Welcome!
The Vollum Institute is a privately endowed research institute at Oregon Health & Science University dedicated to basic research that will lead to new treatments for neurological and psychiatric diseases. Vollum scientists have broad-ranging interests that coalesce around molecular neurobiology and cellular physiology. Their work has transformed the field of neuroscience and, in particular, has provided important advances in the study of synaptic transmission, neuronal development, neurotransmitter transporters, ion channels and the neurobiology of disease.
Learn more about the Vollum's mission
NGP Dissertation Defense
Daniel Miller, Doctoral Candidate, Wright Lab
The role of dystroglycan in interneuron development
Wednesday | August 11, 2021 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Email ngp@ohsu.edu for the teleconference link.
Congratulations to Vollum Institute members moving on to new opportunities!
Summer and fall typically bring many personnel changes to research labs, and this pandemic year is no different. We would like to congratulate those members of our close-knit scientific community who are starting new faculty positions at other institutions or who have been accepted into competitive graduate programs. Your fellow Vollum members wish you much success!
Pat Kerstein, PhD — Wright Lab
Assistant Professor, Purdue University, School of Health Sciences
Tyrell Simkins, PhD, DO— Monk Lab & Emery Lab (OHSU Jungers Center)
Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, UC Davis
Crystian Massengill — Senior Research Assistant, Mao & Zhong Labs
Harvard Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience (PiN)
Cameron Paton — Research Assistant 2, Monk Lab
Dartmouth Molecular & Cellular Biology (MCB) Program
Max Schreyer — Research Assistant 2, Murthy Lab
OHSU Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program (Computational Biology)
Nina Luong – 2020 NPBI Scholar, Wright Lab
Vollum/OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program
Allie Taylor – 2020 NPBI Scholar, Monk Lab
Neuroscience Graduate Program at Johns Hopkins University
James Frank joins Chemical Physiology & Biochemistry
Congratulations to former Vollum Fellow, James Frank, Ph.D., who was promoted to Assistant Professor in OHSU’s Department of Chemical Physiology & Biochemistry. He will continue his affiliation with the Vollum Institute as a joint appointment.
We'll miss seeing you and your lab members — David, Janelle and Xander — in the building but are happy that you will still be close by.
Learn more about the Frank Lab's research
Apply now for the Postbac Research Education Program
The application portal for the newly established OHSU Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) is open! If you are a talented undergraduate scientist from a historically marginalized group, what are you waiting for?
The focus of OHSU PREP is to recruit and train Persons Excluded because of their Ethnicity or Race (PEER) postbacs for an intensive, mentored research experience with the primary goal to prepare them for pursuing a graduate degree in biomedical research. PREP plans to bring in five to six postbac scholars each year across the biomedical sciences at OHSU.
- General application review begins July 2 and will continue until all positions are filled.
- Program start date is September 1, 2021.
- Find more information at the OHSU PREP website.
- Questions? Contact PREPtograd@ohsu.edu.
More news and accolades
- Yessica Santana Agreda named SfN Neuroscience Scholars Program Fellow
- Swetha Murthy explains how the body senses force in BRAINet lecture
- Gouaux Lab uses monoclonal antibodies to resolve molecular structure of hippocampal AMPA receptor complexes
- Kelly Monk lectures on "Zebrafish and the Secret to Brain Development"
- Jiaxing Li named 2021 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar
Research highlights
Distinct forms of synaptic plasticity during ascending vs descending control of medial olivocochlear efferent neurons
Romero GE, Trussell LO
eLife 2021 Jul 12; 10:e66396 [Online ahead of print]
High-fidelity, efficient, and reversible labeling of endogenous proteins using CRISPR-based designer exon insertion
Zhong H, Ceballos CC, Massengill CI, Muniak MA, Ma L, Qin M, Petrie SK, Mao T
eLife 2021 Jun 8; 10:e64911
TSG101 negatively regulates mitochondrial biogenesis in axons
Lin TH, Bis-Brewer DM, Sheehan AE, Townsend LN, Maddison DC, Züchner S, Smith GA, Freeman MR
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2021 May 18; 118(20):e2018770118
Hippocampal AMPA receptor assemblies and mechanism of allosteric inhibition
Yu J*, Rao P*, Clark S, Mitra J, Ha T, Gouaux E
Nature 2021 Jun; 594(7863):448-453 [Epub May 12 ] *Contributed equally
Recognition for our early career awardees
Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are usually supported by research grants to individual faculty or by institutional training grants from the NIH. However, a sought-after perk for trainees is to obtain an individual fellowship from federal sources or foundations. Such awards are an honor and also provide important financial support for the trainee and their lab. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the Vollum Institute have been remarkably successful in obtaining these awards over the past few years. This is a credit to the quality of the trainees and the support the receive from their mentors. Congratulations to all.
