2024

11/21: The Appel Institute had the annual holiday luncheon hosted by the Appel Postdoctoral Initiative (API). Great job Till Zimmer for leading the trivia games and Noah Guiberson for special entertainment. Major thanks to the rest of the API committee as well as Li Gan, Billy Coronas, and Ana Carney for the support and organization.
11/01: The highly anticipated graduate course Introduction to Neuroimmunology will be back this winter! This elective course features our own incredible faculty and a fantastic lineup of Invited Guest Lecturers. Not to be missed!
10/03: We are excited to help organize the weekly Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series, a flagship event hosted by the BMRI that features top-notch invited speakers, as well as the weekly Work-in-Progress Seminar Series for colleagues to connect and share their latest scientific advances.
09/24: Congrats to Stephanie Jackvony for winning a Best Poster Award at the Annual Neuroscience Graduate Program retreat!
08/20: A new preprint describing astrocytic redox mechanisms is now available! Congrats to first author, Daniel Barnett, and the entire team on this stellar work: Mitochondrial complex III-derived ROS amplify immunometabolic changes in astrocytes and promote dementia pathology.
08/13: Congrats to Dr. Constance Zhou, an MD-PhD student, on an excellent dissertation and oral defense! Well-deserved recognition of hard work and exciting findings. Thank you to the thesis committee, Drs. Li Gan, Lorenz Studer, and Michael Rout, for the insights and support!
08/06: Stephanie Jackvony presents her research at the Gordon Research Conference on the Neurobiology of Brain Disorders, held in Spain!
07/29: Daniel Barnett and Till Zimmer present their latest research findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia!
07/16: Big welcome to Evelyn Hardin, who has joined the lab for her thesis work! Evelyn is a Neuroscience graduate student interested in FTD/ALS pathogenesis and neuroimmune mechanisms. We are thrilled to support your research training and look forward to many exciting discoveries! Welcome aboard!
06/14: Stephanie Jackvony and Daniel Barnett did great jobs presenting their research at the Appel Institute and BMRI work-in-progress seminar series!
06/11: Congratulations to Caroline Booraem for successfully completing the Admission-to-Candidacy Exam in the Graduate Neuroscience Program!!
06/10: Welcome to Alyssa Bodmer, who has officially joined the team as a research technician to help unravel mechanisms of dementia pathogenesis.
06/03: Congratulations to Minwoo Wendy Jang for being selected for a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Research Foundation of Korea! The project focuses on astrocyte roles in sex-dependent behavioral changes in preclinical models.
05/28: We are excited to publish our findings in Cell Reports on astrocytic contributions to sex differences in cognitive processes. For a quick perspective, see the feature by Weill Cornell Medicine Newsroom. Congratulations to first author, Samantha Meadows, a previous graduate student that led the study, and all coauthors involved in this important discovery!
05/22: The lab participates in the Appel Institute Poster Symposium, which highlighted diverse projects and technical innovation by Appel scientists. From our team, exciting posters presented by Daniel Barnett, Minwoo Jang, and Till Zimmer, focusing on astrocytic redox signaling, sex-dependent astrocytic-neuronal circuits, and lipid dynamics, respectively.
05/14: The lab receives an R21 grant from the NIA on lipid-based mechanisms in neurodegeneration. Congratulations to co-PI, Laura Beth McIntire, and everyone who contributed, especially Till Zimmer, who is spearheading this project.
04/10: Warm welcome to Evelyn Hardin, a Neuroscience graduate student joining the team for a lab rotation!
03/22: Congratulations to Till Zimmer for an invited review article published in Trends in Neurosciences, entitled “Astrocytes in Selective Vulnerability to Neurodegenerative Disease”. We review the roles of astrocytes and propose that astrocytes contribute to selective pathogenesis via transitions to context-divergent functional states disrupting specific neural circuits and activities.
03/07: Anna Orr delivered a talk at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and related neurological disorders (AD/PD) in Lisbon, Portugal.
02/12: Warm welcome to Alyssa Bodmer, a volunteer interested in scientific research and behavioral neuroscience.
02/07: We are honored to host the phenomenal scientist and astrocyte expert Dr. Shane Liddelow from NYU as our invited speaker for the Appel Forum!
01/24: Warm welcome to Ashna Singh, a Neuroscience graduate student joining the team for a lab rotation!
01/17: Daniel Barnett presented his research at the Mitochondria Signaling and Disease Keystone Conference in Banff, Canada.
01/12: Warm welcome to Jacqueline McAleer, a Neuroscience graduate student joining the team for a lab rotation!

