Quarterly
Newsletter

FEBRUARY 2026

Welcome to the latest edition of the Women in Learning (WIL) Newsletter! As our community continues to grow across career stages and disciplines, we’re excited to share updates that highlight the scientific achievements, leadership, and collective accomplishments of WIL members. In this issue, we spotlight upcoming events, celebrate recent publications and awards, as well as welcome new members.

WIL is thrilled to announce the winner of the Outstanding Graduate Women in Learning Awardee, Payton Robinson! We congratulate Payton on this well-deserved recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements.

We are excited to highlight the strong presence of WIL members at the recently concluded Society for Neuroscience conference, from scientific presentations to participation at social events. We are also delighted to welcome Dr. Bethany Plakke, our newest member, and to highlight Dr. Plakke’s research and contributions to the Women in Learning community. We are also excited to announce an upcoming WIL event at the Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN) meeting in Montréal and look forward to connecting with members there.

Outstanding Graduate Women in Learning Awardee

Congratulations to Payton Robinson for winning the Outstanding Graduate Woman In Learning award at the Pavlovian Society conference this past summer. At the conference, she presented a poster titled “Examining a role for unconditional stimulus deflation in delay fear conditioning.” Payton is a graduate student in Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington. Her graduate work in the Trask Lab investigates age-related changes in memory and learning processes that coincide with changes in neural function produced by aging. This award recognizes her exceptional research contributions and promise in the field of learning, behavior and memory.

Recent publications by team WIL:

•  Dr. Moriel Zelikowsky has a new paper describing an integrative assay for measuring social aversion and motivation in freely behaving mice.

• A new paper from Dr. Moriel Zelikowsky demonstrates how Kirrel3-expressing inhibitory neurons regulate memory precision in mice.

• Lauren Bellfy and Gretchen Pifer from Dr. Janine Kwapis’ lab have a new paper that examines how age and sex influence diurnal memory oscillations, circadian rhythmicity, and Per1 expression.

• A new paper from Marcelo Wood’s lab with Dr. Janine Kwapis describes how HDAC3 serine 424 has the ability to bidirectionally regulate synaptic plasticity and long-term memory formation in the adult and aging brain.

• Dr. Janine Kwapis is on a new preprint from Dr. Nikki Crowley’s lab demonstrating how alcohol consumption drives sex- and region-specific disruption of somatostatin signaling in mice.

• Payton Robinson from Dr. Sydney Trask’s lab has a new paper that examines how the ability of unconditional stimulus deflation to mitigate fear relapse is controlled by context.

• A new paper from Payton Robinson demonstrates that advanced age has a more pronounced effect on memory impairment and associated neural changes than biological sex.

• Dr. Nicole Ferrara is on a new paper from the labs of Dr. Jarome and Dr. Rosenkranz, demonstrating how increased DNA methylation of Igf2 in the male hippocampus regulates age-related deficits in synaptic plasticity and memory.

• Dr. Sydney Trask and Dr. Nicole Ferrara have a new insight article discussing the consequences of stress on the brain and fear.

• A new paper from Margarita Kapustina demonstrates the spatial and molecular heterogeneity of cortical Layer 6b neurons.

• A new paper with Margarita Kapustina provides open-source tools for quantification and analysis of multiplexed fluorescent in situ hybridization.

• A new preprint with Dr. Denisse Paredes details how paraventricular thalamus hyperactivity mediates stress-induced sensitization of unlearned fear, but not stress-enhanced fear learning.

• Dr. Heidi Meyer contributed to a new review discussing how the endocannabinoid system interacts with ongoing postnatal neurodevelopment to potentiate risk and resilience to stress-related disorders.

• Dr. Heidi Meyer contributed to a new review detailing an agenda for future research on the mechanisms of change in exposure therapy for anxiety and related disorders.

• A new paper with Dr. Heidi Meyer examines how safety learning during adolescence facilitates fear regulation in adult mice.

• A new paper with Dr. Sarah Stanley and Dr. Abha Rajbhandari details an amygdala–liver axis that regulates rapid glycaemic adaptations to stress and links recurrent stress to metabolic dysfunction.

