degree in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Her ...

People

Faculty Q&A: Lars A. Ross, PhD

• Jul. 24, 2023

Lars A. Ross, PhD, is a research assistant professor of Imaging Sciences and Neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He came to University of Rochester Medical Center in late ...

Research

Protecting the vulnerable, informing the future

• Jul. 24, 2023

This is not another story about COVID. This is a story about how a group of scientists—including a neuroscientist, virologist, and nephrologist—and school leadership rolled up their sleeves, stepped ...

Research

URMC researcher receives $8.3 million to study chronic pain and the brain

• Jul. 19, 2023

Understanding the role of chronic pain in the brain could transform treatment and care for a condition that inflicts more than 20 percent of US adults. An associate professor of Psychiatry at URMC ...

Research

AI helps show how the brain’s fluids flow

• Jun. 14, 2023

A new artificial intelligence-based technique for measuring fluid flow around the brain’s blood vessels could have big implications for developing treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Research

A chance observation finds potential hearing biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease

• Jun. 7, 2023

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester found where plaques are found in the brain may impact hearing in Alzheimer's disease.

Research

Research finds prediction may be key to eye-and-hand coordination

• Jun. 5, 2023

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have found that the ability to visually predict movement may be an important part of the ability to make a great ...

Research

Researchers find possible target for treating neuropsychiatric disorders in teens

• Jun. 1, 2023

The brain continuously changes during childhood and throughout adolescence. The onset of neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia often begins during young adulthood. Dysfunction of the dopamine ...

Research

Ania Majewska, PhD, named co-director of UR-IDDRC

• May. 15, 2023

Ania Majewska, PhD, professor of Neuroscience, joins John Foxe, PhD, as co-director of the University of Rochester Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (UR-IDDRC).

Research

Research continues to rule out brain’s immune system as key to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

• May. 8, 2023

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester continue to find evidence that the brain’s immune system may not be the culprit behind fetal alcohol spectrum ...

Research

Researchers find rhythmic brain activity helps to maintain temporary memories

• Apr. 24, 2023

New research shows that rhythmic brain activity is key to temporarily maintaining important information in memory. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of ...

People

Student Spotlight: Mark Osabutey, MBChB

• Apr. 24, 2023

Mark Osabutey, MBChB, is a 2nd-year Neuroscience graduate student at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Osabutey has a medical degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and ...

Research

Possible ‘steps’ to revealing super-agers

• Apr. 13, 2023

On the quest for the proverbial fountain of youth, scientists have long looked for evidence of super-agers—people whose brain ages slower than their body. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for ...

Research

The stars in the brain may be information regulators

• Mar. 31, 2023

URMC researcher explores how astrocytes may be a key player in the brain’s ability to process external and internal information simultaneously. He argues research on these cells is necessary to ...

Education

Tearing with Tradition: Aspiring Doctors Learn Where They Will Train on Match Day

• Mar. 17, 2023

At noon on Friday, March 17, aspiring doctors from across the country opened envelopes. Inside, students learned which institution they will train at as residents. It was the annual Match Day ...

Research

Iron & the brain: Where and when neurodevelopmental disabilities may begin during pregnancy

• Mar. 6, 2023

The cells that make up the human brain begin developing long before the physical shape of the brain has formed. This early organizing of a network of cells plays a major role in brain health ...

Research

Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world

• Feb. 24, 2023

Involuntary, fixational eye movements play a bigger role in vision than researchers previously thought.

Research

Can hearing loss be reversed? Research reveals clues that could regrow the cells that help us hear

• Feb. 13, 2023

The most common cause of hearing loss is progressive because these hair cells—the primary cells to detect sound waves—cannot regenerate if damaged or lost. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for ...

Research

Wiggles & wings: The model systems transforming neuroscience

• Jan. 27, 2023

Genetic model organisms are truly invaluable to the field of neuroscience. Many of the discoveries made using C. elegans and Drosophila apply throughout the animal kingdom, and this research has led ...

People

Student Spotlight: Johanna Fritzinger

• Jan. 27, 2023

Johanna Fritzinger is a fourth-year Neuroscience graduate student at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Fritzinger graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a BS in Electrical ...

