Entries by sheena28

Professor Stephanie Leal Receives BRI’s Excellence in Academic Mentoring 2026 Award

Professor Stephanie Leal is awarded the PI 2026 Brain Research Institute (BRI) Excellence in Academic Mentoring Award.  This is an annual award that recognize BRI members who have demonstrated persistent and impactful mentoring.  Professor Leal’s efforts were recognized for exceptional commitment to mentoring, trainee development, and fostering the success of students and early-career researchers across the UCLA neuroscience community.

Professor Valerie Tornini awarded the 2026 Life Sciences Excellence Research Award for Assistant Professor

The Life Science Excellence Awards award individuals who have demonstrated exceptional achievemEnt, innovation, leadership, and dedication across research, education, inclusion, and service within the Life Sciences community.

This year’s nominees reflected the extraordinary breadth of talent, commitment, and impact across the division. We extend our sincere congratulations not only to this year’s recipients, but to all nominees whose work continues to strengthen our teaching, research, operations, and community.

Professor Valerie Tornini is named a 2026 Faculty Mentor Award Winner

Professor Professor Valerie Tornini is named a 2026 Faculty Mentor Award Winner. The Faculty Mentor Award honors the considerable dedication of UCLA faculty who consistently and enthusiastically serve as effective mentors to undergraduate students involved in research or creative inquiry. Faculty are nominated by undergraduate students they supported in their research or creative practice and professional development.

Professor Valerie Tornini and her lab awarded multiple 2026 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Awards

Professor Valerie Tornini and her lab awarded multiple 2026 Scialog Collaborative Innovation Awards.

Six teams were awarded this year and Professor Tornini and her lab are part of two of those teams.

“Conserved Epitranscriptomic Signatures of Stress” and “Too Fast and Too Furious: Tradeoffs in Stress-Induced Accelerated Neurodevelopment”. These collaborative projects are related to neurobiology and changing ecosystems.

Congratulations to Christian Gerard Capuno, second-year M.S. Physiological Science student, for winning first place in the 2026 UCLA Grad Slam

Congratulations to Christian Gerard Capuno, second-year M.S. Physiological Science student, for winning first place in the 2026 UCLA Grad Slam. You may watch the presentation on Mind Over Matter: Understanding Sleep Disruptions in Myotonic Dystrophy via YouTube. On April 22nd Christian compete in Sacramento against champions from the nine other UC campuses in the systemwide competition.

Professor Barney Schlinger is awarded the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology’s (SBN) 2026 Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement award

Professor Barney Schlinger is awarded the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology’s (SBN) 2026 Daniel S. Lehrman Lifetime Achievement award. The award serves two important purposes: (1) to honor the lifetime achievements of distinguished investigators in our field and (2) to educate junior members of SBN about the life and work of distinguished senior members, including their role in public education, outreach, and other efforts that exemplify good stewardship of our discipline.