  
  
  

Are you a WIL member and would like to be featured in the next issue? Email your publication’s DOI and full name to womeninlearning@gmail.com with “Member Publication Highlight” in the subject. Preprints are welcome!

Say hello! Let’s welcome our new WIL member:

WIL would like to welcome a new member, Dr. Bethany Plakke! Dr. Plakke’s lab at Kansas State University focuses on executive function deficits in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Fragile X syndrome. Her work utilizes valproic acid and Fmr1 knockout rodent models to study ASD phenotypes and Fragile X syndrome, respectively. Her ongoing projects involve recording single-neuron activity in the frontal cortex of knockout (KO) and wild-type rats to understand how cortical dysfunction (i.e., hyperexcitability) impacts cognition. Her work is currently targeting inhibitory and excitatory cell types to better understand how this hyperexcitability contributes to cognitive deficits. Dr. Plakke received her PhD from the University of Iowa and was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, where she focused on frontal cortex function in auditory and audiovisual processing in non-human primates. After collecting data to examine multisensory processing in children with ASD, she pivoted to rodent models of ASD, as they were more cost-effective and established. Her most recent work regarding the effects of adolescent exercise on hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression and cognition in autism-model rats can be found here!

Connect, Network, and Grow with WIL at Upcoming Conferences:

• Dr. Moriel Zelikowsky has a new review discussing perspectives on neuropeptide function and social isolation, and a new preprint that examines how the co-release of opposing signaling molecules from cortical neurons controls the escalation and release of aggression.

• Dr. Janine Kwapis has a new review which discusses memory modification, updating, and distortion in humans and rodents, and a new preprint that examines how age and sex influence diurnal memory oscillations, circadian rhythmicity, and Per1 expression.

• Dr. Sydney Trask has a new paper that examines how stress-enhanced fear learning can be reduced through unconditional stimulus deflation with constraints, and another new paper that examines how the interval between conditional stimulus onset and unconditional stimulus onset, not training-to-test interval, shapes immediate early gene expression in the anterior retrosplenial cortex.

• Dr. Nicole Ferrara has a new paper demonstrating how repeated social stress increases posterior medial amygdala neuronal activity in stress-susceptible adult male rats.

• A new paper with Margarita Kapustina reveals how atypical hippocampal excitatory neurons express and govern object memory, as well as another new paper that examines how CSF1R ligands promote microglial proliferation but are not the sole regulators of developmental microglial proliferation.

• A new perspective article with Dr. Heidi Meyer discusses how early reward processing can be reframed within the context of developmental transitions. She also has a new paper that examines how environmental enrichment has age- and sex-specific effects on fear regulation in mice, and another paper that characterizes how age and sex independently influence safety learning in mice.

• Dr. Abha Rajbhandari has a new article that discusses how neurons participating in forming memories of a cold environment communicate with the part of the brain that regulates metabolic responses to cold stress.

• Dr. Jennifer Perusini has been awarded a new patent detailing the compositions and methods of a biomarker-based PTSD diagnostic.

Are you a WIL member and would like to be featured in the next issue? Email your publication’s DOI and full name to womeninlearning@gmail.com with “Member Publication Highlight” in the subject. Preprints are welcome!

Connect, Network, and Grow with WIL at Upcoming Conferences

Save the date: WIL at CAN 2026!

We’re excited to share that WIL will be hosting a gathering at CAN 2026 in Montréal, on May 20th from 12-12 PM! Lunch will be provided free or at a low cost depending on the number of attendees.

This WIL event will bring together trainees, postdocs, and researchers for a welcoming networking opportunity focused on mentorship, career development, and community-building. The event will feature guided small-group discussions designed to foster meaningful connections across career stages and disciplines within neuroscience.

Registration will be required, as space is limited. Details on how to register, along with location and event details will be shared closer to the meeting. You can sign up to be notified when registration opens and help shape the program here: Pre-RSVP & Suggestion Form.

We are striving to make this event as accessible as possible, with the support of the UBC Brain Circuits Cluster and additional sponsors. We look forward to welcoming you and continuing to build a supportive and inclusive community at CAN 2026!

Save the date: WIL at IBNS 2026!

