Geanelle R. Sam, Psychology student and Vice President of the Nu Rho Psi Chapter Epsilon at SUNY Old Westbury, was awarded a National Undergraduate Honor Society in Neuroscience (Nu Rho Psi) Chapter Activity Grant for the 4th Advancing Cross-Disciplinary Outreach in Neuroscience (AXON) conference which will take place on April 22, 2023. The AXON conference is for undergraduate neuroscience students to present their work regionally within the Northeast and is co-hosted by Rutgers University.
The SUNY Old Westbury and Rutgers University Nu Pho Psi chapters have been collaborating since before the COVID-19 pandemic hit to build networking opportunities for students across the tri-state area. They partnered together in 2019 to create a virtual space to keep students interested in neuroscience and connected together despite the challenges imposed by COVID-19. The outcome of these efforts was the implementation of AXON, which draws annually between 50-75 undergraduate student presenters from many institutions to demonstrate new knowledge for the field while offering authentic early career stage advancements of undergraduate neuroscience students.
“The students in the Neuro-Psych Club and the Nu Rho Psi Chapter Epsilon at SUNY Old Westbury have done an exceptional job over the last 4-years! From tabling events to promote the Neuropsychology Minor, the Foundations in Cognitive Neuropsychology micro-credential, and the Foundations in Neuropsychopharmacology micro-credential, to the annual Brain Awareness Week events sponsored in partnership with the DANA Foundation, our students are truly exceptional,” states Dr. Lorenz S. Neuwirth from the Department of Psychology who serves as Faculty Advisor for the Neuro-Psych Club and President of Nu Rho Psi Chapter Epsilon.
In addition to the grant, the National Nu Rho Psi Counsel has awarded SUNY Old Westbury and Rutgers University with $300 to award the best three undergraduate neuroscience Poster Presenters at the 4th AXON conference. Students interested in either attending or presenting their research at the 4th Annual AXON Conference are welcome to register for the event which is free and will be held in a hybrid format with an in-person component at Rutgers University. The Keynote Speaker will be Dr. Maura Boldrini, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia Medical College, Director of the Quantitative Brain Institute (Brain Quant), and the Human Neurobiology Laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, will be presenting her work on “How COVID-19 Affects The Brain.”