{"id":55497,"date":"2026-08-11T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=55497"},"modified":"2026-08-11T09:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:34:15","slug":"neuroscience-students-conduct-cutting-edge-research-through-bridge-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/neuroscience-students-conduct-cutting-edge-research-through-bridge-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Neuroscience Students Conduct Cutting-edge Research Through Bridge Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Students at Tarleton State University who are interested in neuroscience recently had the opportunity to work in premier laboratories conducting cutting-edge neuroscience research, thanks to a collaboration with Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Group
From left : Heinz Stolz, Faith Adesipe, Jareth Woodson, McKenna Rice and Madison Wirtz took part in the Pathway to Neuroscience Bridge Program, in which selected students conducted research over the summer in the Texas A&M neuroscience labs, ending their stay with a symposium and banquet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Pathway to Neuroscience Bridge Program is a competitive program in which students perform studies in the world-class Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience (TAMIN) labs over the summer. Selected students were awarded a grant to cover room and board, food and a stipend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Amber Harris Bozer, who coordinates the program at Tarleton State, said the initiative, which began in 2024, strengthens the academic pipeline between Tarleton State\u2019s neuroscience program and TAMIN. Last summer, a group of Tarleton State students lived on the Texas A&M campus for five weeks while conducting research in the neuroscience labs, ending their stay with a symposium and banquet. Three who started the program last year returned this summer and were joined by two new participants to work in the TAMIN labs through the end of July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are so thankful to TAMIN for opening their doors and giving their time to our Tarleton State students aspiring to become neuroscientists, and we are grateful to the Texas A&M Graduate and Professional School for the Pathways to the Doctorate Collaboration Grant funds that support this work,\u201d said Dr. Harris Bozer. \u201cWe are confident that the career trajectories of these students have been positively impacted by this support and the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students in the program said that working alongside supportive mentors and researchers has been enlightening and revealing about themselves, and that they\u2019ve gained insight and experience to hone their focus for future research endeavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing in the lab has allowed me to experience what research is really like beyond the classroom,\u201d said Faith Adesipe. \u201cIt has reinforced my passion for scientific discovery and inspired me to contribute to research that improves human health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heinz Stolz described his experience working in Dr. Joseph Orr\u2019s Cognitive Neuroscience of Goals and Actions lab this summer as eye-opening and humbling. His research focused on understanding the predicted links between frontal-limbic brain networks and reward-guided cognitive flexibility as part of Dr. Orr\u2019s broader research on cognitive flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing able to work at an R1 research institution with access to advanced neuroscience techniques such as MRI, fMRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been an amazing opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cThe biggest thing I will take away from this program is the value of collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madison Wirtz worked under principal investigator Dr. Rachel Smith researching the anatomical subregions in the rat brain associated with habitual addiction in cocaine-seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned much about addiction, but I\u2019ve also discovered that I personally love histology, she said. \u201cThis information will help me going forward because I have more lab skills and research tactics under my belt as well as a better idea of where I\u2019d like to point myself in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKenna Rice\u2019s research at TAMIN focused on understanding how deletion of Peptide Lv affects the body\u2019s inflammatory response. She said her experience in the program strengthened her interest in biomedical research, and she believes it will benefit her future studies by providing a deeper understanding of the scientific process and how research can be translated into better patient care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I work toward becoming a physician, the skills I\u2019ve developed through this program will help me better understand disease mechanisms and prepare me to evaluate and apply scientific evidence throughout my medical career,\u201d said Rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jareth Woodson switched labs from last year and this summer worked under Dr. Vladislav Panin looking at whether fruit flies can be utilized to organismically model the role certain genes play in neurodevelopment and whether those genes are evolutionarily conserved. His research last summer focused on verifying the presence of chemogenetic receptors in neurons as part of Dr. Jennifer Dulin\u2019s lab work on treating spinal cord injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe opportunity to work in both of these labs has been truly valuable, as it has paired me with mentors and provided opportunities to expand my skill set in ways I otherwise would not have had, whether in molecular neuroscience and genetics or in translational research,\u201d Woodson said. \u201cThe Pathways program has been a wonderful source of rigorous research experience that will translate into my lab work back at my home campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about neuroscience programs at Tarleton State, visit tarleton.edu\/neuroscience\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Harris Bozer said the idea for the program originated when TAMIN Ph.D. student Kayli Colpitts, a Tarleton State alumna, reached out to her about enhancing opportunities for Tarleton State students to integrate into the doctoral program at TAMIN. Under the leadership of TAMIN Coordinator Sylvia Bernal Jones, the institute developed the partnership into a structured pathway program. Bernal Jones works alongside TAMIN Ph.D. students Kayli Colpitts and Erin Brill to coordinate the program and mentor participating students. Through the partnership, Tarleton State students receive mentorship from TAMIN faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students, providing guidance on graduate school, research opportunities and careers in neuroscience while helping students build professional networks within the neuroscience community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Students at Tarleton State University who are interested in neuroscience recently had the opportunity to work in premier laboratories conducting cutting-edge neuroscience research, thanks to a collaboration …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":55498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":382,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,423,421,427],"tags":[441,465],"class_list":["post-55497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-academics-research","category-featuredstories","category-science-health","tag-college-of-science-mathematics","tag-division-of-research"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"ehellmund@tarleton.edu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/ehellmundtarleton-edu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2026\/08\/Pathway-300x200.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>","Featured Stories<\/a>","Science & Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>","Featured Stories<\/span>","Science & Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["College of Science & Mathematics<\/a>","Division of Research<\/a>"],"unlinked":["College of Science & Mathematics<\/span>","Division of Research<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 hours ago","modified":"Updated 8 hours ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on August 11, 2026","modified":"Updated on August 11, 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on August 11, 2026 10:00 am","modified":"Updated on August 11, 2026 9:34 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55497"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55503,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55497\/revisions\/55503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}