The Academic Minute for 2016.12.12-12.16

Academic Minute from 12.12 – 12.16

Monday, December 12th
Eliane Lucassen – Leiden University Medical Center
Continuous Light Causes Premature Aging
I started performing research concerning circadian rhythms as an undergrad student and have thus been in the chronobiology field for about 10 years. Last March I obtained my PhD degree with as a subject “Circadian timekeeping: from basic clock function to implications for health”. I spent one year of my PhD at the National Instituted of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland as a Fulbright scholar. I obtained a medical degree and a biomedical sciences master’s degree and I now work as a medical resident in internal medicine in the Medical Centre the Hague (MCH) and in the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).

Tuesday, December 13th
F. Chris Curran – University of Maryland Baltimore County
Science Achievement Gap
Chris Curran, PhD, is an educational researcher who focuses on improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged groups of students. In particular, his work focuses on achievement gaps in academic performance across students of different race/ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status. He is particularly interested in exploring the degree to which early childhood and elementary contexts influence such disparities.  His other lines of research include analysis of school discipline and safety policies as well as teacher hiring and labor market issues.  Dr. Curran explores these issues through the use of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, with a focus on providing research that can inform policy and practice.

At UMBC, Dr. Curran teaches courses in advanced quantitative research methods as well as courses focused on the social and political context of education.  Prior to his career in academia, Dr. Curran was a middle school science teacher and department chair.  Prior to that, he spent time in the “hard” sciences conducting research in the field of organic chemistry.

Wednesday, December 14th
Charles Bourque – McGill University
How the Brain’s Clock Drives Thirst Before Sleep
Dr. Bourque obtained a Ph.D. degree in Physiology from McGill University (Montreal, 1985) complemented with a Certificate in Biophysics from the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, USA). He pursued Post-Doctoral studies in Pharmacology at the School of Pharmacy, University College (London, UK) and was recruited to McGill University’s Centre for Research in Neuroscience in 1987. He now occupies the positions listed above. Dr Bourque has published over 130 scientific papers, co-edited 1 book, and has delivered over 150 invited presentations at National and International venues.

Dr. Bourque’s laboratory research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which the brain monitors body hydration, fluid electrolytes and core temperature. Dr. Bourque and his team are particularly interested in defining how networks of thermosensitive and salt-sensitive neurons communicate with neurons in the central clock and other cells to control the sensation of thirst and the release of antidiuretic hormone to mediate hydromineral homeostasis.

Life-threatening defects in osmoregulation are featured in many clinical conditions, including heart failure, sepsis and following head trauma. Moreover changes in osmoregulation likely link dietary salt intake to many forms of hypertension. The Bourque team is therefore interested in how changes in neuronal properties and inter-neuronal communication contribute to the pathogenesis of several hydromineral disorders.

Honors awarded to Dr. Bourque have included the Medical Research Council’s Scholarship, Scientist and Senior Scientist awards, as well as a Senior Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has received the Joseph Erlanger Distinguished Lecturer Award from the American Physiological Society, the Jacques Benoit Lectureship from the Société de Neuroendocrinologie (France), the Stevenson Lectureship (Western University, Ontario) and a Distinguished Lectureship from the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Bourque was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016.

Thursday, December 15th
Adam Blackler – Black Hills State University
Germany, Genocide and Namibia
Adam A. Blackler is an Assistant Professor of History at Black Hills State University. His research explores how colonial encounters in Southwest Africa led Germans to fashion an imperial image of the Heimat ideal. Dr. Blackler has presented his research at numerous national and international venues, including the German Studies Association, German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Freie Universität zu Berlin. His research has been funded by a variety of organizations, including the University of Minnesota and Black Hills State University, the Deutsche Akademische Austauschienst (DAAD), and the Central European History Society.

Friday, December 16th
William Nesbitt – Beacon College
The Beats
Dr. William C. Nesbitt is an English professor at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida, where he heads up Beacon’s Humanities Department. He received his Ph.D. in English from Florida State University, where he focused on American Literature after 1875. His dissertation:  Bone Machines:  Hotrods, Hypertextuality, and Industrialism. Nesbitt earned his M.A. in English from Valdosta State University, and his B.A. in English from Thomas University.