Seminars and Events

Past Events

Please see below for recaps of previous events hosted by FIU TENS or held in collaboration with other institutions.

• 2025 TENS Retreat

  TENS Retreat 2025

  Date: October 7, 2025
  Location: AHC5 500

  The TENS retreat offers the unique opportunity for fellows to work with mentors and get involved with the presentation of research.

  View Schedule

  9 - 9:15 a.m.
  Coffee and a light breakfast
  
  9:15 - 9:30 a.m.
  Welcome Introductions - SCOPE of TENS, Dr. Timothy Allen

  TENS Fellows - Research Updates
  Format: 10-minute presentation + 5-minute Q&A
  
  9:30 - 9:45 a.m.
  Alcides Lorenzo Gonzalez (postdoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Timothy Allen
  
  9:45 - 10 a.m.
  Alex Rodicjkin (postdoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Tomás Guilarte
  
  10 -10:15 a.m.
  Carlos Otero (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Jorge Riera
  
  10:15 - 10:30 a.m.
  Nicole Blum (predoc)
  Mentors: Drs. Kim Tieu and Jason Richardson
  
  10:35 - 10:45 a.m.
  Jennifer Chavez (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Adam Carrico

  
  New TENS Fellows - Presentations
  
  10:45 - 10:55 a.m.
  Somaiyeh Azmoun (postdoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Roberto Lucchini
  
  10:55 - 11:05 a.m.
  Sarah Hardin (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Tomás Guilarte
  
  11:05 - 11:15 a.m.
  Ruth Marquez (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Roberto Lucchini
  
  11:15 - 11:25 a.m.
  Andy Tavel (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Yuan Li
  
  11:25 - 11:35 a.m.
  Freeman Lewis (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Roberto Lucchini
  
  11:35 - 11:45 a.m.
  Madilyn Dungan (predoc)
  Mentor: Dr. Tomás Guilarte
  
  11:45 - Noon
  General Discussion
  
  Noon - 12:30 p.m.
  Orientation for new fellows, Dr. Roberto Lucchini
  TENS activities, 2025-26, Dr. Timothy Allen
  
  12:30 - 1 p.m.
  Advisory Board Feedback

• 2025 TENS Symposium

  Bridging the Gap: Understanding Environmental Impacts on Brain Health
  Date and Time: March 21, 2025, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  Format: Hybrid
  Location: Graham Center (GC) 150

  Target Audience

  Researchers, healthcare professionals, students in neuroscience or environmental sciences, policymakers and industry representatives.

  Workshop Objectives

  • Understand how environmental exposures influence brain development, function and disorders.
  • Foster interdisciplinary collaboration and solutions for mitigating neurotoxic impacts.

  Sponsorship

  This training program in environmental neuroscience is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number T32ESO33955.

  For a PDF version of the schedule, please view our agenda.

• Past Seminar Series Speakers

  Date	Speaker	Title	Home Institution
  April 14, 2025	Davide Marotta, Ph.D.	Neurodegeneration and neuroscience studies on the International Space Station (ISS)	International Space Station National Laboratory
  April 7, 2025	Luca Lambertini, Ph.D.	Placental Mitochondrial DNA Mutation Burden: A Key Mediator of Metal Exposure Effects on Fetal Growth and Neurodevelopment?	Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  February 17, 2025	Annie Ciernia, Ph.D.	Early-Life Gut Inflammation Drives Sex-Dependent Shifts in the Microbiome-Endocrine-Brain Axis	University of British Columbia
  April 25, 2024	Marc Weisskopf, Ph.D.	Exploring early origins of cognitive decline: The St. Louis Baby Tooth Study	Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
  November 30, 2023	Donald Smith	Attention Deficit Disorder and Developmental Manganese Exposure: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Treatment	University of California, Santa Cruz
  March 13, 2023	Michael Fanselow, Ph.D.	When and Why Does Adaptive Defensive Behavior Become Maladaptive	University of California, Los Angeles