2023

12/13: We are delighted that Laraib Ijaz has joined the lab for her thesis studies! Laraib is a Neuroscience graduate student interested in glial signaling and neuroimmune pathways. We are excited to work together and look forward to many exciting discoveries! Welcome aboard!
12/12: The Orr lab is honored to be highlighted along with the Gan lab in the latest Weill Cornell IMPACT magazine! Thank you to the Office of External Affairs for the well-crafted feature on glial roles in dementia.
12/01: We are thrilled to receive a competitive Intercampus Multi-Investigator Seed Grant from Cornell to support our collaborative interactions with Nathaniel Vacanti at Cornell-Ithaca for studies on metabolic network remodeling in neurodegeneration.
11/29: Daniel Barnett presents his latest research on mitochondrial function at the Appel Institute Work-in-Progress seminar series at Weill Cornell Medicine.
11/17: The Appel Institute enjoyed a festive holiday luncheon hosted by the Appel Postdoctoral Initiative (API). Great job Till Zimmer, our master of ceremonies for trivia games. BIG thanks to the rest of the API committee as well as Li Gan, Billy Coronas, and Ana Carney for the great support and organization!
11/15: Anna Orr chaired a minisymposium at the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington D.C. on the roles of astrocytes in behavior and gave a talk on the context-dependent effects of astrocytic signaling in cognitive decline.
11/13: Adam Orr and Constance Zhou presented their ongoing research at the Society for Neuroscience conference on mitochondrial ROS and nucleocytoplasmic dynamics, respectively. Great job!
10/25: We look forward to hosting distinguished speakers Drs. Boxer (USCF), Reiman (Banner Health), and Surmeier (Northwestern) for the 11th Annual Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute Symposium being held on November 9th!
10/24: Congratulations to Till on welcoming a beautiful baby girl!
09/30: Excited to participate in the WCM Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat 2023, which included presentations by our own Daniel Barnett, Stephanie Jackvony, and Anna Orr!
09/22: Congrats to Dr. Till Zimmer for receiving a poster award at the Annual WCM Postdoc Research Day!
09/20: Honored to host the amazing Dr. Cristina Alberini from NYU as our invited speaker for the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration! Postdoc positions are available in her lab!
09/19: Welcome to Matthew Mahoney, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program!
09/13: We are excited to host two invited panelists from industry for the Appel Postdoctoral Initiative (API). A huge thanks to Drs. Biljana Djukic (Sanofi) and Gretchen Snyder (Intracellular Therapies) for taking time out of their busy schedules to provide postdocs with useful career advice and insights on drug discovery!
08/28: Congrats to Daniel Barnett for an invited review article in press at the Journal of Neuroscience! The review is a selected feature article for the upcoming Society for Neuroscience minisymposium: “Astrocytes as Drivers and Disruptors of Behavior: New Advances in Basic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targeting”, which will include talks by Drs. Bohmbach (Univ of Bonn), Charlet (Univ of Strasbourg), Dallerac (Paris-Saclay University), Ju (previously at Univ of Science and Technology, Daejeon), Nagai (RIKEN), and Orr (Weill Cornell), bringing together astrocyte scientists from across the globe.
08/02: A warm welcome to Dr. Minwoo Wendy Jang, who has joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow! Minwoo will be focusing on the neurophysiological effects of astrocytes and their roles in CNS disorders. Welcome aboard!
07/31: Congratulations to Daniel Barnett for being awarded the competitive NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from the National Institute on Aging! The three-year research training project will address novel roles of mitochondrial complex III-derived ROS in astrocyte signaling and dementia pathogenesis.
07/26: We are excited to welcome Amr Fatafta, who has joined the lab as a research technician! Amr will be working with the team to unravel new mechanisms of dementia and neuroimmune alterations. Welcome!
07/25: Anna Orr gives a talk on context-dependent effects of astrocytes at the Burke Neurological Institute and meets with its many outstanding faculty and trainees. Beautiful location and inspiring science!
07/04: Welcome to Alicia Whye, who has joined the lab as a rotating MD-PhD student in the Tri-I program!
06/12: Welcome to our summer undergraduate research interns Annabel Barnett from Colgate University and Ethan Wang from Johns Hopkins University!
05/23: Anna Orr is honored to organize and chair a session at the upcoming Society for Neuroscience conference this fall: “Astrocytes as Drivers and Disruptors of Behavior: New Advances in Basic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targeting”. She will also give a talk at the session. Hope to see you all in Washington DC on Nov 15th! Check out the entire program here: Society for Neuroscience
05/10: Connie Zhou presents their latest work on glial nucleocytoplasmic dynamics at the Appel Institute Work-in-Progress Series at Weill Cornell Medicine.
05/05: Anna Orr is honored to co-organize the Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series (PINS) for the next academic year, working alongside David Eliezer and Costantino Iadecola. This is a fantastic series hosted by the Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) that invites top scientific leaders and innovators covering diverse topics in neuroscience. Not to be missed!
04/28: Welcome to Eduardo Muñoz, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program.
04/27: Daniel Barnett gives a talk on novel context-specific effects of mitochondrial ROS at the 42nd Annual Vincent du Vigneaud Research Symposium at the Weill Cornell Graduate School.
04/19: We are thrilled to have our research published in Science Advances! For a takeaway summary of the study, please see the great newsroom story by Weill Cornell Medicine. Congratulations to first-author Avital Licht-Murava, a previous postdoc in the lab, and all contributors for their hard work and revealing fascinating biology. It takes a village.
04/14: Congratulations to Till Zimmer for being selected for a postdoctoral award from the BrightFocus Foundation Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program for his research on lipid-related mechanisms in dementia!
04/03: We are thrilled that Caroline Booraem has joined the lab for her thesis work! Caroline is a Neuroscience graduate student interested in mechanisms of neurological disease and redox signaling pathways. We are thrilled to support your training and look forward to many exciting discoveries! Welcome aboard!
03/23: Stephanie Jackvony and Anna Orr give talks at the AAIC Advancements in Immunity conference in Boston.
03/15: We are thrilled to host Dr. Michael Sofroniew from UCLA as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!
03/02: Congratulations to Dr. Till Zimmer for being selected for a postdoctoral fellowship from the Alzheimer’s Association for his exciting work on lipids in dementia!
02/17: Anna Orr is featured in a Weill Cornell Enterprise Innovation news article. Big thanks to the stellar EI team for highlighting our lab and supporting our research!
02/06: Stephanie Jackvony is collaborating with the fantastic team led by Dr. Deepak Shukla at the University of Illinois to examine viral invasion in the brain.
01/26: Big congratulations to Dr. Samantha Meadows-Ortiz on an excellent thesis document, lecture, and oral defense! A well-deserved celebration of incredibly hard work and exciting findings. The first of many great defenses to come in the Orr lab!
01/19: Adam Orr gives a lecture on mitochondrial redox mechanisms and our translational research program at the Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series.
01/12: Till Zimmer presents his exciting work on astrocytic lipid dynamics at the Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series.
01/10: Samantha Meadows is scheduled to deliver her Doctoral Dissertation Lecture on January 26th! The lecture will be followed by a thesis defense with the examination committee.
01/04: The highly anticipated graduate course Introduction to Neuroimmunology is back! This elective course will feature our incredible WCM faculty and a SUPERB lineup of Guest Lecturers, including Drs. Dritan Agalliu (Columbia), Baljit Khakh (UCLA), Robyn Klein (WashU), Maria Lehtinen (Harvard), Daniel Mucida (Rockefeller), and Richard Ransohoff (Third Rock Ventures/Abata Therapeutics)! Not to be missed!! Contact our intrepid course coordinator (and graduate student) Stephanie Jackvony for details.