WIL will be hosting a networking event at IBNS 2026 in South Africa on Friday, June 26, 2026, from 5:30-6:30 PM during the meeting.

Save the date: Pavlovian Society Meeting & WIL Flagship Luncheon 2026

The Pavlovian Society 2026 Annual Meeting will take place September 17-19, 2026, in Montréal, Canada. The conference will be hosted at CHUM & Union Française, with reduced room rates available at the Hyatt Centric Old Montréal. For more details on the meeting, click here. Our 26th WIL flagship luncheon will be held on September 19th, 2026, in Montréal. Stay tuned for more details!

WIL at SFN 2025: Community Highlights

WIL had many members attend SFN 2025 this year, ranging from graduate students to PIs! We would like to mention all those that attended below: 
Anamaria Alexandrescu, Timothy Allen, Rosemary Bagot, Lydia Bailey, Debra Bangasser, Jiyeon Baek, Cristina Besosa, Hannah Boyd, Chad Brunswick, Christopher Cain, Viviana Castro, Anne Collins, Kirstie Cummings, Jesse Cushman, Andrew Delamater, Elvisha Dhamala, Halle Dimsdale-Zucker, Martha Escobar, Elizabeth Espinal, Michael Fanselow, Nicole Ferris, Aaron Fleischer, John Freeman, Sharon Furtak, David Glanzman, John Green, Nicola Grissom, Stuti Gupta, Tanya Gupta, Jim Heys, Margaret Ho, Kari Hoffman, Elizabeth Holly, Juliane Ikebara, Catherine Insel, Moriah Jacobson, Sheena Josselyn, Navjot Kaur, Ronald Keiflin, Ann Kennedy, Jeansok Kim, Georgia Kirkpatrick, Barbara Knowlton, Janine Kwapis, Danielle Lafferty, Deborah Luessen, Shira Lupkin, Katherine Maki, Stephen Maren, Gabrielle Magalhães, Destynie Medeiros, Erisa Met Hoxha, Heidi Meyer, Christa Michel, Angélica Minier-Toribio, Marie Monfils, Lori Newman, Perla Ontiveros-Angel, Nancy Padilla-Coreano, Jamie Palmer, Krystal Parker, Ryan Parsons, Mimi Phan, Gretchen Pifer, Bethany Plakke, Samantha Plas, Beth Ann Rice, Patrese Robinson-Drummer, Kristin Scaplen, Jiyun Shin, Akansha Singh, Elizabeth Sneddon, Sarah Starosta, Robert Twining, Moriel Zelikowsky, Jie Zhang.

 To recap, WIL attended the Learning and Memory Social providing an informal opportunity to connect within the community. Those who attended mentioned it was fun and a pleasant opportunity to chat with and meet other members. All this to say, keep an eye out for WIL in future conferences, either for presenters or socials! We look forward to seeing you at the next conference!

Panel recap:

Mentorship Matters: Strategies for Developing Individual Based Mentorship Plans and Guidelines

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent panel on mentorship! We were incredibly fortunate to have Dr. Kate Wassum and Dr. Emmeline Edwards share their insights and advice. A key takeaway from our discussions was the importance of communication in mentor-mentee relationships for achieving success. Our panelists emphasized the need to establish relationship guidelines early on. For instance, to agree on how often to check in and what preparations are expected before each meeting. They suggested using each session as an opportunity to revisit and adjust these guidelines, as it’s normal—and often necessary—to modify expectations as relationships and projects evolve.

Both panelists recommended seeking multiple mentors, as our goals are diverse and can change over time. It's important to find individuals who can support your evolving aspirations. Don’t hesitate to reach out to potential mentors, but be sure to reflect on your needs beforehand. Remember, it's not the mentor's job to chart your course; instead, consider them as valuable guides.

One insightful piece of advice for mentors is recognizing that not all mentees have the same needs. Embracing this reality early on is essential, but it doesn't prevent you from establishing equitable standards among your students. Clear communication of expectations can help students prioritize their tasks effectively.

Sad you missed our panel? Don’t worry, more are to come! Any topics you want advice on? We’d love to hear about it! Please reach out or drop a suggestion here.