John Streicher and students present research at NEURON

John Streicher, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, and his students presented their research at the 25th annual Northeast Under/graduate Research Organization for Neuroscience (NEURON), which was held on February 23, 2014, at Quinnipiac University in North Haven, Connecticut.

The NEURON conference is a student-centered regional research conference, designed for undergraduate and graduate students to showcase their work and develop as scientists. About 350 attendees were present, showcasing about 100 original research posters over a broad range of neuroscience topics, from spider brain morphology to detailed behavioral studies in rodents.

Streicher’s students included UNE 2013 alumni and current Streicher lab technicians Justin LaVigne and Katie Edwards, presenting their work on endogenous opioid and cannabinoid signaling and kappa opioid receptor regulation of cancer cell proliferation, respectively.

UNE class of 2014 students Katherine Pangilinan and Kyle Hong presented their work on the roles of Phosphatidylethanolamine-Binding Protein and Annexin A4, respectively, in regulating mu opioid receptor signaling.

The last Streicher lab presenter was class of 2015 student Nathan Mullen, who presented his work on the identification of activated kappa opioid receptor signaling complex proteins. These projects represent the breadth of study in the Streicher lab, focused on the regulation of opioid receptor signal transduction cascades, and using this knowledge to create novel strategies for drug discovery for the treatment of chronic pain.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.