2022

12/24: Stephanie Jackvony organizes our lab’s first Secret Santa celebration for the holidays! We bid farewell to 2022, which has been an eventful and productive year in the Orr lab.
12/21: We are delighted to host Francisco Quintana from Harvard as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!
12/5: A warm welcome to Grant Schell, who has joined the lab as a Research Technician! Grant will be participating in our various projects focusing on glial pathobiology and mechanisms of dementia. Excited to have you aboard!
11/16: Daniel Barnett and Samantha Meadows presented their exciting findings at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, CA. Big congrats to both of them for receiving a lot of interest and positive feedback from the neuroscience community.

11/07: Our PREPRINT describing sex-specific effects of astrocytes on cognitive function is now available!! Astrocytes regulate spatial memory in a sex-specific manner. We discovered that memory-related behavior is regulated by astrocytes in a divergent manner in female versus male mice, suggesting that neuroglia promote sex differences in cognitive function. In this study, we used four complementary approaches in adult mice to test the effects of astrocytic G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), including the major astrocytic glutamate receptor mGluR3. Remarkably, in response to these manipulations, males and females showed a consistent divergence in memory outcomes. Notably, many brain disorders and normal aging alter astrocytic receptors and are associated with sex differences in neurocognitive impairments. Our findings suggest that astrocytes contribute to these differences and that distinct astrocyte-targeting therapeutic strategies are needed across sexes.

11/04: Welcome to Laraib Ijaz, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program.
10/18: Welcome to Cinthia Garcia, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Pharmacology program and Fellow in the Weill Cornell Initiative to Maximize Student Development.
10/10: Congrats to Stephanie Jackvony for winning a Best Poster Award at the Neuroscience retreat!
09/30: Want to learn more about our latest research? Samantha Meadows, Daniel Barnett, and Stephanie Jackvony will be presenting their exciting projects at the Weill Cornell Neuroscience Program retreat! We look forward to this really fun annual event that includes fantastic talks, posters, dinners, activities, and of course the faculty “roast”!
09/02: PREPRINT of our latest work on the selective effects of astrocytic proteinopathy is now available!! Astrocytic TDP-43 dysregulation impairs memory by modulating antiviral pathways and interferon-inducible chemokines. Briefly, our results suggest that dementia-related buildup of TDP-43 within astrocytes is sufficient to alter astrocytic antiviral pathways in specific brain regions and increase chemokine signaling to synapses, which promotes selective impairments in neurotransmission and behavior. This study is novel and exciting because it implicates glial antiviral pathways in dementia-associated neuronal hyperexcitability and cognitive decline!
09/02: The Orr lab has finally joined Twitter. Better late than never…? Follow us @OrrLaboratory!
08/08: Congrats to Stephanie Jackvony for being awarded the competitive NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from the National Institute on Aging. The proposed three-year research training project will address the effects of TDP-43 pathology on innate antiviral pathways in neurodegenerative disease.
07/18: Anthony Villegas joins the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program and Fellow in the Weill Cornell Initiative to Maximize Student Development.
07/15: Connie Zhou gives a talk on alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport at the Tri-I MD-PhD retreat.
07/05: Welcome to Martin Rhie Kim and Amber Cao, who have joined the lab as undergraduate research interns from the Cornell-Ithaca campus.
06/29: The lab is thrilled to collaborate with Nathaniel Vacanti and his group at Nutritional Sciences at the Cornell-Ithaca campus for studies on metabolic dysregulation in neurodegenerative disorders.
06/13: The lab has a long-awaited group outing and spends some great quality time together enjoying good weather, food, games, and many laughs.
06/08: Daniel Barnett successfully completed his PhD qualifying exam! Congrats!!
05/28: Samantha Meadows will be presenting at the FENS Forum and the ISN Meeting and sharing her exciting findings on the regulation of cognitive function by astrocytic receptors.
05/13: We are delighted to host Baljit Khakh from UCLA as our upcoming invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!
04/05: We are excited to open a search for a Research Technician to join our team! Please see the job posting for further information: Opportunity in the Orr lab
04/04: Daniel Barnett receives Honorable Mention from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program!
03/26: Adam Orr and Daniel Barnett will be collaborating with the talented team led by Ed Chouchani at Harvard Medical School to study oxidative mechanisms.
03/23: We are delighted to host Bart De Strooper from the UK Dementia Research Institute and KU Leuven as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!
03/21: Daniel Barnett and Till Zimmer collaborate with top-notch team at Denali Therapeutics, including Pascal Sanchez, Dan Xia, and Steve Lianoglou to characterize a new knock-in model with progressive amyloidosis, glial alterations, and other AD-relevant phenotypes. This model is freely available to the research community: APP-SAA knock-in mice
03/10: We are excited to meet this year’s accepted students for the Neuroscience Graduate Program and the Tri-I MD-PhD Program!
02/23: We are delighted to host Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne from Harvard Medical School as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!

