ZVR Lab
LightNews LightNews
banner
zvrlab.bsky.social
ZVR Lab
@zvrlab.bsky.social
180 followers 630 following 92 posts
@urneuroscience.bsky.social research lab of @zvr-bsj.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social, dedicated to understanding #discriminationlearning and #psychopathology using #VR, #MRI, and #ML. Happy to connect with the research community on Bluesky!
Posts Replies Media Videos
zvrlab.bsky.social
We're excited to welcome Julia Gauberg, MSc, PhD, of @ucsandiego.bsky.social to our NEUROYES speaker series! Dr. Gauberg will present "NFIA links neuromuscular circuit assembly to metabolic resilience in motor neurons."

🗓️Thursday, February 5 at 10am
#URochesterResearch @urneuroscience.bsky.social
Flyer for University of Rochester Young Investigator Extramural Seminar Series (NEUROYES) with text reading: NEURO-YES Visiting Speaker (Hosted by Neuroscience dept) Julia Gauberg, MSc, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Neurobiology University of California San Diego Thursday, February 5, 2026, 10:00-11:00 AM 3-6408- K-307 Auditorium (In-person only) NFIA links neuromuscular circuit assembly to metabolic resilience in motor neurons
January 14, 2026 at 7:27 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
2025 was quite the year! We celebrated a publication, graduation, and a thesis competition! Congratulations, @zvrlab.bsky.social, I'm excited to see what 2026 holds for our #URochesterResearch. 🎉📸
December 19, 2025 at 9:47 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
🏆Thrilled to report that PhD student @abigailbossa.bsky.social earned FIRST PLACE in the 3-Minute Thesis Competition! Abby presented "From Brain Scans to Solutions: Understanding How Trauma and the Environment Shapes the Brain". Congratulations, Abby! #URochesterResearch @urochestersmd.bsky.social
Abigail Bossa stands in front of a large projector screen in an auditorium, holding a microphone while delivering her 3-Minute Thesis to the audience. Slide text: "From Brain Scans to Solutions: Understanding How Trauma and the Environment Shapes the Brain, Abigail Bossa, PhD Candidate in Translational Biomedical Science. Background & Importance: Trauma can lead to emotional distress and PTSD; Some people stay mentally healthy and resilient to PTSD symptoms; Others experience behavioral changes and live in a constant state of fear. Research Focus & Methods: Identifying brain changes that protect people from the development of PTSD; labeled illustrations of VR goggles and an MRI machine; Socio-economic factors & the environment. Ultimate Goal & Implications: Biomarker for Resilience; Guide personalized interventions; Trauma prevention strategies & policies. Abigail Bossa stands in a room in front of a chalkboard, smiling as she holds up her 3-Minute Thesis Competition awards, Sub-Heat Winner and First Place Winner.
December 10, 2025 at 1:55 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Today is World Kindness Day. #Kindness is one of our core values in the ZVR Lab.

How will you spread kindness today?
#WorldKindnessDay #URochesterResearch #neuroskyence
Image of a word cloud in the shape of the letter Z, with the words representing the core values of ZVR Lab, including Kindness, Respect, Accountability, Accessibility, Collaboration, Empathy, Curiosity, Honesty, Academic Integrity, Appreciation, Acknowledgement, Safe Space, Quality over Quantity.
November 13, 2025 at 2:42 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
🎃Happy Halloween from the @zvrlab.bsky.social FBI (Functional Brain Investigation)! Our investigators are off to identify the elusive psychological & neural signatures of #PTSD and #anxiety disorders. 🧠
#URochesterResearch #neuroimaging #neuroskyence
@zvr-bsj.bsky.social @urneuroscience.bsky.social
Five people walk down a hallway, dressed all in black and wearing badges reading FBI (Functional Brain Investigators). Logo with a graphic of a brain in the middle of a blue background, surrounded by gold leaves, reading "FUNCTIONAL BRAIN INVESTIGATION UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER" created for Halloween 2025.
November 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
On September 17, the @urochester.bsky.social School of Medicine and Dentistry celebrated 100 years of #meloria (ever better). Happy #centennial, @urochestersmd.bsky.social! 🎂
Graphic reading "100 years School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Rochester" featuring the 1850 Meliora shield logo.
September 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
It's always bittersweet when a lab member says goodbye! 😭 Shreya Bavdekar is off to new adventures at @colorado.edu. Best of luck Shreya, your future is bright! We appreciate you. ❤️🌟 #URochesterResearch @urochestersmd.bsky.social @zvr-bsj.bsky.social @urneuroscience.bsky.social
Image of a large wall mounted computer monitor with text reading "THANK YOU, SHREYA!!! WE'LL MISS YOU!!" and various photos of of Shreya at poster presentations, the UR PREP Symposium and in the ZVR Lab with lab members. Six ZVR Lab members smile and pose for a photo in the lab with Shreya, including, in the front row, Tanya Garg, Shreya Bavdekar, and Melanie Snell, and in the back row, Skylar DeWitt, Abigail Bossa, and Caitlin Sharp.