People

Faculty Q&A – Peter Shrager, PhD

• Jan. 27, 2023

Peter Shrager, PhD, is a professor of Neuroscience and of Pharmacology & Physiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). In 1971, Shrager came to URMC to work in what was then the ...

Research

Researchers identify neurons that "learn" to smell a threat

• Jan. 24, 2023

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience have found new clues to how the olfactory sensory system aids in threat assessment and have found neurons that “learn” if a smell is a threat. ...

Research

New grant will use virtual reality to understand trauma and the brain

• Dec. 14, 2022

Understanding how experience and exposure to trauma changes the brain could improve diagnosis and targeted care for conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Benjamin ...

Research

Researchers reveal how trauma changes the brain

• Dec. 7, 2022

Researchers have found exposure to traumatic events may physically change the brain, including the mechanism used for learning and survival. These findings could significantly advance future ...

Research

A serendipitous discovery and the choreographed dance of fragile X research

• Oct. 18, 2022

Fragile X syndrome is the most common known single-gene cause of inherited IDDs, including autism. Scientists know the misstep in this syndrome is in the gene responsible for making a protein ...

Education

Student Spotlight: MaKenna Cealie

• Oct. 18, 2022

MaKenna Cealie is a fourth year in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD). The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism ...

People

Faculty Q&A: Emily Knight

• Oct. 17, 2022

Emily Knight, M.D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Neuroscience and Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Her research aims to understand neural mechanisms of sensory ...

Education

Neuroscience students and post-doc honored at ceremony to kick-off academic year

• Sep. 22, 2022

The Awards and Philosophy Meeting at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry kicked off the 2022-2023 academic year. During the ceremony a postdoctoral associate and a number of ...

Research

The prose of Dr. Seuss shines a light on how the brain processes speech

• Sep. 21, 2022

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience have expanded the understanding of how the brain is engaged during complex audiovisual speech perception.

Research

Mild traumatic brain injury increases risk of behavioral and emotional problems in kids

• Sep. 13, 2022

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience have found that kids who experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI), even a mild one, have more emotional and behavioral problems than kids who ...

Education

The White Coat Ceremony: 110 Students Mark the Beginning of Medical School

• Aug. 12, 2022

The incoming class of medical students at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry receive their white coats in a traditional ceremony.

Research

Many minds, many methods, one brain

• Jul. 21, 2022

The hum of a treadmill in the distance greets you stepping off the elevator into the Frederick J. and Marion A. Schindler Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory at the University of Rochester. The ...

People

Postdoctoral Spotlight: Aaron Nidiffer, Ph.D.

• Jul. 20, 2022

Aaron Nidiffer, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Edmund Lalor, Ph.D. His research focuses on how the brain interprets visual speech and simultaneously processes two different types of ...

Research

The brains of children with autism may not always ‘see’ body language

• Jul. 18, 2022

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have found that children with autism spectrum disorder may not always process body movements effectively, ...

People

Majewska honored by NINDS for exceptional mentorship

• Jun. 21, 2022

Ania Majewska, Ph.D., has been named a 2022 Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship awardee by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for her dedication to superior ...

Research

Walking gives the brain a ‘step-up’ in function for some

• Jun. 17, 2022

It has long been thought that when walking is combined with a task – both suffer. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester found that this is not always ...

Research

How the brain interprets motion while in motion

• Jun. 15, 2022

New findings about how the brain interprets sensory information may have applications for treating brain disorders and designing artificial intelligence.

Research

New research finds the risk of psychotic-like experiences can start in childhood

• Apr. 25, 2022

Research has long focused on the impact environmental and socio-economic factors – including income disparity, family poverty, and air pollution – have on increasing a person’s risk of developing ...

Education

Student Spotlight: Victoria Popov

• Apr. 25, 2022

Victoria Popov is a second year in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Popov graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with an M.S. in professional ...

Research

Diverse minds and determined hearts make change: Forging equitability in Neuroscience

• Apr. 25, 2022

The Neuroscience Diversity Commission has a simple but powerful purpose – to fundamentally change the bench. The group was formed in 2020 and has been meeting bi-weekly since. Made up of mostly ...