2021

12/24: Samantha McDonough joins the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Neuroscience program!
10/27: Anna Orr and Adam Orr present highlights of the lab’s ongoing work at the Intercampus Symposium on Aging and Neurodegeneration at the Ithaca campus.
10/20: Avital Murava gives a talk on astrocytic TDP-43 in cognitive function and neuroimmune pathways at the Appel Institute Forum.
09/08: Avital Murava presents her exciting research at the AAIC Neuroscience Next conference on Oct 12-13 and the Society for Neuroscience conference in November.
07/30: Shadé Eleazer presents her summer research project at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium.
07/19: We are excited to welcome Stephanie Jackvony to the lab! Stephanie is a Neuroscience graduate student interested in intracellular signaling mechanisms and glial-neuronal interactions. Welcome!
06/21: We are excited to welcome Till Zimmer, a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Amsterdam Medical Center in the Netherlands. Looking forward to working together soon!
06/14: Shadé Eleazer joins the lab as a BMRI Summer Scholar from Marymount Manhattan College. Welcome!
06/02: Samantha Meadows gives a talk on the roles of astrocytic receptors in neural function at the Appel Institute Forum on Neurodegeneration.
05/27: Anna Orr is appointed to the newly established Nan and Stephen Swid Endowed Professorship of Frontotemporal Dementia Research, which generously endows the lab’s ongoing research on FTD mechanisms and therapeutics and recognizes our steadfast commitment to identifying the causes and treatment strategies for this devastating neurodegenerative disease.
05/18: The lab receives funding from the joint AFTD-ADDF translational grant program, Accelerating Drug Discovery for FTD, to advance a promising new approach to treating FTD. This project is an exciting collaborative effort with Dr. Subhash Sinha of the Appel Institute.
05/13: Fernando Palaguachi is promoted to Research Technician Level II. Congrats!! It is well-deserved. We are grateful for your dedication, resilience, hard work (and humor).
04/27: Adam Orr is selected for funding from the Daedalus Fund for Innovation to advance a novel drug discovery project toward strategic partnerships with industry and (hopefully) clinical application.
04/22: Anna Orr receives the 2021 Outstanding Neuroscience Teaching and Mentoring Award from the Weill Cornell Graduate School. “The award recognizes a faculty member who has been exemplary in showing their dedication and giving their time to training our first-year and second-year students during their early transition into our programs.”
04/08: Constance Zhou formally joins the lab for the PhD portion of their MD-PhD training in the Tri-I program. Congrats and welcome!! We are thrilled to support your journey and look forward to many exciting discoveries!
03/12: Anna Orr continues to co-organize the departmental Neuroscience/BMRI Work in Progress Seminar Series, which is held every Friday at noon. Stellar presentations by trainees and faculty! Diverse topics are covered, ranging from molecular mechanisms and structural biochemistry to neural plasticity, circuits, and clinical and neuropathological studies.
02/26: Constance Zhou joins the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Tri-I MD-PhD program!
01/08: The Orr lab has Open Positions for Postdoctoral Fellows. Our lab offers the rare advantage of two dedicated mentors that support trainee research and career development. See additional details at WCM Postdoctoral Affairs: Open Postdoctoral Positions in the Orr Lab
01/04: We are excited to meet (remotely) this year’s superb candidates for the Neuroscience Graduate Program! Learn more about WCM and student life in NYC via a virtual campus tour.
Graduate school overview | Housing and student life | WCMGS Twitter

