Undergraduate research assistant, Vai Kasaram, defended and passed her honors undergraduate thesis. Her presentation, titled “Exploring the Role of Inflammatory Markers in Nicotine and Oxycodone,” discussed behavioral and neurobiological findings from her thesis work.

Congratulations and great work, Vai!

(Pictured are Vai and her thesis committee, from left to right: Dr. Davide Zori, Dr. Tres Bodet, Vai Kasaram, and Dr. Jacques Nguyen)

Graduate student, Mariana Dejeux, and research technician, Felise Bressler, presented their research at the Society for Neuroscience 2025 Annual Meeting. Mariana presented part of her dissertation work titled “Changes in Perinuronal Nets and Parvalbumin-expressing GABAergic interneurons in the Orbitofrontal Cortex during Acquisition and Escalation of I.V. Fentanyl Self-Administration in Male Wistar Rats” and Felise presented her project, “Effects of Acute and Protracted Oxycodone Withdrawal on Perineuronal Nets and Dynorphin-A”. 

Great work, Mariana and Felise!

(Left Picture: Felise presenting her work to an observer, Right Picture: Mariana discussing her work with Dr. Barbara Sorg)

Undergraduate research assistants, Aliyah Ogden, Vai Kasaram, and Kaitlyn Rojas, presented their posters titled “Effects of Repeated Adolescent Nicotine Vapor Exposure on Behavior and Perineuronal Nets in the Amygdala,” “Changes in microglia and PNN expression in female rats following nicotine and oxycodone injections,” and “Investigating the ability of semagltide to attenuate self-administration of intravenous fentanyl,” respectively, at BURST’s Research & Internship Day 2025.

Great work, Aliyah, Vai, and Kaitlyn!

(Pictured from left to right: Kaitlyn Rojas, Aliyah Ogden, Vai Kasaram)

In November 2025, junior Undergraduate Research Assistant, Kaitlyn Rojas, was awarded the Spring 2026 Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement (URSA) Research Grant from the Baylor University Office of Engaged Learning. This grant will provide funding for her proposal “Effects of semaglutide on acquisition of fentanyl self-administration in rats.” Kaitlyn looks forward to this opportunity to grow as a researcher.

Congratulations, Kaitlyn!

Undergraduate research assistant, Kaitlyn Rojas, shared her presentation titled “Semaglutide attenuates motivation for intravenous fentanyl in female rats” at the 2025 Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium (GCURS) Neuroengineering section. Kaitlyn’s presentation showcased her ongoing work understanding the effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists on opioid use disorder.

GCURS is one of the longest-running and most prestigious undergraduate research conferences in the southeast. It provides an opportunity for students to present their research in the form of an oral presentation to an audience of their peers from across the United States and the globe while receiving feedback from faculty and graduate students at Rice University.

Great work, Kaitlyn!

(Pictured: Kaitlyn Rojas presenting her research at GCURS.)

Undergraduate research assistant, Kaitlyn Rojas, was selected as the inaugural Novus Cura winner with her presentation titled “The potential role of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists in substance use disorder.”

Novus Cura is an oral platform research competition established by the Medical Service Organization at Baylor University. Seven students were selected through a rigorous application process to compete for a $1,000 scholarship, delivering presentations reimagining the future of healthcare. The winner was selected by a panel of faculty judges based on delivery and communication, quality of research and content, visual aids, responses to faculty questions, and overall impact.

Great work, Kaitlyn!

(Pictured from left to right: Sarah Gee, Kaitlyn Rojas, and Emily Nguyen)

Undergraduate research assistant, Savannah Fish, presented a poster titled “Effects of early life nicotine e-cigarette inhalation on behavior, PNN expression, and astrocytic function” at the Baylor Summer of Discovery Research Symposium. This introduced findings from this Summer, supported by Sophia Wright’s BTRUE Fellowship.

Great work, Savannah!

(Pictured: Savannah Fish presenting her poster, joined by 3 observers.)

Lab members came together to celebrate the great work completed during the Summer! Lab members enjoyed pizza at Slow Rise on the Brazos while getting excited to begin the new semester.

(Pictured: Sophia Marie Ontanillas, Kaitlyn Rojas, Emily Nguyen, Dr. Jacques Nguyen, Nathan Cheng, Emily Nguyen, Joshua Li, Savannah Fish, Eric Wang, Mariana Dejeux, Chris Wernette, Sarah Gee, and Hailey Collins)

Undergraduate research assistant and rising junior, Kaitlyn Rojas, presented her work in the Nguyen Lab at the Baylor McNair Research Conference 2025, supported by fellow lab members.

Kaitlyn’s oral presentation, “Glucagon-like peptide receptor agonist, semaglutide, attenuates self-administration of intravenous fentanyl in female Wistar rats”, introduced her findings from this summer.

Great work, Kaitlyn!

(Pictured from left to right: Chris Wernette, Felise Bressler, Kaitlyn Rojas, Sophia Wright, Mariana Dejeux, and Dr. Jacques Nguyen)

Nguyen Lab technician, Chris Wernette, presented the lab’s research at the 87th College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana this June in the oral presentation session titled, “Cre the Ol’ Noggin: Opioids and the Brain” and chaired by Dr. Brittany Kuhn. His presentation discussed findings regarding how perineuronal net (PNN) and parvalbumin positive (PV+) interneurons are expressed in the orbitofrontal cortex of Wistar rats trained to self-administer fentanyl vs those that received non-contingent fentanyl injections. The aim of the presentation was to discuss the potential role of PNN and PV+ interneurons in mediating the subjective valuation ​of injected fentanyl and the acquisition and maintenance ​of intravenous fentanyl self-administration.

Great work, Chris!

Undergraduate research assistants, Sarah Jewanee, Samuel Moutos, and Kaitlyn Rojas, were recognized at the Psychology and Neuroscience Department Awards Banquet May 1, 2025.

Senior Neuroscience majors, Sarah Jewanee and Samuel Moutos, both received “Recognition in Neuroscience Research” awards.

Sophomore Neuroscience major, Kaitlyn Rojas, received the Dr. Jim H. Patton Award.

Congratulations, Sarah, Samuel, and Kaitlyn!

(Pictured from left to right: Dr. Jacques Nguyen, Kaitlyn Rojas, Sarah Jewanee, Samuel Moutos, and Dr. Benjamin Schwartz)

Sophomore, Sophia Wright, was named a Baylor Transdisciplinary Research Undergraduate Experience (B-TRUE) fellow for Summer 2025. The B-TRUE program aims to provide students with opportunities to explore undergraduate research and prepare for graduate school. Congrats, Sophia!

Sophomore, Kaitlyn Rojas, was named a McNair Scholar. The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program aims to prepare students from low-income, first-generation, and other underrepresented backgrounds in graduate education with the opportunity to pursue summer research and gain insights into the graduate school application process. Congrats, Kaitlyn!

In April 2025, junior, Aliyah Ogden, was awarded the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement (URSA) Fiscal Year Research Grant from the Baylor University Office of Engaged Learning. This grant will provide funds for her project titled “Investigating the Impact of Nicotine Vapor Inhalation on Neuroplasticity and Opioid Self Administration Behaviors.”

Congratulations, Aliyah!

Junior, Aliyah Ogden, was awarded the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Scholarship Program aims to identify undergraduate students who show great potential to become the next generation of research leaders in the natural sciences, engineering, or mathematics and selects approximately 400 students annually.

Congratulations, Aliyah!

(Pictured: Aliyah Ogden) 

Undergraduate research assistant and junior, Aliyah Ogden, presented her poster titled “Nociceptive Tolerance and Neuroplastic Changes Induced by Nicotine or Opioids” at the Baylor Engagement and Research Symposium this March.

Aliyah’s presentation highlights her ongoing work investigating the role of nicotine and opioids in neuroplasticity. This presentation highlights one of her most recent projects; she analyzed how twice daily repeated exposure to nicotine, oxycodone, or a combination of the two substances influenced the development of nociceptive tolerance and how this exposure altered perineuronal nets and activity-related cytoskeleton associated protein.