July 22, 2025 at 3:26 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Congratulations to the 4! new Mental Health First Aid certified members of our 🧠lab, Skylar DeWitt, Abigail Bossa, Tanya Garg, and Caitlin Sharp! 🎉
#URochesterResearch @skylardewitt.bsky.social @abigailbossa.bsky.social
Find more info on this training @urochestersmd.bsky.social:
⤵️
bit.ly/4lG1pZZ
July 3, 2025 at 8:39 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
At the PREP Symposium, Shreya presented "Exploring the Collective Impact of Trauma Exposure and Sleep Disturbances on Threat Discrimination Learning." #neuroskyence #research #trauma #DiscriminationLearning #science
🧵2/3
Shreya Bavdekar stands at the lectern delivering her PREP research findings at the PREP Symposium. Presentation slide shows a venn diagram describing the relationship between trauma exposure and sleep disturbances. Where trauma exposure and sleep disturbances intersect is the question "Sleep disturbances may be both a cause and consequence of PTSD?"
June 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Please join us in congratulating Shreya Bavdekar and the 2025 URMC PREP cohort on their outstanding presentations at the PREP Symposium! Next up for Shreya: @colorado.edu! 🎓👏 #URochesterResearch #neuroskyence @zvr-bsj.bsky.social @jackofrogy.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social
🧵1/3
Six people stand and pose for a photo at the URMC PREP Symposium on June 17, 2025. From left to right, Brook Melon, PREP Program Coordinator, PREP Program Directors Elaine Smolock and Jacques Robert, Caitlin Sharp (Shreya's Bench Mentor), Shreya Bavdekar (holding her program completion certificate), and our favorite PI (and Shreya's Mentor), Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez.
June 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Last week, grad student Tanya Garg shared "How threat influences selection history: An eye-tracking study of attentional biases following trauma" for her 2-year Clinical Psychology presentation @urochester.bsky.social. Congrats, Tanya! #URochesterResearch #psychsky #neuroskyence @zvr-bsj.bsky.social
ZVR Lab members pose for a photo outside on a sunny day, in front of a tree on the University of Rochester Campus. From left to right, Shreya Bavdekar, Skylar DeWitt, Caitlin Sharp, Tanya Garg, Abigail Bossa, and Melanie Snell.
June 17, 2025 at 8:50 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Meet Melanie Snell, Undergrad RA in the ZVR Lab: “I’m interested in using #neuroimaging to study the neural mechanisms of reward and psychopathologies. Fun fact: I love to collect little items for collaging in my junk journal!” ~ @melaniesnell.bsky.social 🧠🖥️
#URochesterResearch @zvr-bsj.bsky.social
Melanie Snell, wearing a white lab coat and holding VR goggles, stands next to the ZVR Lab sign, smiling. Melanie Snell, wearing a white lab coat and VR goggles, stands next to the ZVR Lab sign, smiling.
June 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Tanya Garg and Abigail Bossa are in DC this week for the Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention! Can't wait to hear more about their experience at #APS2025! 🌟🧪✈️
#URochesterResearch @abigailbossa.bsky.social @zvr-bsj.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social @urochester.bsky.social
Two women, Tanya Garg and Abigail Bossa, in grey pants and black shirts, stand together and smile for a photo next to a stand-up banner reading "May 22-25, Washington, D.C., Welcome to APS 2025 Annual Convention.
May 23, 2025 at 2:32 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
🎓🌞 What a beautiful day for commencement! Congratulations, @urochester.bsky.social graduates! #ur2025 #URochesterResearch #graduation
📸: Screen snip from the livestream: vimeo.com/1084931603
www.rochester.edu/commencement...
Wide view of the graduation stage, outside on a sunny day, with two large viewing screens on the left and right. Faculty and speakers sit to the left and right of the lectern. A large crowd is seated in chairs outside, with the graduates seated in front of the stage.
May 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
"Oh, the places you'll go!" ~Dr. Seuss

We are bursting with pride celebrating our amazing undergrads, Kendal Jordan and Mary Halvorsen! #Congratulations on your graduation! 🎓🌟

#URochesterResearch #academicweapons #graduates
@kendaljordan.bsky.social @zvr-bsj.bsky.social @urochester.bsky.social
Lab group selfie, with seven people smiling. From left to right: Shreya Bavdekar, Tanya Garg, Caitlin Sharp, Kendal Jordan, Mary Halvorsen, Abigail Bossa, and Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez.