Congratulations to the Neuroscience Graduate Program researchers — Ali Pincus, Prashant Rao and Petra Richer — who received 2020 N.L. Tartar Trust Fellowships. The $2,000 grants are awarded annually by the OHSU School of Medicine as a means to support research endeavors and career development. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations to all of our graduate researchers in the Vollum/OHSU Neuroscience Graduate Program who received ARCS Foundation Scholar Awards from the ARCS Oregon Chapter!
First Year: Teva Bracha and Kim Engeln
Second Year: Sweta Adhikary, Amelia Culp, Makayla Freitas and Sierra Smith
Third Year: Gregory Hamersky and Jennifer Jahncke
Learn more about these scholars and the ARCS Foundation Oregon
Sweta Adhikary, Williams Lab
NIDA F30 Predoctoral Fellowship (MD/PhD): “Adaptations following chronic opioid treatment and withdrawal”
Alec Condon, Williams Lab
NIDA F31 Predoctoral Fellowship: "Desensitization and recovery of D2 autoreceptors"
Amelia Culp, Mao Lab
National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
Makayla Freitas, Gouaux Lab
NINDS F31 Predoctoral Fellowship: "The molecular architecture and mechanism of the Proton Activated Chloride (PAC)"
Alexandra Houser, Baconguis Lab
National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
Jennifer Jahncke, Wright Lab
NINDS F31 Predoctoral Fellowship: "Dystroglycan regulates cerebellar synapse function"
Katy Lehmann, Freeman Lab
National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
Janelle Tobias, Frank Lab
National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
Christina Chatzi, Ph.D., Westbrook Lab
Collins Medical Trust: "The benefits of exercise on the aging brain"
Sarah Clark, Ph.D., Gouaux Lab
NIDCD F32 Fellowship: "Elucidating the architecture and composition of the hair cell mechanotransduction complex"
Alejandra Fernandez, Ph.D., Wright Lab
NINDS K01 Postdoctoral Career Development Award: "The role of Pten on primary sensory neuron development"
Taylor Jay, Ph.D., Freeman Lab
NINDS F32 Fellowship: "Glial regulation of neuronal physiology in response to local injury"
Yunsik Kang, Ph.D., Freeman Lab
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fellowship: "Molecular mechanisms regulating phagaocytosis of neurons"
Patrick Kerstein, Ph.D., Wright Lab
NEI F32 Fellowship: "Gbx2 regulates the development of an atypical amacrine cell"
Matt Labella, Ph.D., Freeman Lab
NINDS F32 Fellowship: "Molecular mechanisms of astrocyte growth control"
Jiaxing Li, Ph.D., Monk Lab
Warren Alpert Foundation Distinguished Scholars Fellowship: "Investigating mechanisms of neuron-oligodendrocyte precursor cell interactions"
Ernesto Manzo, Ph.D., Freeman Lab
NINDS F32 Fellowship: "Defining genetic pathways that drive axon loss"
Rory Morgan, Ph.D., Monk Lab
Collins Medical Trust: "Defining the roles of adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs) in myelin formation and homeostasis using reverse genetic and chemical screens in zebrafish"
John Sinnamon, Ph.D., Mandel Lab
Rett Syndrome Research Trust Award: "Using site-directed RNA editing to repair Rett Syndrome mutations in vivo"