Shernaz Bamji, PhD University of British Columbia Professor, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences Head, LSI Neuroscience Research Group, Life Sciences Institute Djavad Mowafaghian Center for Brain Health School of Biomedical Engineering Shernaz Bamji received her Ph.D. at McGill University and did her postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Bamji is currently a full professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia and is Vice- President elect of the Canadian Association for Neurosciences. Dr. Bamji has a long-standing interest in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neural connectivity and synaptic plasticity. Her work has provided valuable information about fundamental mechanisms underlying learning and memory, as well as how these processes are perturbed in diseased states. https://www.bamjilab.com/ Nils Brose, PhD Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine Professor, Department of Molecular Neurobiology Nils Brose studied Biochemistry, Biology, and physiology at the Universities of TueBingen (Germany) and Oxford (UK). He conducted his PhD work with Reinhard Jahn at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Martinsried (Germany) and then did postdoc studies with Steve Heinemann at the Salk Institute in La Jolla (CA, USA) and with Tom Suedhof at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas (TX, USA). SuBsequently, Nils Brose was a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Goettingen (Germany), where he has Been the Director of the Department of Molecular NeuroBiology since 2001. Nils Brose's research focusses on the molecular mechanisms that control the formation and function of synapses between nerve cells. One of his key research interests concern the mechanisms of synaptic vesicle fusion. He pioneered the characterization of synaptic vesicle priming as a key step in transmitter release and as a major regulatory process in synapse efficacy and plasticity. In his seminar, Nils Brose will present recent studies on the control of synaptic vesicle priming and on the role of this process in controlling synapse efficacy under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. http://www.em.mpg.de/ Pablo Castillo, MD, PhD Albert Einstein College of Medicine Professor, Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Harold and Muriel Block Chair in Neuroscience Dr. PaBlo Castillo is the Harold and Muriel Block Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at the AlBert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. He received his MD and PhD degrees from the Universidad de la República in Uruguay, and postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. Dr. Castillo is a world expert in synaptic plasticity, a biological process critically involved in experience-dependent modifications of Brain function. He has made significant contributions to our understanding of various forms of activity-dependent plasticity at both excitatory and inhibitory synapses under normal and pathological conditions. In his studies, he comBines molecular, genetic, pharmacological and electrophysiological techniques in the mammalian Brain. His work has been largely published in top tier journals, and he is the author of several widely cited review articles and book chapters. http://www.einstein.yu.edu/faculty/8363/paBlo-castillo/ Aaron DiAntonio, MD, PhD Washington University School of Medicine Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Developmental Biology, Department of Developmental Biology Co-Director of the Needleman Center for Neurometabolism and Axonal Therapeutics Dr. Aaron DiAntonio is the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor in the Department of Developmental Biology and co-Director of the Needleman Center for NeurometaBolism and Axonal Therapeutics at the Washington University School of Medicine. His laboratory combines genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and physiology in both Drosophila and mouse to investigate molecular mechanisms that control the formation, maintenance, and repair of neural circuits in development and disease. His laboratory is now translating these fundamental mechanistic insights into novel therapies for the treatment of neurological disease. Dr. DiAntonio is a scientific founder and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Disarm Therapeutics. https://sites.wustl.edu/diantonio/ Felice Dunn, PhD University of California San Francisco Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Department of Ophthalmology Member, Neuroscience Graduate Program Felice Dunn Began her studies in neuroscience as an undergraduate at Brown University where she worked with David Berson in the discovery of intrinsically photosensitive ganglion cells. She then continued her studies in vision at the University of Washington with Fred Rieke as a graduate student and with Rachel Wong as a postdoctoral fellow. With Fred Rieke, she examined retinal gain controls that enable vision across a broad range of mean light levels. With Rachel Wong, she uncovered developmental patterns of synapse formation. In Between, she studied the fidelity of olfactory processing at the NIH with Mark Stopfer. Currently at UCSF, her laB examines the structural and functional effects of synapse loss, and her laB recently uncovered resilience within the adult retina. http://vision.ucsf.edu/dunnlab/research.html Cagla Eroglu, PhD Duke University School of Medicine Associate Professor of Cell Biology, Department of Cell Biology Associate Professor of Neurobiology, Department of Neurobiology Cagla Eroglu, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Cell Biology and NeuroBiology, Director of Graduate Studies in Cell and Molecular Biology and Co-Director, Regeneration Next Initiative, Duke University. Dr. Eroglu’s laBoratory investigates the cellular and molecular underpinnings of how synaptic circuits are established and remodeled in the mammalian brain by the bidirectional signaling between neurons and glia and how disruption of these mechanisms contributes to the pathogenesis of neurological disorders. http://www.cellbio.duke.edu/cagla-eroglu Kristen Harris, PhD The University of Texas at Austin Professor, Department of Neuroscience Fellow, Center for Learning and Memory Institute for Neuroscience Kristen M. Harris received her PhD (1982) at Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine and Kent State, and then completed her postdoctoral training (1982-84) at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She was on the Neuroscience faculty of Harvard Medical School (1984-99) and Boston University (1999-02). She was a Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Director of the Synapses and Cognitive Neuroscience Center at the Medical College of Georgia (2002-2006). Currently, she is a Professor of Neuroscience and Fellow in the Center for Learning and Memory and Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin (since 2006). She has received prestigious awards, including the Sloan Research Fellowship, Javits Merit Award, and a Brain Research Foundation Fellowship, and is widely sought as a national and international speaker. She has had continuous independent funding for her research since she was a graduate student, and has participated on numerous study sections for the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere. She is known for innovative teaching in her laboratory and writing course for undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, she serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at Janelia Farms, The Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt Germany, and The Allen Institute for Brain Research. Scientific data and tools provided on her website (synapseweb.clm.utexas.edu) are widely used resources. http://synapseweb.clm.utexas.edu/ Richard L. Huganir, PhD Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Professor and Director, Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience Co-Director of the Brain Science Institute Richard Huganir is a BloomBerg Distinguished Professor and Professor and Director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is the Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Brain Science Institute. Dr. Huganir received his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University in 1982 and was a postdoctoral fellow with the NoBel Laureate, Paul Greengard, at Yale University School of Medicine from 1982-1984. Dr. Huganir then moved to Rockefeller University where he was an Assistant Professor from 1984-1988. Dr. Huganir moved to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1988 as an Associate Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience. Dr. Huganir was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator for 26 years from 1988-2014. Dr. Huganir Became the Director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience in 2006. Dr. Huganir is the past the President of the Society for Neuroscience and has served as Treasurer of the Society for Neuroscience. He has received the Young Investigator Award and the Julius Axelrod Award from the Society for Neuroscience, the Santiago Grisolia Award, the Goldman-Rakic Award, the Edward M. Scolnick Prize and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National