Young Scientist Steering Committee 2021-2023

Our Mission statement:

Connecting Members via Engagement to Science and the Scientific Community

ISN is highly supportive of its trainee members. However, effective support of our young scientists requires knowledge of their needs. On the other hand, receiving support requires knowledge about what is offered. Therefore, the Young Scientist Steering Committee (YSSC) aims to bridge the gap between young member needs and ISN secretaries and officers. We are composed of representatives from all sister societies forming a global team of young neuroscientists. We intend to serve as a pivotal group connecting the new generations of researchers in the broad field of neurochemistry with ISN. We are here to address the interests, needs, problems and concerns of PhD-students at any stage and postdoctoral fellows within the first five years of their career. We want young scientists to be involved and feel heard in the well-established community of neuroscience, which may seem challenging for newcomers. We want to reveal opportunities for new, creative, open-minded thinkers to enter the world of neuroscience, as we are convinced that this is fuel for the future community.

Our main goals are to:

  • Provide input and guidance to the ISN Council and Committees on issues that are central to young scientists and serve as a forum for coordination and development of programs targeting young scientists.
  • Create a global network of young investigators involved in neurochemistry to facilitate cooperation and communication, aiming to promote their work, collaboration, mobilization and networking.
  • Provide a unique platform aimed at assisting young investigators with career development.

Our Mission statement:

  1. First-year free membership; only US$15 per year afterwards.
  2. LARGE VARIETY of funding options (travel awards, young scientist lectureship awards, young members symposia) enabling you to participate at conferences and meet new colleagues and collaborators that will push your career forward.
  3. Reduced registration fees for ISN conferences.
  4. Join ISN via local sister societies (ESN, ASN, APSN) without additional costs!
  5. Special opportunity for pushing the society (and your CV) forward by actively participating in committees or proposing symposia and workshops for meetings/conferences
  6. Free access to JNC articles!
  7. Regular updates on conferences and funding in the ISN newsletter
  8. Free access to services like the mentoring forum and My1. Conference initiative by YSSC

Main Goals

Our main goals are to:

  • Provide input and guidance to the ISN Council and Committees on issues that are central to young scientists and serve as a forum for coordination and development of programs targeting young scientists.
  • Create a global network of young investigators involved in neurochemistry to facilitate cooperation and communication, aiming to promote their work, collaboration, mobilisation and networking.
  • Provide a unique platform aimed at assisting young investigators with career development.

 

Membeship Benefits

Membership benefits for young scientists at a glance:

  • First-year free membership; only US$15 per year afterwards.
  • LARGE VARIETY of funding options (travel awards, young scientist lectureship awards, young members symposia) enabling you to participate at conferences and meet new colleagues and collaborators that will push your career forward.
  • Reduced registration fees for ISN conferences.
  • Join ISN via local sister societies (ESN, ASN, APSN) without additional costs!
  • Special opportunity for pushing the society (and your CV) forward by actively participating in committees or proposing symposia and workshops for meetings/conferences
  • Free access to JNC articles!
  • Regular updates on conferences and funding in the ISN newsletter
  • Free access to services like the mentoring forum and My1. Conference initiative by YSSC

YSSC Members

Dr. Mohammed R Shaker

Career: Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Korea University (February 2017) on Cellular and Behaviour of Neural Stem Cells during Spinal Cord Elongation.
Current Position: Research Fellow at the Korea University Medical Centre (Since March 2017).
Research Interest: Modelling the Developmental Stage of Neural tube elongation in vitro.
Societies: ISN member Since 2017, SFN since 2017, ISSCR since 2015, APSN since 2015, Representative of APSN in ISN YSSC since 2018.

 

 

Dr. Sara Grassi

Milan, Italy.
Career: PhD in Biochemical sciences at the Università degli Studi Milano (March 2017) on the identification of the lipid antigens recognized by a remyelination-promoting antibody.
Current position: Assistant professor at the Università degli Studi Milano (since November 2021).
Research interest: Role of membrane sphingolipids in the molecular mechanisms underlying demyelination/remyelination.
Societies: ESN member since 2014, ISN member since 2015, FENS member since 2014.

Kaira Church 

Career: Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Genetics from Texas A&M University in 2015, currently pursuing a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Current position: PhD Candidate in the Molecular Microbiology & Immunology PhD program at the University of Texas at San Antonio 
Research Interests: Glial-cell biology and the peripheral immune contributions to the mechanisms regulating initiation and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Societies: ISN since May 2019, American Society for Neurochemistry since August 2020, Society for Neuroscience since August 2019, American Association of Immunologists since March 2022, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology since June 2020. 

