Year in Review 2021-22
-
Completed Projects
-
New projects and Research Teams
-
Community Service Engagement
-
New Members
-
Goodbye Seniors
May 8th 2021
CNL Student Researchers Graduate, Defend Theses
Six student research assistants graduated on May 8th: Kayla Blake (Chemistry), David Peita (Music Therapy), Erin Neff (Neuroscience, Psychology), Ellen Kuszajewski (Neuroscience, Psychology), Kaitlin McGuire (Communication Disorders) and Sujatha Gaddamanugu (Public Health).
Pictured Left: Neff and Kuszajewski also defended their NRO theses these Spring: "Neural correlates of emotional-cognitive processing in children: Implications for concussion management." Erin is starting as a neurosurgical tech at UPMC and Ellen will be starting her first year at Lake Erie College of Medicine.
December 7th, 2019
CNL Student Researchers Inducted into Dayton C. Miller Honors Society
Ellen Kuszajewski (junior), double major in Neuroscience & Psychology
Ellen Kuszajewski and Dr. Ledwidge after the induction! Ellen has researched in the lab since its inception in Fall 2017.
On Saturday, December 7 two CNL-ers were honored at the Dayton C. Miller Honor Society annual induction: Ellen Kuszajewski, a Junior double-majoring in Neuroscience & Psychology, and Kaitlin McGuire, majoring in Communication Sciences & Disorders with a Minor in Psychology. Ellen's career aspirations are to go to medical school to practice Neurology. Kaitlin plans to be a speech-language pathologist. Founded in 1948, the Dayton C Miller Honor Society selects members who demonstrate consistent, superior academic scholarship. Inductees are juniors/seniors with GPAs in the top 4% of the student body. Congratulations to Ellen and Kaitlin for their continued dedication to their academics.
Kaitlin accepting her pin from Dr. Amy Lebo, Director of the Honor's Program
October 10th, 2019
CNL Lab and BW Speech Clinic host, the First Annual Northeast Ohio Concussion Summit on Diagnosing, Managing and Treating Concussions
Dr. Joseph Congeni debunking concussion myths
CNL student researchers presenting data during poster presention
Dr. Christopher Bailey (left) and Dr. Angela Ciccia (right) answering questions from the audience
Dr. Patrick Ledwidge (right) and Co-director Christa Jones (left) providing opening remarks
Concussions, or mild traumatic brain injury, happens when the brain shakes quickly back and forth in the skull. Most often, it presents itself as a headache, dizziness, disorientation, and some times can involve the temporary loss of consciousness.
With the amount of research and information on concussions, a call for an event to bridge the gaps seemed like the perfect way to connect the community, health care professionals, students, and faculty. The first annual Northeast Ohio Concussion Summit, sponsored by a grant from Women For BW, was organized and hosted by Dr. Patrick Ledwidge, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, and co-director Christa Jones, an assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders and a certified speech-language pathologist. The event was hosted in Strosacker on October 10th, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
With about 120 audience members in their seats, the event started with opening remarks from Dr. Ledwidge and Jones. They were then followed by 20- minute presentations from each of the three local health care providers who have dedicated their careers to understanding concussions and how we can treat and prevent them. Speakers included Dr. Christopher Bailey, director of the University Hospital Sports Medicine Concussion Center, Dr. Angela Ciccia, a professor of psychological and communication sciences at Case Western Reserve University, and Dr. Joseph Congeni, the medical director of the Sports Medicine Center at Akron Children's Hospital. Each presented their research and then fielded the audience's questions.
Afterward, a reception in Sandstone One was hosted to facilitate networking between the event attendees. During this time of conversation, students also presented posters from their research, including our own Cognitive Neuropsychology Lab.
CNL and BW Speech Clinic receive grant to fund concussion research and education
Dr. Ledwidge and Christa Jones, Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders and Director of BW's Speech-Language Concussion Clinic, received a $5000 grant from the Women for BW. Ledwidge and Jones accepted this award at a reception hosted at President Helmer's home on November 12th.
Ledwidge and Jones will allocate funds to support concussion education and research at Baldwin Wallace. According to their proposal, their special project has three goals: (1) Advance Baldwin Wallace’s clinical management of concussion and concussion research programs, (2) Enhance BW students’ clinical and scientific training related to concussion, (3) Build and support a culture of concussion awareness and education in the Baldwin Wallace and Northeast Ohio communities.
The hallmark of this project is the development of an invited speakers series which will host international scientist and clinician experts in the field of traumatic brain injury. Multiple speakers will come to BW to give a series of talks, including a open-to-the-public keynote address. During their stay, these experts will host hands-on scientific and clinic training seminars for BW undergraduate and graduate students.
A steering committee of undergraduate and graduate students will work to organize the series and select the speakers.
In the inaugural year of their giving circle, the Women for BW funded $20,000 of grants to the BW community. According to their call for proposals, 25% of grants were funded towards students and 75% were allocated to faculty/staff special projects. Ledwidge & Jones' project was one of four funded staff/faculty projects.
Sophomore Erin Neff participates in Mission Trip to Romania
Neff playing games with the kids after a lesson on colors in English
Sophomore Research Assistant Erin Neff '21 (Psychology, Neuroscience) spent three weeks in Iasi, Romania on a mission trip with Glade Run Church.
Here, Neff and the mission team stayed on the Farm of Hope whose mission it is to bring hope in and to the life of orphans, youth, and families from the local and neighboring villages.
In Romania, Erin and the team provided American English lessons to about 50 village kids every evening. They planned crafts, games, memory verses, activities and occasionally a sports tournament in the mornings.
Neff speaking to a Romanian Church about her story and where she aspires to go and become
Outside of ministry and working with the children, Erin and her team worked in the farm’s greenhouses to pick and maintain the crops being grown to eat and handed to the village families for an extra food source in their household, while also tasting some for themselves during meals. While abroad, Erin also did touristy things such as visiting the palace, and the botanical gardens.
Sophomore Jessica Blakley participates in Summer Pre-Med program at Columbia University
Sophomore Research Assistant Jessica Blakley '21 (Biology, Chemistry) spent six weeks this summer at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, where she participated in an intensive pre-medical preparatory program. The Summer Health Educations Professions Program (SHPEP) is a free summer enrichment program that focuses on strengthening the academic proficiency and career development for college students interested in the health professions, while simultaneously improving their access to information and resources for health professional schools. The program is part of an effort by its sponsor, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to build a better national Culture of Health.
At Columbia, Jessica engaged in rigorous coursework, labs, and career development courses while participating in practical experiences and health-related seminars. Once a week, she received clinical experience at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and shadowed physicians in neurosurgery, general surgery, internal medicine, neonatology, and emergency medicine. Jessica also took courses in organic chemistry and anatomy and physiology, heard from several distinguished speakers in the healthcare field regarding issues such as health disparities, policies, and nutrition, and attended a pre-medical networking fair at Yale University in New Haven, CT. She was also able to explore the diverse social and cultural environment of New York City through various social activities and make a lot of diverse connections.
Dr. Ledwidge joins panel following local screenplay
On September 1, Dr. Ledwidge spoke on the panel about "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy" following Cleveland Screenplay, Down By Contact. The screenplay, written by Les Hunter, BW Assistant Professor of English, chronicles a retired NFL quarterback struggling to find his identity after the league. The event was hosted at Gilmour Academy's historic admissions building in Gates Mills, OH.
The panel included Ledwidge and Dr. Brandon Hamm, Psychiatry and Neurology fellow at the Cleveland Clinic and was moderated by local author, Christopher Johnston. The screenplay was partially sponsored by the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
CNL Lab hosts visiting summer research assistant: University of Michigan junior, Andrew Mizerowski
Andrew (Novi, MI) is a rising junior at the University of Michigan, majoring in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience. He is currently working through an 8-week summer research internship in the CBL Lab. Andrew's been involved in EEG data collection on our active research projects on language and attention. He also has been instrumental in computer programming a sentence verification paradigm we'll be using for our concussion project starting in the Fall. Amidst these projects, he also coded a modified Stroop paradigm developed for EEG recording.
After the summer, Andrew will continue to work remotely with the CNL Lab on a meta-analysis examining ERP-alterations associated with sports-related concussion.
In the future, Andrew plans to attend medical school to continue pursuing his interests in traumatic brain injury.
Research Assistant, Adam Ramsey defends PSY thesis and graduates with honors
Adam successfully defended his thesis in front of his committee and affiliated NRO and PSY faculty.
Adam with his advisor, Dr. Jen Perry, Professor and Chair of Department of Psychology
Adam graduated less than 24 hours after his thesis defense! He graduated summa cum laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Congrats Adam!
Adam and Dr. Ledwidge
CNL Lab presents research at 25th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society
First time in Boston! And they said 11 hrs wasn't driving distance!
Boston from the Harvard Bridge.
Cambridge from the Harvard Bridge.
Left and middle: Adam and Jeremy presented poster entitled "Late slow positivity reflects the resolution of contextual ambiguity during discourse comprehension." First conference presentation for both gentlemen.
Right: Dr. Ledwidge gives talk of the same title.
Loiterers at MIT!
Harvard Memorial Church
Loiterers at MIT!