2020

12/18: Anna Orr is directing the graduate course Introduction to Neuroimmunology. This coming year, the course will feature WCM faculty and a fantastic lineup of Guest Lecturers, including Drs. Dritan Agalliu (Columbia), Maria Lehtinen (Harvard), Jonathan Godbout (OSU), Isaac Chiu (Harvard), Baljit Khakh (UCLA), and Richard Ransohoff (Third Rock Ventures). Not to be missed! Contact our intrepid course coordinator (and graduate student) Stephanie Jackvony for details.
11/12: Daniel Barnett joins the lab for his PhD thesis! Congrats and welcome!! We are excited to support your graduate training and look forward to your many accomplishments.
10/14: Anna Orr gives an invited talk on glial pathobiology in dementia at the Eighth Annual Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute Symposium.
09/23: The lab celebrates several personal milestones, including an engagement, new US citizenship, a successful first thesis committee meeting, and a birthday. Cheers!
09/09: The lab receives a second R01 grant from the NIA! Congratulations to everyone who contributed to this major effort, especially our superb research team. In these challenging times, the lab has persevered and continued to be laser-focused on rigorous science and teamwork (see our 'Core Values’ to learn more).
08/20: Daniel Barnett joins the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Neuroscience program!
08/03: The lab receives an R01 grant from the NINDS! Thank you to everyone who made it possible, including our entire research team, collaborators, administrative staff, and even the (rarely recognized) peer reviewers.
06/19: We stand with the anti-racism movement and protesters demanding equality and unity.
06/15: As the restart continues to be successful in NY state, on-site research has been resuming with extra safety measures and reduced density of personnel.
05/29: Adam Orr presents our exciting work focusing on mitochondrial ROS in disease at the BMRI Research in Progress seminar series.
05/21: Anna Orr lectures on the diversity of astrocytes in aging and disease for the WCM graduate course, "Current Topics in Neurodegeneration”.
05/18: The lab begins to plan its reopening and ramping up of research activities.
05/05: Avital and her family welcome a beautiful baby girl! Congrats!
04/10: The lab has transitioned to working remotely and focuses its efforts on preparing manuscripts, grant applications, and seminar talks. WCM continues to provide remote instruction, seminar series, and administrative support in these challenging times.
03/20: As a response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Orr lab suspends all non-essential activities and pauses research projects until further notice.
03/04: Registration is now open for the Neurodegeneration & Aging Symposium at Cornell University. Attendance is free!
01/18: The Orr family welcomes a beautiful baby girl!
01/08: Anna Orr lectures on the biology of reactive astrocytes for a graduate course, "Introduction to Neuroimmunology”.

2019

11/15: There is an exciting and rare opportunity to join the faculty of the Appel Institute and the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell! Junior or senior investigators performing cutting-edge science to overcome neurodegenerative disease are strongly encouraged to apply. For details, see the Appel Institute website.
10/31: The Appel Institute co-hosts our Halloween party. Big thanks to the Gan, Ross, and Fine labs for making this event possible.
10/02: Jasmine Shahanoor joins the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Neuroscience program.
09/10: Samantha’s collaborative efforts with graduate student Amanda Acosta-Ruiz in the Levitz lab result in a co-authored manuscript accepted by Neuron. Congrats!!
09/03: The graduate program curriculum committee approves a new course, “Introduction to Neuroimmunology”, which was organized by graduate student Stephanie Jackvony and will be directed by Anna Orr.
08/23: Anna Orr gives an invited talk on glial roles in cognitive function at the 29th Annual BioCity Symposium, “Lifespan of the Immune System” in Turku, Finland. Speakers focusing on neurological disease included Drs. David Pitt from Yale University, Bengt Winblad from Karolinska Institute, and Marcus Sucksdorff from Turku University.
07/26: Sara Shatela presents her summer research at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium in Hartford, Connecticut.
06/10: Samantha Meadows successfully completes her PhD qualifying exam! Congrats!!
05/16: Sara Shatela, an undergraduate student in Cell and Molecular Biology at CSU, will be joining the lab as part of the ACCESS Summer Internship Program at Weill Cornell Graduate School.
04/30: Anna Orr gives an invited talk at the Gladstone Institutes 40th Anniversary Symposium, joining other alumni that focus on aging and neurological disease, including Drs. Li Gan (Appel Institute Director), Robert Farese (Harvard, co-founder of the Bluefield Project), and Eric Verdin (Buck Institute President and CEO).
04/10: Samantha Meadows receives the coveted National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship to study astrocytic receptor signaling and its effects on neuronal activities. Congrats!!
04/02: The lab receives funding from the Brightfocus Foundation to examine novel modulators of mitochondrial function in neurodegenerative disease.
03/15: Samantha Meadows receives Honorable Mention from the highly competitive fellowship program at the Ford Foundation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Congrats!
03/08: Students and faculty gather for the annual Neuroscience Program Retreat to share their latest research findings, present creative talks, participate in outdoor activities, and form closer bonds over dinner and drinks. As always, it was a fun, friendly and informative event!
03/01: Samantha Meadows collaborates with the Levitz lab to test novel photoswitchable glutamate receptors and contributes to a manuscript in submission (preprint is available at BioRxiv).
02/11: In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we celebrate our hard work and passion for science with a group lunch and dessert, and fondly call this day “I-Heart-Science” Day.
01/24: The lab helps to welcome this year’s talented group of candidates for the Neuroscience Graduate Program at Weill Cornell.
01/21: Adam Orr publishes a first-author manuscript on ApoE4 based on collaborative work with the Mahley and Krogan labs at the Gladstone Institutes and UCSF.
01/15: Nneka Southwell joins the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Neuroscience Program.

01/11: Yona Litwin joins the lab as a research volunteer from the Bronx High School of Science.

