Neuroscience Groups and Events | Icahn School of Medicine

DEPARTMENTS AND OFFICES

Nash Family Department of Neuroscience

We are proud of the familial community fostered within our Department. Through regular events and active groups and associations, you will create lasting friendships and mentorships with your peers and faculty. We strongly encourage our students, postdocs, trainees, and faculty to take advantage of the activities happening in the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and throughout the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

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Join a Group

DiverseBrains

Supporting highly innovative and productive research by promoting an exciting, equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment that empowers all members of our community.

Neuroscience Postdoc Association

Access professional development opportunities and funding resources.

Mentoring in Neuroscience Discovery (MiNDS)

Making neuroscience education more engaging through community outreach.

The Friedman Brain Institute Events Related Clubs and Programs

Learn more about the Related Clubs and Programs at the FBI

Attend an Event

The Department hosts several events throughout the year where you can network with peers, work in the community, and expand your learning.

Mount Sinai Neuroscience seminars (MSNseminars) is a seminar series and competitive program organized by our postdoctoral fellows. Leading postdocs from around the country are selected and invited to give an institutional seminar and meet with the neuroscience community at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. For more information, please contact: Swagata Dey - swagata.dey@mssm.edu or Marco Rizzo - marco.rizzo@mssm.edu

2025-2026 Speakers

December 12, 2025
Lucas Tian, PhD - Rockefeller University
Neural substrates of a symbolic action grammar in primate frontal cortex
January 30, 2026
Dongeun Heo, PhD - Vollum Institute / Oregon Health & Science University
SARM1: from axon degeneration to glial development and function
February 27, 2026
Eddy Albarran, PhD - Zuckerman Institute
How does dopamine shape the synaptic landscape during reinforcement?
March 27, 2026
Zachary Zeidler, PhD - UCLA
The Architecture of Recall: Memory Reorganization in Prefrontal Circuits
April 24, 2026
Drew Schreiner, PhD - Duke University
A synaptic locus of song learning
May 29, 2026
Chiara Scopa, PhD - Thomas Jefferson University
Neurodegeneration and Transposable Element–Driven Immune Responses in C9orf72-ALS/FTD
June 26, 2026
Sean Piantadosi, PhD - University of Washington
Harnessing Neuromodulation to Investigate Neuronal Ensemble Formation and Function
July 31, 2026
Ava Carter, PhD - Harvard Medical School
Widespread re-targeting of FOS in the genome drives evolution of activity-dependent gene programs in human neurons

The Friedman Brain Institute hosts a Neuroscience Retreat held in the spring of each year. Neuroscience is multidisciplinary by nature and, reflecting this, the scientists and physicians that contribute to the neurosciences at Mount Sinai hail from a variety of departments and campuses. The Retreat provides an opportunity for everyone in the Neuroscience community at Mount Sinai – faculty, fellows, students, researchers and clinicians – to meet and discuss their work in order to increase awareness of ongoing research and approaches, to foster new interactions, and to generate novel ideas.

Learn more about the Annual Neuroscience Retreat here.

For information about the retreat, please contact Vena Persaud or Veronica Szarejko.

The Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is deeply committed to promoting brain health by sharing our expertise with our partners and the local community. In celebration of Brain Awareness Week, Mentoring in Neuroscience Discovery at Sinai (MiNDS) with support from the Friedman Brain Institute and the Center for Excellence in Youth Education, hosts an annual Brain Awareness Fair for local students, their parents, and community members. Learn more about our Brain Awareness Week activities here.

Cells, Circuits, and Behavior

The Cells, Circuits and Behavior WIP includes 13 laboratories whose work focuses on the integration of molecular, cellular, and behavioral studies in the context of normal and diseased states. The co-organizers are Hiro Morishita, MD, PhD, Peter Rudebeck, PhD, and Paul Slesinger, PhD.

WIPs are held Thursdays from 9:30-10:30 am (Hess 8-101). Find future presenters on the events page.

Epigenetics

The Epigenetics WIP includes nine laboratories whose work focuses on transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms by which environmental stimuli (e.g., a drug of abuse, stress) over a lifetime change cell and circuit function to mediate lasting behavioral abnormalities. The co-organizers are Ian Maze, PhD, and Eric Nestler, MD, PhD.

Find future presenters on the events page.

Neurodevelopment and Disease

The Neurodevelopment and Disease WIP is a seminar series for Icahn School laboratories that study the process of neural development, regeneration, and stem cells. Investigations include studies of the underlying biology of the disease processes in neurodevelopmental diseases (e.g., autism), neural degeneration (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease), and neural malignancies (brain cancer). The co-organizers are Silvia De Rubeis, PhD, and Roland Friedel, PhD.
For future presenters, visit the events page.