Dr Philip A. Adeniyi

Portland, OR, USA

Career: Ph.D. in Anatomy (Neurobiology) at Olabisi Onabanjo University (2018) on characterizing the impacts of co-administration of nicotine and 3, 4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) on neural activities, motor coordination, and cognition. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Louisiana State University (March 2019 – October 2020) and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anatomy, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria (2017-2019).
Current position: Postdoctoral Scholar at Dept. of Pediatrics, Neuroscience Section, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).
Research interest: understanding the contributions of microglia in etiology and/or progression of white matter injury and Alzheimer’s disease.
Societies: I joined ISN in the year 2010, Neuroscience Society of Nigeria (NSN) member since 2011, Society for Neuroscience (SfN) member since 2012, Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA) member since 2013, American Association for Anatomy member since 2020, and Representative of Africa in ISN-YSSC member since 2019.

Lic. Vanesa Soledad Mattera 

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Career: Licenciate in Biotechnology orientated in molecular and cellular biology at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (UNQ) (2016).
Current position: PhD Candidate at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Teaching assistant (adhon) at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Dept of Biological Chemistry, Biochemistry of metabolic diseases. (2020)
Research interest: Demyelination/remyelination, Glial cells, Extracellular Vesicles, Intranasal route.
Societies: ISN (International Society for Neurochemistry), ASN (American Society for Neurochemistry), SAIC (Argentine Society of Clinical Research).

Dr. Dilina Tuerde

Tokyo, Japan. 

Career: PhD in Biological Sciences at Tokyo Metropolitan University (March 2020), on the role of tau in physiology and pathology. 
Current Position: Postdoc at Keio University School of Medicine (Since April 2020)
Research Interest: Molecular mechanisms underlying dopamine release.
Societies: ISN member since 2016, APSN member since 2016, JSN member since 2016, SFN member since 2017.

Charikleia (Charoula) Peta, MSc 

Athens, Greece
Career: Graduate Student, Pharmacology Department, University of Thessaly; MSc in Neurosciences (2019), University of Athens; BSc Biology, University of Athens (2016)
Current position: Graduate student, 3rd year, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens
Research Interests: Ras signalling regulation; function of neurofibromin isoforms as RasGAPs and as MAPs
Societies: ISN, ESN, FENS, HSfN

The first YSSC 

Paving the way forward young ISN members

Welcome to the International Society for Neurochemistry! We are very pleased to have early career scientists like you joining ISN and contributing to its rich scientific history as we write the next chapter in advancing neurochemistry around the world.

ISN is particularly keen on attracting young members at the undergraduate, graduate, early postdoctoral levels, whose drive and motivation will propel us forward in the years to come. You will find that ISN has a variety of programs specifically designed for young scientists. Its schools, meetings and special conferences are the perfect environments for career development, offering unprecedented access to world leaders in neurochemistry and opportunities to network with and even become the rising alumni that will one day lead the society.

Young scientists are very important to the ISN, so much so that in 2015 the ISN Council established the Young Scientist Steering Committee (YSSC) to reach you. The YSSC consists of young ISN members from around the globe, whose mission is to represent and promote the interests of early career ISN members and to establish a dynamic network of young scientists within the neurochemistry community to support researchers during this critical early career stage, facilitating networking, collaboration and career development. Please keep an eye out for the quarterly publications of our column “Toward the Helm” in the ISN electronic Newsletter “What’s On”, in which you will find useful resources for successfully navigating the career transitions you have ahead. Also, make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter as we use these interactive social media platforms to stay connected!

We are happy to have you on board. 2017 marked the 50th Anniversary of ISN, and we will be happy to have you helping build the next 50 years!

Does this sound familiar to you?

A similar letter was sent to all new young ISN members between 2015 and 2017, put together by the members of the first YSSC. We would like to deeply thank all former members of the first YSSC for their work and engagement in establishing social media accounts of the ISN, the column “Toward the Helm” and for putting together a fantastic social event in Paris and the workshop “Opening black boxes in academia and beyond”. Great job guys, we will do our best and more to keep it up!

 

Members of the first YSSC:

Chair: Luis Bernardo Tovar y Romo (Mexico), Vice-Chair: Neha Singla, (India)

Michaela Hohnholt (Germany), Heather Madsen, (Australia), Haley Titus, (USA), Shelly Buffington, (USA), Yuta Ishizuka, (Japan), Kai Kummer, (Austria), Richard Chawana, (South Africa)