People

Faculty Q&A: Samuel Norman-Haignere

• Apr. 25, 2022

Samuel Norman-Haignere, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of Neuroscience, and Biostatistics and Computational Biology. He received his B.A. in Cognitive Science from Yale University and completed his ...

Research

The art of smell: Research suggests the brain processes smell both like a painting and a symphony

• Apr. 4, 2022

New research suggest the brain has multiple responses to representing a smell. In one strategy, the brain uses a snapshot, like a painting or a photograph, at a given moment to capture the essential ...

Research

A key to restoring sight may be held in a drug that treats alcoholism

• Mar. 18, 2022

The pathway that the drug disulfiram blocks to treat alcoholism was very similar to the pathway that’s hyper-activated in degenerative blindness.

Research

Researcher develops new methods to understand how the brain responds to sounds – including singing

• Feb. 23, 2022

New research has identified neurons in the brain that ‘light up’ to the sound of singing, but do not respond to any other type of music.

Research

Researchers find new clues in the brain linking pain and food

• Feb. 11, 2022

It has long been known that there is an association between food and pain, as people with chronic pain often struggle with their weight. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience may ...

Research

Researchers restore brain immune system function after prenatal exposure to environmental toxin

• Feb. 8, 2022

New research shows that exposure to the industrial byproduct TCDD in utero could cause the brain’s immune system to go array later in life, damaging important brain circuits, and potentially giving ...

Research

Researchers provide insight into how the brain multitasks while walking

• Jan. 24, 2022

New research turns the old idiom about not being able to walk and chew gum on its head. Scientists with the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have shown that the ...

Research

On impact: Predicting prolonged concussion recovery and the risk of repeated head hits

• Jan. 24, 2022

The Bazarian and Merchant-Borna laboratories in the Emergency Medicine Department are dedicated to gaining a better understanding of concussions. Especially in people who take many months to ...

People

Q&A with Samuel Mackenzie, M.D., Ph.D.

• Jan. 24, 2022

Samuel Mackenzie, M.D., Ph.D., joined the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience in July 2021 as a senior instructor in Neurology and Neuroscience.

People

Student Spotlight: Bryan Redmond

• Jan. 24, 2022

Bryan Redmond is a second year in the Neuroscience Graduate Program, and fourth year in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

People

“Education is key.” Neuroscientist Nathan A. Smith, Ph.D. ('13), returns in leadership role

• Jan. 12, 2022

Nathan A. Smith, M.S. (’10), Ph.D. (’13), is returning to the University of Rochester as an associate professor of Neuroscience and associate dean for Equity and Inclusion in Research and Research ...

Research

Changes in the brain hinder addiction recovery in people who are HIV-positive

• Dec. 20, 2021

Researchers with the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at URMC are studying how the brain puts the 'brakes' on behavior. That may be different in individuals recovering from cocaine addiction and ...

Research

URMC researchers reveal how the brain understands one voice in a noisy crowd

• Dec. 15, 2021

Researchers in the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience find that the brain is taking an extra step when listening to one speaker in a crowd, and not taking that step with the other words swirling ...

Research

URMC & RIT faculty awarded patent for gene transfer technology that could transform cancer therapies

• Dec. 13, 2021

Researchers at the University of Rochester Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience and Rochester Institute of Technology have received a U.S. patent for technology designed to accelerate development of ...

Research

Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience pilot grant program makes institute history

• Nov. 19, 2021

The 2021 pilot program made history by awarding more than $900-thousand to 20 researchers from eight different departments across the University of Rochester and the Medical Center.

Research

Anxiety cues found in the brain despite safe environment

• Nov. 12, 2021

Researchers used a virtual-reality environment to understand the impact anxiety has on the brain and how brain regions interact with one another to shape behavior.

Research

Multiple sclerosis drug improves memory in mice modeling Alzheimer’s disease

• Nov. 5, 2021

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience found that glatiramer acetate, a prescription drug currently used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), improved memory in a mouse ...

Research

Seeing the future of science and care at the Center for Visual Science

• Oct. 27, 2021

For nearly 60 years, the Center for Visual Science (CVS) at the University of Rochester has been a hub for vision science, bringing researchers together who have transformed our understanding of ...

