Mount Holyoke professors have won Guggenheim awards, NASA grants and Carnegie Fellowships.
They receive millions in funding from national foundations, leading to unique research opportunities for students.
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Premiered a new international quartet project, Veiled Borders: Analog/Digital Hybridity with collaborators John Godfrey, Karen Power (Ireland) and Jane Rigler (USA). The performance was part of the Irish Sound, Science, and Technology Association National Conference in Cork, Ireland, where he also performed Ujjayi, an improvisational duo project for flute and computer with Rigler. Ciufo led a masterclass on Extended Instrument Design and Improvisational Performance Practices for the students in the Experimental Sound Practice Masters program at the University College Cork, Ireland, and he presented an artist talk entitled Adventures in Electronic and Experimental Music for the students at the University College Cork, Ireland. (2019)
Received an RCN/UBE grant from the National Science Foundation (subaward from Appalachian State University) for “Connectomes for Undergraduate Neuroscience Education and Learning (CUNEL).” The project is for three years. (2022)
Botero, V. [MHC '18], Stahl, B., Grenci, E.C., Boto, T., Park, S.J., King, L.B., Murphy, K.R., Colodner, K.J., Walker, J.A., Keene, A.C., Ja, W.W., Tomchik, S.M. (2021) Neurofibromin regulates metabolic rate via neuronal mechanisms in Drosophila. Nature Communications, Jul 13;12(1):4285. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-24505-x.
Nangia, V. [MHC '16], O’Connell, J. ['19], Chopra, K ['20], Qing, Y.['21], Reppert, C. ['18], Chai, C. ['14], Bhasiin, K. ['22], and Colodner, K.J. (2021) Genetic reduction of tyramine β hydroxylase suppresses Tau toxicity in a Drosophila model of tauopathy. Neuroscience Letters, Apr 25: 135937. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.135937
Scarpelli EM, Trinh VY [MHC '18], Tashnim Z [MHC '19], Krans JL, Keller LC, Colodner KJ. (2019). Developmental expression of human tau in Drosophila melanogaster glial cells induces motor deficits and disrupts maintenance of PNS axonal integrity, without affecting synapse formation. PLoS One, 14(12):e0226380.
Shi Q.*, Colodner K.J.*, Matousek S.B., Merry K., Hong S., Kenison J.E., Frost J.L., Le K.K., Li S., Dodart, J.C., Caldarone B.J., Stevens B., Lemere C.A. (2015) Complement C3-deficient mice fail to display age-related hippocampal decline. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(38):13029-42.
* Co-first author.
Wang L, Colodner K.J., Feany M.B. (2011) Protein misfolding and oxidative stress promote glial-mediated neurodegeneration in an Alexander disease model. Journal of Neuroscience, 31(8): 2868 –2877. [Featured article]
Colodner K.J. and Feany M.B. (2010) Glial fibrillary tangles and JAK/STAT-mediated glial and neuronal cell death in a Drosophila model of glial tauopathy. Journal of Neuroscience, 30(48): 16102-13.
Jane Couperus was awarded a National Science Foundation grant for "Collaborative Research: Level II Preparing Undergraduates for Research in STEM-related fields Using Electrophysiology (PURSUE)." The project is for five years. (2019)
Denaro, C.M., Hartley, A.A., Couperus, J.W., Bukach, C.M. & Reed, C.L. (2025) Procrastination and anxiety aspects of self-control predict individual differences in the mismatch negativity (MMN). International Journal of Psychophysiology. 214, 113202. DOI: