NGYEN LAB students excel in independent neuroscience research

During Summer 2024, Aliyah Ogden participated in the Baylor Transdisciplinary Research Undergraduate Experience program, also known as BTRUE. The goals of this program are to encourage undergraduate students to conduct their own independent research project, to connect with students across various scientific disciplines, and to teach students how to present research in a clear and concise manner.  

Throughout her time in the program, Aliyah conducted a  research project, which culminated in an oral and poster presentations. The project was entitled “Investigating nicotine-induced changes in metaplasticity and vulnerability to opioid addiction.” This research studied the effects of nicotine administration on nociception and thermoregulation in rat models, as well as drug-induced changes in activity-regulated cytoskeletal associated protein (ARC) and perineuronal nets (PNN). The project was performed in collaboration with various lab members including Blake Reeves, Andriy Fomin, Mariana Dejeux, and Sarah Jewanee. 

The work she conducted this summer is helping to inform many future research questions, including those which will be relevant for her senior thesis project. Aliyah is very thankful for this opportunity and wants to thank Dr. Nguyen, her lab members, and other members of BTRUE for allowing this summer to be such an amazing and informative experience.  

New Year Is Off to Good Start @ Nguyen Lab

On March 24, 2024, Blake Reeves, a newly admitted Ph.D. student at Baylor’s Psychology & Neuroscience, inaugurated the start of the new research year at the Nguyen Lab by presenting a poster at the 16th Annual Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry: Translational Research in Substance Use Disorders conference in San Antonio, TX.

Blake put before public the results of the project entitled “Expression of behavior and extracellular matrix structures after acute or repeated oxycodone exposure and abstinence in male and female Wistar rats,” which was completed in collaboration with other lab members Mariana Dejeux, Sarah Jewanee, Nathan Cheng, Jacklyn Staffeld, Dr. Benjamin Schwartz and Dr. Jacques Nguyen.

The data presented by Blake suggest that repeated oxycodone administration, followed by abstinence from the drug, may alter expression of extracellular matrix structures called perineuronal nets (PNNs). PNNs are crucial to memory, emotional regulation, and reward. These findings contribute to our understanding of the behavioral and neurobiological impacts of single versus repeated instances of oxycodone administration in rodents.

McNair Scholars Research

In Summer 2023, members of the Nguyen Lab supported fellow lab member Sarah Jewanee at the McNair Scholars Research Conference where she presented the behavioral effects of oxycodone administration, an experimental study that measured withdrawal. (pictured from left to right: Dr. Nguyen, Aliyah Ogden, Danielle Sogbesan, Mariana Dejeux, Sarah Jewanee, Hamid Koroni, Evan Farach, Benjamin Schwartz).

The Baylor University Annual McNair Scholar Conference is held every year to provide a platform to undergraduate students of all disciplines to present their research. The McNair Scholars Program is a federally funded program (one of the TRIO Programs funded by the Department of Education) mandated by Congress. The goal of the program is to increase the number of students in doctoral degree programs who are low-income and first-generation undergraduates, or students who come from groups underrepresented in graduate education.

During the summer of 2023, Sarah Jewanee, undergraduate research assistant from the Nguyen Lab, investigated the behavioral effects of oxycodone and naloxone administration in male and female Wistar rats under the mentorship and leadership of Dr. Jacques Nguyen. On August 3rd and 4th, Sarah was able to showcase the hard work she had put in throughout the summer and presented her very first oral and poster presentation. She is thankful to all the students in the Nguyen lab for their help and support throughout the course of her project and for the guidance of her graduate mentor, Ms. Mariana Dejeux.