Neuroscience Journal Clubs
Fall, 2009
Updated January 2010
Journal Club name: Systems Neuroscience
Research focus: Sensory neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, sensorimotor neuroscience
and some computational neuroscience
Contact: Josh Gold (jigold@mail.med.upenn.edu; 6-0028) or Marc Schmidt
(marcschm@sas.upenn.edu; 8-9375)
Meeting days & time: Wenesday from 9 - 10 AM
Meeting place: Stemmler 215
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Journal Club name: F.M. Kirby Center Research Club
Research focus: Retinal and macular degeneration, retinal differentiation, retinal physiology,
genetic basis of retinal disease, gene therapy for ocular disease
Contact: Jean Bennett; jebennet@mail.med.upenn.edu
<mailto:jebennet@mail.med.upenn.edu>; 898-0915
Meeting days & time: Wednesdays, noon-1pm (with some exceptions)
Meeting place: 301 Stellar-Chance Labs
Refreshments/pizza served
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Journal Club name: Neuroscience of Obesity
Research focus: Feeding behavior, cell signaling, metabolism, animal models of obesity
Contact: Kendra Bence kbence@vet.upenn.edu 215-746-2998
Meeting days & time: Fri, noon – 1 pm, once per month (Nov. 13, Dec. 18)
Meeting place: Hill Pavilion, usually 220E (call ahead to confirm location)
Pizza & soda served
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Journal Club name: Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurotransmission Journal Club
Labs involved (though anyone is welcome to join): Porter, Lynch, Marsh and Robinson labs
Research focus: GABA and its receptors, Glutamate, its receptors and transporters and
anything else related
Contact: Josh Jackson jackj@mail.med.upenn.edu
Meeting days & time: 3:30pm the second Thursday of each month in
Meeting place: Abramson 511.
Food served
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Journal Club name: Mechanisms of Viral encephalitides
Research focus: Molecular and Cellular pathways to neurodegeneration in response to Viral
Infection: Roles for astrocytes, neurons and microglia.
Contact: Kelly Jordan-Sciutto, jordan@path.dental.upenn.edu, 215-898-4196
Meeting days & time: Friday at 1PM
Meeting place: Room 205 CRB
Refreshments sometimes served
Journal Club name: Cognitive Neuroscience Journal Club
Research Focus: Broad focus on cognitive neuroscience, visual cognition, and social and
affective disorders
Contact: David Kahn dakahn@mail.med.upenn.edu
Meeting days & times: Mondays at noon,
Papers presented on all Mondays except Nov. 2, 16, 30 when JC overlaps with Russell
Epstein’s Visual Cognition lab meeting.
Meeting Place: Conference Room, 3rd Floor, 3401C Walnut
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Journal Club name: Computational Neuroscience Journal Club
Research Focus: At each meeting, one participant will present a paper on computational
modeling and/or computational analysis, and discussion will follow.
Contact: Jessica Marcus jmarcus@seas.upenn.edu
Dates/Times: Every other Wednesday at 12pm, starting 9/16
Place: 3401 Walnut St, Room 326C (enter at 3417 Walnut)
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Journal Club Name: Epigenetics/Genetics Mouse Club
Research Focus: Mouse club is a group of neuroscience and genetics labs that are interested
in genes and epigenetics and their role in regulating behavior and development.
Contact: Tracy Bale tbale@vet.upenn.edu
Dates/Times: 12:30 p.m., Sept. 15, Oct. 6, Nov. 17, Dec. 15, Jan. 19, Feb. 16, Mar. 16, Apr.
13, May 18, June 15
Place: Barchi Library, 140 John Morgan Bldg.
Lunch provided
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**Student – Led Discussion Group Name: Cognitive Control and Concepts/Semantic Memory
Reading Group
Research Focus: Topic alternates between cognitive control and concepts/semantic memory.
A topic-relevant paper is selected and discussed. Behavioral, neuroimaging, computational,
philosophical papers are also included.
Contact: Nina Hsu (hsu@mail.med.upenn.edu) and Ranjani Prabhakaran
Dates/Times: everyThursday, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Place: Center for Cognitive Neuroscience conference room
**Note: While we encourage you to participate in this reading/discussion group, as there is no
faculty oversight, it doesn’t count toward fulfilling the journal club requirement for 2nd year
students.
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Journal Club Name: oxidative stress biology and disease
Research focus: Oxidative and nitric oxide biochemistry and biology as they relate to
disease. Emphasis in neurodegeneration and pathobiology of disease.
Contact: Cheryn Jarvis jarvis@email.chop.edu; Harry
Ischiropoulos ischirop@mail.med.upenn.edu
Meeting time: 9:30 am second Tuesday of each month- September to June
Location: 411 Abramson Pediatric Research Center
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Journal Club Name: Visual and Social Cognition Journal Club
Focus: A student-run journal club focusing on recent publications related to visual cognition,
place and scene perception, face perception, social and affective disorders, and others within
cognitive neuroscience. Discussion often emphasizes neuroimaging techniques and
experimental methods.
Contact: David Kahn; dakahn@mail.med.upenn.edu
Dates/Times: Mondays 11am (with some exceptions for related seminars and lab meetings)
Place: 3401 Walnut St, Room 326C (enter at 3417 Walnut)
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Journal Club Name: Sleep Journal Club
Focus: A student-run journal club focusing on recent publications related to sleep research.
Contact: Kim Halscheid; Kim.Halscheid@uphs.upenn.edu
Dates/Times: Fridays at noon
Place: 3624 Market Street, Suite 201 (Conference Room)
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Journal Club Name: Neuroeconomics
Research focus: Neuroscience of decision-making, with particular (but not
exclusive) emphasis on reward-based decisions in humans
Contact: Jessica Stump jstump@sas.upenn.edu; Joe Kable kable@psych.upenn.edu
Meeting time: 10:30 am second Monday of each month
Location: C21 Solomon Lab Building (3720 Walnut St)