2018

12/13: The Appel Institute Holiday Luncheon brought labs together to celebrate the holidays and catch up with colleagues.
12/07: Tanya Jain will be joining the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Neuroscience Program.
11/19: In collaboration with the Office of Student Diversity, Samantha Meadows develops a new graduate course entitled “Sociocultural Barriers in STEM”.
10/18: Svitlana Tymchuk will be joining the team as a Research Technician.
10/17: Anna Orr attends the Annual AFTD Hope Rising Benefit, which raised over $1.9 million to support research and awareness efforts for frontotemporal dementia.
10/04: Samantha Meadows will discuss her ongoing project at a joint lab meeting with the Levitz lab in the Weill Cornell Biochemistry department.
10/01: Adam Orr was invited to present his current research at the Sanofi iAwards Symposium in Cambridge, MA.
09/10: Jennifer Goertz will be joining the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Weill Cornell Neuroscience Program.
08/30: The Sixth Annual Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute Symposium is coming up! Prominent speakers will include Drs. Ron Peterson, Chris Schaffer, Li-Huei Tsai, and our new director, Dr. Li Gan.
08/15: The lab ventures out to Roosevelt Island for some sushi, a relaxing stroll to Four Freedoms Park, and great views of Manhattan. Quiet green spaces just minutes from the city!
07/17: To stay informed of the latest scientific findings and methods, the lab comes together for roundtable discussions to review and analyze new literature on glial and mitochondrial biology and neurodegenerative disorders.
07/05: We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Li Gan, the newly appointed Director of the Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute. We look forward to working with her and her great team.
06/22: Adam Orr gives an invited talk at the 9th Conference of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association at Columbia University.
05/31: Samantha Meadows joins the lab for her PhD thesis and becomes our first graduate student! We are thrilled and couldn't ask for a better addition to the team.
05/29: Anna Orr leads a group discussion on key traits for career success and the importance of goal-setting, perseverance, open communication, and integrity in our research and interpersonal interactions, among other topics (see our core values link above to learn more).
05/18: Kirsten Bredvik will be joining the lab as a rotation student from the Tri-Institutional MD/PhD program, which includes Weill Cornell, Rockefeller, and Sloan Kettering.
05/11: Avital Murava presents her ongoing research at the Neuroscience Work in Progress Seminar Series.
04/11: Avital Murava, Twinkle Chowdhury and Samantha Meadows attend the AFTD Education Conference to learn more about frontotemporal dementia, the most common form of dementia in people under age 60, and meet those affected by the disease.
04/10: Anna Orr leads a class session in Current Topics in Neurodegeneration, a graduate elective course organized by upper-level graduate students Kathryn Carnazza and Nima Naseri.
04/03: James Parziale presents a research poster describing his rotation project at the 38th Annual Vincent du Vigneaud Memorial Research Symposium at Weill Cornell.
04/03: Anna Orr speaks at the 7th Annual Leon Levy Fellows in Neuroscience Symposium at Rockefeller University, and has the great honor of meeting with many talented and iconic scientists, including the 2017 Nobel Laureate Michael Young, 2000 Nobel Laureate Paul Greengard, Rockefeller President Emeritus Torsten Wiesel, and Professor and Co-director of the Shelby White and Leon Levy Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior at Rockefeller Mary Hatten.
03/28: Adam Orr will discuss his work at a joint lab meeting with the Manfredi lab at Weill Cornell.
03/24: Charlotte Heisenberg will be joining the lab as a research volunteer.
03/09: Adam Orr speaks at the annual WCM Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat.
03/05: Fernando Palaguachi joins the team as a Research Technician.
02/05: Anna Orr participates in the Faculty Science & Career Chats for the Weill Cornell Graduate School, in which faculty and new graduate students discuss their research, career paths, and strategies for selecting the right thesis mentor.
01/02: Our research is featured on the cover of Neurobiology of Disease. Visit the home page for a link to this paper (Orr et al., 2018) and other related work.

2017

12/22: Anna Orr receives the Kellen Junior Faculty Fellowship, a grant established at Weill Cornell by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.
12/19: The lab meets for a 4-hour lab meeting over pizza and calamari, and time flies!
12/12: Anna Orr receives the Leon Levy Fellowship in Neuroscience to investigate how astrocytic G protein-coupled receptors regulate neural plasticity and behavior.
11/10: Adam Orr receives the Sanofi Innovation Award (iAward) focusing on drug discovery for neurodegenerative disease.
11/01: The Orr lab moves into a new space to accommodate our growing team.
09/01: Samantha Meadows joins the lab as a rotating student from the Weill Cornell Neuroscience Program.
08/25: Anna Orr receives the Alzheimer's Association Research Grant, entitled "Defining astrocytic-neuronal transcriptional alterations in memory loss."
08/14: James Parziale joins the lab as a rotating student from the Weill Cornell Pharmacology Program.
07/15: Anna Orr receives an NIH grant, the R00 Pathway to Independence Award, entitled "Roles of astrocytic G protein-coupled signaling in memory."
06/01: Avital Murava joins the team as a postdoctoral fellow.
04/19: Anna Amelianchik joins the lab as a rotating student from the Weill Cornell Neuroscience Program.
03/10: Anna Orr presents a lab overview at the annual Weill Cornell Neuroscience Retreat.
04/10: Twinkle Chowdhury joins the team as a Research Specialist.
04/01: Adam Orr presents his work on mitochondrial reactive oxygen species at the Keystone Symposium in New Mexico.
01/09: Anna Orr collaborates with Drs. Calderon and Colak at Weill Cornell to form a behavioral consortium.

2016

12/30: LMD system arrives in time for the new year.
12/06: The Orr lab website is established.
11/16: The Orr laboratory begins its operations in NYC!

In this video, WCM and NYP are visible on the far right as a cluster of white buildings.

Lab News

2024

11/01: The highly anticipated graduate course Introduction to Neuroimmunology will be back this winter! This elective course features our own incredible faculty and a fantastic lineup of Invited Guest Lecturers. Not to be missed!

10/03: We are excited to help organize the weekly Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series, a flagship event hosted by the BMRI that features top-notch invited speakers, as well as the weekly Work-in-Progress Seminar Series for colleagues to connect and share their latest scientific advances.

