Nu Rho Psi, the national honor society for neuroscience students, honored two Georgia State University Honors College scholars during its annual awards night on Oct. 22.
Nitheyaa Shree, a senior neuroscience major from Suwanee, received an undergraduate research grant to better understand the mechanisms of degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. Nu Rho Psi’s Undergraduate Research grants are valued at up to $750.
Shree’s work in Prof. Angela Mabb’s research lab studies the role that a specific protein, known as ARC, plays in learning behaviors in the aging brain.
“I really like learning about how our brain learns things and how our brain remembers things,” said Shree, a Georgia State Presidential Scholar, Goldwater Scholar and Honors Ambassador.
Janavi Ramesh, a 2018 graduate of the Honors College, was named Outstanding Student Member of the Year. The award recognizes a Nu Rho Psi member who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, service and advocacy and who has contributed in furthering the world’s understanding of neuroscience.
During her time as an undergraduate, Ramesh was president of Georgia State’s Nu Rho Psi chapter, conducted optogenetics research in Interim Associate Dean Marise Parent’s lab and presented at the 2018 Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference. She earned her master’s degree is neuroscience from Georgia State in 2019 and is now in medical school at the Medical College of Georgia.
Georgia State’s Nu Rho Psi chapter also was named Chapter of the Year—the third time that the chapter has received this honor.