Great work, Aliyah!

(Pictured: Aliyah Ogden standing in front of her poster)

Undergraduate research assistant and senior, Arjun Trehan, presented his poster titled “Neuroplastic Changes in Opioid Tolerance: A Comparative Study of Oxycodone and Fentanyl” at the Texas Academy of Science 128th annual meeting this March, spotlighting his work in the Nguyen Lab.

Great work, Arjun!

(Pictured: Arjun Trehan standing next to his poster)

Undergraduate research assistants and seniors, Sarah Jewanee and Arjun Trehan, presented their posters titled “Neurobehavioral Effects of Opioid Exposure on Perineuronal Nets in Wistar Rats” and “Exploring Tolerance and Withdrawal Profiles: A Comparative Study of Oxycodone and Fentanyl,” respectively, at the Baylor Undergraduate Research in Science & Technology (BURST) Research & Internship Day (RID), highlighting their work in the Nguyen Lab.

Great work, Sarah and Arjun!

Undergraduate research assistant and rising junior, Aliyah, presented her work in the Nguyen Lab at the Baylor Summer of Discovery this September.

Aliyah’s poster presentation titled “Investigating the influence of repeated nicotine exposure on metaplasticity” highlighted a continuation of the work she completed during the Baylor Transdisciplinary Research Undergraduate Experience (B-TRUE) program this past summer and investigated changes in activity-regulated cytoskeleton associated protein and perineuronal nets after 7 days of repeated nicotine injections in adult male Wistar rats. 

Great work, Aliyah!

(Pictured: Aliyah Odgen in front of her poster presentation)

Undergraduate research assistant and rising junior, Aliyah, presented her work in the Nguyen Lab at the Baylor Transdisciplinary Research Undergraduate Experience (B-TRUE) this August. 

Aliyah’s oral presentation titled “Investigating nicotine-induced changes in metaplasticity and vulnerability to opioid addiction” marked her work researching changes to neuroplastic markers, such as activity-related cytoskeleton-association protein (ARC) and perineuronal nets, and their potential role in vulnerability to compulsive use of opioids.

Great work, Aliyah!

(Pictured: Aliyah Ogden next to the title slide of her oral presentation) 

Undergraduate research assistant and rising senior, Sarah Jewanee, presented her work in the Nguyen Lab at the Baylor McNair 2024 Research Conference this August.

Sarah’s oral presentation titled “Neurobehavioral Effects of Opioid Exposure on Perineuronal Nets in Wistar Rats” and her poster presentation titled “Neurobehavioral Effects of Contingent and Non-Contingent Opioid Exposure on Perineuronal Nets in Wistar Rats” represented all the hard work she completed this summer in the Nguyen Lab.

Great work, Sarah!

(Pictured: Sarah Jewanee pointing at a graph during her oral presentation.)

Junior, Evan Farach, was selected for the Vanderbilt Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship Program (UCRIP), which gives students the opportunity to complete research and clinical patient care at an academic medical center. Congrats, Evan!

Junior, Felise Bressler, was selected for Cornell University’s Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) associated with The Leadership Alliance, where she will be conducting research in the Pleil Laboratory. Congrats, Felise!

Sophomore, Aliyah Ogden, was selected for the Baylor Transdisciplinary Research Undergraduate Experience (B-TRUE) program, which provides Baylor students with support for summer research and preparation for graduate school. Congrats, Aliyah!

Freshman, Sophia Wright, was selected for an Archaeology field school in Italy through the San Guiliano Archaeological Research Project. Congrats, Sophia!

Junior, Arjun Trehan, presented his poster titled “Exploring Tolerance and Withdrawal Profiles: A Comparative Study of Oxycodone and Fentanyl” at the Baylor Psychology and Neuroscience Poster Showcase this April.

Great work, Arjun!

(Pictured: Arjun Trehan in front of his poster presentation)