Education

Student Spotlight: Sean Lydon

• Oct. 27, 2021

Sean Lydon is a first-year in Neuroscience Graduate Program (NGP) whose research interests lie in neurodegenerative diseases. He served in the United States Army from 2011-2014 before pursuing ...

People

Dr. Jonathan Mink receives Child Neurology Society’s highest honor

• Oct. 8, 2021

Jonathan W. Mink, M.D., Ph.D., the Frederick A. Horner M.D. Distinguished Professor in Pediatric Neurology and Chief of Child Neurology at URMC, has been awarded the Child Neurology Society’s 2021 ...

Research

Researchers aim to understand COVID-19 in children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

• Oct. 6, 2021

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience are working to better understand how COVID-19 impacts student and staff in schools that serve students with IDDs.

Education

Del Monte affiliated members honored at ceremony to kick-off academic year

• Sep. 27, 2021

The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry is kicked off the 2021-2022 academic year this week, and a number of Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience members were honored.

Research

Endocrinology fellow receives prestigious award to pursue IDD research

• Sep. 10, 2021

Carlos Diaz-Balzac, M.D., Ph.D., an endocrinology fellow, was recently awarded The Career Award for Medical Scientists (CAMS) from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Research

The memory changes of menopause

• Sep. 1, 2021

Menopause can mess with your memory, and a new study from the University of Rochester Medical Center has identified four profiles of cognitive function that may help researchers understand why memory ...

Research

Appetite for survival: Brain signal alerts roundworms to changing food supply

• Aug. 25, 2021

Microscopic roundworms may hold the key to understanding what is happening in the brain when the instinct of an animal changes in order to survive.

Education

Lab access: Diversifying the bench

• Aug. 18, 2021

Two new pipeline programs aim to give underrepresented minority students access to neuroscience research.

Research

Silence and sound: The perfect timing to preserve hearing

• Aug. 2, 2021

URMC researchers found a mix of sound and silence may be a key in slowing hearing loss when played over an extended period of time.

Research

Q & A with Jennetta Hammond, Ph.D.

• Jul. 29, 2021

Jennetta Hammond, Ph.D., joined the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience as an assistant professor in Neurology and Neuroscience in July 2021. Her research aims to understand interactions between the ...

Education

Student Spotlight: Yanya Ding

• Jul. 29, 2021

Yanya Ding is starting her second year in the Neuroscience Graduate Program (NGP) at the Medical Center. Originally from China, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.S. in ...

Research

Whimsical bench celebrates pioneer in autism research

• Jun. 30, 2021

Tristram Smith, Ph.D., a pioneer in Autism research, was memorialized at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), during a ceremony and bench dedication.

Research

What we know about aducanumab – the new FDA approved drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease

• Jun. 9, 2021

Earlier this week, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the drug aducanumab to treat Alzheimer’s disease – making it the first new drug in nearly 20-years to treat the ...

Research

From the inside out: Making sense of schizophrenia

• Apr. 28, 2021

The senses — which serve as our brain’s window to the outside world — may play a key role in schizophrenia. Researchers believe the sensory systems in the brain of those living with schizophrenia may ...

Research

Q&A with Ian Fiebelkorn, Ph.D.

• Apr. 28, 2021

Ian Fiebelkorn, Ph.D., joined the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience in January 2021 as an assistant professor in Neuroscience. His research aims to understand how the brain selects the information ...

Research

Postdoctoral Spotlight: Rianne Stowell, Ph.D.

• Apr. 28, 2021

Rianne Stowell, Ph.D., (’19) is a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Kuan Wang, Ph.D. Her research focuses on adolescent development of the dopaminergic system, the collection of neurons in the ...

Research

Researchers find breastfeeding linked to higher neurocognitive testing scores

• Apr. 26, 2021

New research finds that children who were breastfed scored higher on neurocognitive tests.

Research

Weaving a lesson to memory

• Mar. 30, 2021

Neuroscience professor uses hobby to successfully teach difficult anatomy lesson.

Research

ABCD Study MRIs reveal more incidental findings in children

• Mar. 24, 2021

New findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) Study could change our understanding of the prevalence of neurological problems in children and how neuroimaging is used to ...