2022 VKC Science Day Poster Competition winners announced

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center held its 13th annual VKC Science Day on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Vanderbilt University’s Student Life Center. It was the first time since January 2019 that Science Day participants were able to meet in-person to celebrate collaboration and innovation among VKC-affiliated research labs.

By: Elizabeth Turner

Photo at left: The 2022 VKC Science Day theme committee. From left: Sasha Key, Ph.D., Systems Neuroscience theme chair; Carissa Cascio, Ph.D., Science Day Committee chair and Undergraduate chair; Rebecca Ihrie, Ph.D., Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience theme chair; and Jeff Hine, Ph.D., Clinical, Behavioral, Education, and Intervention Research theme chair.


The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center held its 13th annual VKC Science Day on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Vanderbilt University’s Student Life Center. It was the first time since January 2019 that Science Day participants were able to meet in-person to celebrate collaboration and innovation among VKC-affiliated research labs. More than 100 presenters showcased their work among colleagues, students, and faculty across Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Kicking off the annual event, VKC researcher Paul Newhouse, M.D., presented a keynote lecture titled "The Brain Cholinergic System and Cognitive Impairment: From Alzheimer's Disease to Down Syndrome." Newhouse is Jim Turner Professor of Cognitive Disorders, professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Pharmacology, and Medicine, and director, Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine.

Following the keynote Q&A, participants took part in two consecutive hour-long poster sessions. During that time, presenters who opted into the Poster Competition met with faculty judges and general attendees and shared their research. Judges then assessed the presenters on their research and presentation skills. All 2022 Science Day presenters are eligible to request up to $250 in travel funding to present at an academic conference in the coming year. Click here to learn more on requesting travel funding.

Afterward, while final scores were being tallied, five Science Day presenters with exemplary abstract submittals participated in the annual VKC Science Day Data Blitz, where they had 5-8 minutes to discuss their research findings with the audience. Below are this year's selected Data Blitz participants and their poster titles:

  • Jennifer Markfeld (Clinical/Behavioral/Educational/Intervention Research): “Associations Between Caregiver Stress and Language Outcomes in Infants with Autistic and Non-Autistic Siblings”
  • Camila Alviar (Clinical/Behavioral/Educational/Intervention Research): “Trajectories of Visual Attention to Infant-Directed Song and Speech Across Development in Autism and Typical Development”
  • Michelle Piazza (Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience): “Evaluation of the therapeutic potential of ketamine in a mouse model of Rett syndrome"
  • Hee Jung Jeong (Systems Neuroscience): “Functional Network Topology and Environmental Stressor”
  • Jacob Feldman (Systems Neuroscience): “Resting State EEG Predicts Later Language in Infant Siblings of Children with and without Autism”

Closing out this year's Science Day was the announcement of 2022's Warren Lambert Memorial Award winners of the Science Day Poster Competition. These winners have the option of receiving their $250 award as a cash prize or in the form of supplemental travel funds. Congratulations to this year's winners:

  • Undergraduate Overall:
    • Rincon Jagarlamudi, "A FMRP-dependent pathway for the glial phagocytosis of brain neurons" (PI: Kendal Broadie)
  • Clinical, Behavioral, Education, and Intervention Research:
    • Graduate: Leighton Durham, "Association between Brain Volume and Polygenic Risk for Externalizing Problems during Development" (PI: Antonia Kaczkurkin)
    • Postdoc: Noah Fram, "Children with and without autism use different predictive strateties when engaging with temporally unpredictable child-directed singing" (PI: Miriam Lense)
  • Systems Neuroscience:
    • Graduate: Andrea Burgess, "Executive function-related neural activity and connectivity during word reading predict later reading ability" (PI: Laurie Cutting)
    • Postdoc: Jacob Feldman, "Resting State EEG Predicts Later Language in Infant Siblings of Children with and without Autism" (PI: Tiffany Woynaroski)
  • Cellular/Molecular Neuroscience:
    • Graduate: Sudiksha Rathan Kumar, "Fighting the Fire: HIKESHI-meditated hypomyelinating leukodystrophy" (PI: Kevin Ess)
    • Postdoc: Adriana Tienda, "Manganese exposure in risk mechanisms for neuropsychiatric disorders" (PI: Fiona Harrison)

Abstracts for all of the Science Day posters presented and additional materials are available for viewing on the Science Day webpage.

Last Updated: 11/2/2022 11:16:06 AM

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