May 5, 2025 at 8:47 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Congratulations to our NGP students, scholarship recipients, and award winners! (Especially our own @skylardewitt.bsky.social!) 👏 #meliora
🧵8/8
Photos of award winners with text about awards reading "Jean Setenet, Meliora Scholarship / Skylar DeWitt, Merritt and Marjorie Cleveland Fellowship / Joanne Chiu, Ivring L. Spar Fellowship Award / Thomas Delgado, Joan Wright Goodman Dissertation Fellowship / Elizabeth Plunk and Sarah Yablonski, Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student / Luke Shaw, Nominated for Vincent du Vigneaud Award / Matt Adusei, Nominated for Wallace O Fenn Award"
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
ZVR Lab member @skylardewitt.bsky.social and lab alum @pavelrjabtsenkov.bsky.social are pictured in this slide about the Neuroscience Graduate Program. ❤️
🧵7/8
Slide with picture of a group photo of NGP students, with text: Neuroscience Graduate Program (NGP) / A diverse, interdepartmental program consisting of ~93 faculty presenting >30 basic science departments, clinical departments and research centers / 71 graduate students (62 current plus 9 NGP Recruits for Fall 2025) / 13 students just finishing their first year / 10 PhDs in Neuroscience awarded in last year"
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Thank you, Dora Biro, for a thought-provoking research talk, "Coordination, Conventions, and Collective Intelligence". @dorabiro.bsky.social @uor-braincogsci.bsky.social
🧵6/8
Woman stands at lectern on auditorium stage with ASL interpreter next to her and people viewing a presentation slide reading "Coordination, Conventions, and Collective Intelligence"/ Dora Biro / Collective Cognition Lab / Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences / Neuroscience Retreat April 25, 2025
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Congratulations to Matthew Adusei, PhD for receiving the 2025 Robert Doty Prize for Outstanding Dissertation at the NGP Retreat!
🧵5/8
Two men on stage in auditorium shaking hands as a crowd looks on from the seats. Krishnan Padmanabhan awards Matthew Adusei the 2025 Robert Doty Prize for Outstanding Dissertation.
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Congratulations to @dougp.bsky.social for receiving the 2025 Peter Shrager Award!
🧵4/8
Man at lectern on stage in an auditorium with people seated, looking at presentation slide on screen with a picture of a man with dark hair and glasses, reading "The 2025 Peter Shrager Award/ Douglas S. Portman, PhD.
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
UR Prep Scholar Shreya Bavdekar shared her research poster, "Exploring the Effects of Trauma Exposure and Sleep Disturbances on Learning in a Threatening Environment" during the afternoon poster session.
🧵3/8
Shreya Bavdekar, with long dark hair and glasses, discusses her research poster with a group of four attendees in a wood paneled ballroom at the NGP retreat. Poster title: "Exploring the Effects of Trauma Exposure and Sleep Disturbances on Learning in a Threatening Environment."
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Graduate student Tanya Garg presented her research during the morning poster session at the NGP Retreat, entitled "The Role of Trauma in Shaping Attention and Threat Expectancy: A Virtual Reality Threat Conditioning Experiment."
🧵2/8
Tanya Garg poses for a photo next to her research poster, entitled "The Role of Trauma in Shaping Attention and Threat Expectancy: A Virtual Reality Threat Conditioning Experiment"
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
Thank you, @urneuroscience.bsky.social for another inspiring #Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat! @zvr-bsj.bsky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social @urochester.bsky.social #URochesterResearch
📸🧵 1/8
Five people stand for a photo in a wood-paneled ballroom next to a research poster. From left to right: Tanya Garg, Caitlin Sharp, Abigail Bossa, Shreya Bavdekar, and Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez.
May 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
We’re spending the day at the Neuroscience Retreat at the Memorial Art Gallery! A day of speakers, posters, and collaboration. @urneuroscience.sky.social @urochestersmd.bsky.social #URochesterResearch
Outside the Memorial Art Gallery main entrance, a large sign reads “Welcome to the Annual Neuroscience Retreat Presented by the Neuroscience Graduate Program” and features the logo for the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester. A view of the outside of the Memorial Art Gallery, looking up over tree tops at the church like building, and a colorful sign reading “Composing Color, Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum February 8 to May 25”
April 25, 2025 at 1:46 PM
zvrlab.bsky.social
We were happy to attend Abby's dissertation update today! @abigailbossa.bsky.social is a PhD student in Translational Biomedical Science in the Clinical Translational Science Institute (@ur-ctsi.bsky.social) @urochestersmd.bsky.social, and a researcher in our #neuroscience lab. 🧠👏#URochesterResearch
Abigail Bossa stands at the lectern (left) delivering her dissertation update presentation. An ASL interpreter stands to the right. On the screen is a presentation slide, entitled "Neural Circuit Model - Threat" with a figure detailing the locations of brain regions (Prefrontal cortex, Medial prefrontal cortex, Ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and Amygdala) and the figure title "Brain Structures Involved in Dealing with Fear and Stress. An infographic next to the figure includes four boxes: "Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) regulates amygdala function by inhibiting it when there is no threat"; "Post Trauma the mPFC fails to inhibit amygdala function"; "Hyperactive amygdala"; and "Reactions to neutral stimuli, startle responses and hypervigilance". Five ZVR Lab members stand in front of a screen with the title slide of Abigail Bossa's presentation, reading "Dissertation Update: Investigating Neurobiological Consequences and Sociodemographic Risk Factors of PTSD and Trauma Exposure." From left to right: Shreya Bavdekar, Julie Blue, Abigail Bossa, Tanya Garg, and Caitlin Sharp.
April 23, 2025 at 8:36 PM