Brain development is a complex, incompletely understood process that presents both challenges and innumerable opportunities for important new discoveries. Children’s Center for Neurosciences Research (CCNR) aims to be an internationally recognized center for excellence in which multidisciplinary research teams bring insight from developmental neuroscience to the benefit of children with neurologic disorders.
For more information on all investigators involved with CCNR, view our directory here.
For information on past and current pilot projects that CCNR has funded, click here.
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CCNR hosts a seminar series, in which internal and external speakers are invited to present their research and/or lead brainstorming sessions on how to promote neuroscience research within our system.
Announcements for upcoming seminars are added to the calendar on this website and distributed via the Pediatric Research and CCNR emails list. If you are interested in being added to either of these email lists or leading one of these seminars, or would like to recommend someone to lead a seminar, please email CCNR Program Manager Gillian Glauber.
Recordings of recent CCNR seminars:
- 6/29/23: Jennifer Wong, PhD - "Early-life epilepsy: disease mechanisms and treatment development"
- 6/15/23: Nealen Laxpati, MD, PhD - "Finding signals in the noise: Electrophysiologic signal analysis to optimize surgical treatments for epilepsy"
- 5/11/23: Juliet Knowles, MD, PhD - "Pediatric Epilepsy: Could Myelin be an Unexpected Culprit?"
- 5/4/23: Joseph McCarty, PhD - "Deciphering cell adhesion and signaling pathways in brain development and cancer"
- 1/12/23: Yanxin Pei, PhD - "Elucidating Medulloblastoma Tumor Cell Heterogeneity and Tumorigenesis to Guide Development of Novel Therapeutics"
- 11/10/22: Varina Boerwinkle, MD - "Resting State fMRI in Epilepsy for Seizure Onset Localization: Evidence and Methods"
- 3/9/22: "Collaborating with a pediatric neuropsychologist: Incorporating cognitive assessments into your research"
- 12/16/21: Erin Buckley, PhD - "Illuminating Biomarkers of Stroke with Diffuse Optical Spectroscopies"
- 8/6/21: Shannon Gourley, PhD - "Long-term Consequences of Social Isolation: What we can Learn from Model Organisms"
Recordings of recent Epilepsy Focus Research Forums (a previous CCNR series):
- 5/12/22: Adam Dickey, MD, PhD and Daniel Drane, PhD, ABPP(CN) - Epilepsy Surgery Outcomes
- 4/14/22: Naymee Velez-Ruiz, MD and Evan Gedzelman, MD - Pregnancy & Neonatal Drug Effects in Epilepsy
- 3/10/22: Rebecca O'Dwyer, MD and Chad Hales, MD, PhD - Seizures in Alzheimer's Disease
- 2/10/22: Patrick Y. Chauvel, MD and Ammar Kheder, MD - Epilepsy Surgery
- 1/13/22: Alfred L. George, Jr., MD and Hongjie Yuan, MD, PhD - Precision Medicine
- 12/9/21: Katie Bullinger, MD, PhD and Abdulrahman Alwaki, MD - Neurostimulation
- 11/11/21: John R. Mytinger, MD and Philip J. Holt, MD - Infantile Spasms and Ketogenic Diet
- 10/14/21: Romy Hoque, MD and Nigel P. Pedersen, MD - Sleep and Epilepsy
- 9/9/21: Edward Faught, MD and Olga Taraschenko, MD, PhD - Autoimmune Epilepsies
Neuroimaging core facilities include Emory Center for Systems Imaging (CSI) and the Pediatric Imaging Research Core (PIRC) at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Click here for more information on these two facilities.
CCNR was instrumental in acquiring a mock MRI scanner, housed in the CSI, to help acclimate pediatric patients and study subjects to the MRI process. CCNR also facilitated the acquisition of a photoacoustic imager, via an NIH S10 grant. Our center is proud to contribute these state-of-the-art tools to enhance child health neuroscience research.
Information about additional research resources can be found here.
For information about training and internship opportunities within Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, click here.
Read about the latest CCNR news in the below sampling of articles featuring the work of CCNR investigators:
NeuroOne® Announces First Clinical Case Using Evo® sEEG Electrode
July 12, 2022 | Robert Gross | Cision PR Newswire
RSRT Invests Over $3M in Research Toward Finding a Cure for Rett
January 28, 2022 | Victor Faundez | Rett Syndrome news
NSF selects Susan S. Margulies to head the Engineering Directorate
July 1, 2021 | National Science Foundation
Emory Fragile X Center: $8 million NIH grant supports next-generation neuroscience
October 1, 2020 | Gary Bassell | Emory News Center
The Congress of Neurological Surgeons Announces NEUROSURGERY® Publications 2019 Papers of the Year
July 30, 2019 | Joshua Chern | Newswise
Brain Tumor ‘Pied Piper’ Device Gains Breakthrough Status
February 6, 2019 | Barun Brahma | Duke Pratt School of Engineering News
Finding his voice: A reporter’s mystery illness leads to difficulty speaking and a challenging diagnosis
February 5, 2019 | Hyder Jinnah | Emory News Center
CDC-funded research aims to improve children’s recovery from mild traumatic brain injury
January 7, 2019 | David Wright | Emory News Center
Read about our research innovations in the below sampling of recent publications from CCNR investigators:
OLIG2 Is a Determinant for the Relapse of MYC-Amplified Medulloblastoma
October 3, 2022 | Clinical Cancer Research
Authors include CCNR Center Director Tim Gershon
Enhancing CDK4/6 inhibitor therapy for medulloblastoma using nanoparticle delivery and scRNA-seq-guided combination with sapanisertib
January 26, 2022 | Science Advances
Authors include CCNR Center Director Tim Gershon
Osteopontin as a biomarker for COVID-19 severity and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: A pilot study
September 26, 2021 | Experimental Biology and Medicine
Authors include CCNR investigators Andrew Reisner (1st author), Laura Blackwell, Iqbal Sayeed, and CCNR Associate Director Stacy Heilman
Cerebrospinal fluid cytokine, chemokine, and SARS-CoV-2 antibody profiles in children with neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with COVID-19
July 29, 2021 | Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
Authors include CCNR investigators Bryan Philbrook, Laura Wright, and Grace Gombolay
The PI3-Kinase p110β Isoform Controls Severity of Cocaine-Induced Sequelae and Alters the Striatal Transcriptome
January 25, 2021 | Biological Psychiatry
Authors include CCNR investigators Gary Bassell and Shannon Gourley
Acute Flaccid Myelitis: A Single Pediatric Center Experience From 2014 to 2019
July 17, 2020 | Journal of Child Neurology
Authors include CCNR investigators Grace Gombolay, Laura Blackwell, Robyn Howarth, David Wolf, and Sumit Verma
Patterns of Osteopontin Expression in Abusive Head Trauma Compared with Other Causes of Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury
July 1, 2020 | The Journal of Pediatrics
Authors include CCNR investigators Laura Blackwell (1st author), Iqbal Sayeed, and Andrew Reisner
Long-term alterations in brain and behavior after postnatal Zika virus infection in infant macaques
May 21, 2020 | Nature Communications
Authors include CCNR investigators Jessica Raper (1st author), Mar Sanchez, and Ann Chahroudi
Read more about this CCNR-funded pilot project here
Click here to be added to the CCNR email list to stay up-to-date on the latest news and upcoming events.
To express interest in CCNR membership, click here. Read more about pediatric research center membership here.
Read more about training opportunities for students here.