09/24: Congrats to Stephanie Jackvony for winning a Best Poster Award at the Annual Neuroscience Graduate Program retreat!

08/20: A new preprint describing astrocytic redox mechanisms is now available! Congrats to first author, Daniel Barnett, and the entire team on this stellar work: Mitochondrial complex III-derived ROS amplify immunometabolic changes in astrocytes and promote dementia pathology.

08/13: Congrats to Dr. Constance Zhou, an MD-PhD student, on an excellent dissertation and oral defense! Well-deserved recognition of hard work and exciting findings. Thank you to the thesis committee, Drs. Li Gan, Lorenz Studer, and Michael Rout, for the insights and support!

08/06: Stephanie Jackvony presents her research at the Gordon Research Conference on the Neurobiology of Brain Disorders, held in Spain!

07/29: Daniel Barnett and Till Zimmer present their latest research findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia!

07/16: Big welcome to Evelyn Hardin, who has joined the lab for her thesis work! Evelyn is a Neuroscience graduate student interested in FTD/ALS pathogenesis and neuroimmune mechanisms. We are thrilled to support your research training and look forward to many exciting discoveries! Welcome aboard!

06/14: Stephanie Jackvony and Daniel Barnett did great jobs presenting their research at the Appel Institute and BMRI work-in-progress seminar series!

06/11: Congratulations to Caroline Booraem for successfully completing the Admission-to-Candidacy Exam in the Graduate Neuroscience Program!!

06/10: Welcome to Alyssa Bodmer, who has officially joined the team as a research technician to help unravel mechanisms of dementia pathogenesis.

06/03: Congratulations to Minwoo Wendy Jang for being selected for a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Research Foundation of Korea! The project focuses on astrocyte roles in sex-dependent behavioral changes in preclinical models.

05/14: The lab receives an R21 grant from the NIA on lipid-based mechanisms in neurodegeneration. Congratulations to co-PI, Laura Beth McIntire, and everyone who contributed, especially Till Zimmer, who is spearheading this project.

04/10: Warm welcome to Evelyn Hardin, a Neuroscience graduate student joining the team for a lab rotation!

03/07: Anna Orr delivered a talk at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and related neurological disorders (AD/PD) in Lisbon, Portugal.

02/12: Warm welcome to Alyssa Bodmer, a volunteer interested in scientific research and behavioral neuroscience.

02/07: We are honored to host the phenomenal scientist and astrocyte expert Dr. Shane Liddelow from NYU as our invited speaker for the Appel Forum!

01/24: Warm welcome to Ashna Singh, a Neuroscience graduate student joining the team for a lab rotation!

01/17: Daniel Barnett presented his research at the Mitochondria Signaling and Disease Keystone Conference in Banff, Canada.

01/12: Warm welcome to Jacqueline McAleer, a Neuroscience graduate student joining the team for a lab rotation!

2023

12/13: We are delighted that Laraib Ijaz has joined the lab for her thesis studies! Laraib is a Neuroscience graduate student interested in glial signaling and neuroimmune pathways. We are excited to work together and look forward to many exciting discoveries! Welcome aboard!

12/12: The Orr lab is honored to be highlighted along with the Gan lab in the latest Weill Cornell IMPACT magazine! Thank you to the Office of External Affairs for the well-crafted feature on glial roles in dementia.

12/01: We are thrilled to receive a competitive Intercampus Multi-Investigator Seed Grant from Cornell to support our collaborative interactions with Nathaniel Vacanti at Cornell-Ithaca for studies on metabolic network remodeling in neurodegeneration.

11/29: Daniel Barnett presents his latest research on mitochondrial function at the Appel Institute Work-in-Progress seminar series at Weill Cornell Medicine.

11/15: Anna Orr chaired a minisymposium at the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington D.C. on the roles of astrocytes in behavior and gave a talk on the context-dependent effects of astrocytic signaling in cognitive decline.

11/13: Adam Orr and Constance Zhou presented their ongoing research at the Society for Neuroscience conference on mitochondrial ROS and nucleocytoplasmic dynamics, respectively. Great job!

10/25: We look forward to hosting distinguished speakers Drs. Boxer (USCF), Reiman (Banner Health), and Surmeier (Northwestern) for the 11th Annual Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute Symposium being held on November 9th!

10/24: Congratulations to Till on welcoming a beautiful baby girl!

09/30: Excited to participate in the WCM Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat 2023, which included presentations by our own Daniel Barnett, Stephanie Jackvony, and Anna Orr!

09/22: Congrats to Dr. Till Zimmer for receiving a poster award at the Annual WCM Postdoc Research Day!

09/20: Honored to host the amazing Dr. Cristina Alberini from NYU as our invited speaker for the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration! Postdoc positions are available in her lab!

09/19: Welcome to Matthew Mahoney, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program!

08/02: A warm welcome to Dr. Minwoo Wendy Jang, who has joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow! Minwoo will be focusing on the neurophysiological effects of astrocytes and their roles in CNS disorders. Welcome aboard!

07/26: We are excited to welcome Amr Fatafta, who has joined the lab as a research technician! Amr will be working with the team to unravel new mechanisms of dementia and neuroimmune alterations. Welcome!

07/25: Anna Orr gives a talk on context-dependent effects of astrocytes at the Burke Neurological Institute and meets with its many outstanding faculty and trainees. Beautiful location and inspiring science!

07/04: Welcome to Alicia Whye, who has joined the lab as a rotating MD-PhD student in the Tri-I program!

06/12: Welcome to our summer undergraduate research interns Annabel Barnett from Colgate University and Ethan Wang from Johns Hopkins University!

05/10: Connie Zhou presents their latest work on glial nucleocytoplasmic dynamics at the Appel Institute Work-in-Progress Series at Weill Cornell Medicine.

04/28: Welcome to Eduardo Muñoz, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program.

04/27: Daniel Barnett gives a talk on novel context-specific effects of mitochondrial ROS at the 42nd Annual Vincent du Vigneaud Research Symposium at the Weill Cornell Graduate School.

04/14: Congratulations to Till Zimmer for being selected for a postdoctoral award from the BrightFocus Foundation Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program for his research on lipid-related mechanisms in dementia!

03/23: Stephanie Jackvony and Anna Orr give talks at the AAIC Advancements in Immunity conference in Boston.

03/15: We are thrilled to host Dr. Michael Sofroniew from UCLA as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!

03/02: Congratulations to Dr. Till Zimmer for being selected for a postdoctoral fellowship from the Alzheimer’s Association for his exciting work on lipids in dementia!

02/17: Anna Orr is featured in a Weill Cornell Enterprise Innovation news article. Big thanks to the stellar EI team for highlighting our lab and supporting our research!

02/06: Stephanie Jackvony is collaborating with the fantastic team led by Dr. Deepak Shukla at the University of Illinois to examine viral invasion in the brain.

01/26: Big congratulations to Dr. Samantha Meadows-Ortiz on an excellent thesis document, lecture, and oral defense! A well-deserved celebration of incredibly hard work and exciting findings. The first of many great defenses to come in the Orr lab!

01/19: Adam Orr gives a lecture on mitochondrial redox mechanisms and our translational research program at the Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series.

01/12: Till Zimmer presents his exciting work on astrocytic lipid dynamics at the Progress in Neuroscience Seminar Series.

01/10: Samantha Meadows is scheduled to deliver her Doctoral Dissertation Lecture on January 26th! The lecture will be followed by a thesis defense with the examination committee.

2022

12/24: Stephanie Jackvony organizes our lab’s first Secret Santa celebration for the holidays! We bid farewell to 2022, which has been an eventful and productive year in the Orr lab.

12/21: We are delighted to host Francisco Quintana from Harvard as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!

12/5: A warm welcome to Grant Schell, who has joined the lab as a Research Technician! Grant will be participating in our various projects focusing on glial pathobiology and mechanisms of dementia. Excited to have you aboard!

11/16: Daniel Barnett and Samantha Meadows presented their exciting findings at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, CA. Big congrats to both of them for receiving a lot of interest and positive feedback from the neuroscience community.

11/04: Welcome to Laraib Ijaz, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program.

10/18: Welcome to Cinthia Garcia, who has joined the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Pharmacology program and Fellow in the Weill Cornell Initiative to Maximize Student Development.

10/10: Congrats to Stephanie Jackvony for winning a Best Poster Award at the Neuroscience retreat!

09/02: The Orr lab has finally joined Twitter. Better late than never…? Follow us @OrrLaboratory!

08/08: Congrats to Stephanie Jackvony for being awarded the competitive NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship (F31) from the National Institute on Aging. The proposed three-year research training project will address the effects of TDP-43 pathology on innate antiviral pathways in neurodegenerative disease.

07/18: Anthony Villegas joins the lab as a rotating graduate student in the Neuroscience program and Fellow in the Weill Cornell Initiative to Maximize Student Development.

07/15: Connie Zhou gives a talk on alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport at the Tri-I MD-PhD retreat.

07/05: Welcome to Martin Rhie Kim and Amber Cao, who have joined the lab as undergraduate research interns from the Cornell-Ithaca campus.

06/29: The lab is thrilled to collaborate with Nathaniel Vacanti and his group at Nutritional Sciences at the Cornell-Ithaca campus for studies on metabolic dysregulation in neurodegenerative disorders.

06/13: The lab has a long-awaited group outing and spends some great quality time together enjoying good weather, food, games, and many laughs.

06/08: Daniel Barnett successfully completed his PhD qualifying exam! Congrats!!

05/28: Samantha Meadows will be presenting at the FENS Forum and the ISN Meeting and sharing her exciting findings on the regulation of cognitive function by astrocytic receptors.

05/13: We are delighted to host Baljit Khakh from UCLA as our upcoming invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!

04/05: We are excited to open a search for a Research Technician to join our team! Please see the job posting for further information: Opportunity in the Orr lab

04/04: Daniel Barnett receives Honorable Mention from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program!

03/26: Adam Orr and Daniel Barnett will be collaborating with the talented team led by Ed Chouchani at Harvard Medical School to study oxidative mechanisms.

03/23: We are delighted to host Bart De Strooper from the UK Dementia Research Institute and KU Leuven as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!

03/10: We are excited to meet this year’s accepted students for the Neuroscience Graduate Program and the Tri-I MD-PhD Program!

02/23: We are delighted to host Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne from Harvard Medical School as our invited speaker at the Appel Forum on Neurodegeneration!

2021

12/24: Samantha McDonough joins the lab as a rotating graduate student from the Neuroscience program!

10/27: Anna Orr and Adam Orr present highlights of the lab’s ongoing work at the Intercampus Symposium on Aging and Neurodegeneration at the Ithaca campus.