Brains, behavior & breakthroughs

At a university known for its spirit of innovation, one recent event brought together more than 250 experts and students to showcase research shaped by collaboration and free from traditional silos.

It’s the annual retreat for the university’s Brains & Behavior area of focus, which, this year, marks its 20th anniversary as a multidisciplinary program connecting research from across the university and as a powerful collaboration hub centered on the study of the brain.

On this day, people are gathered around student researchers — more than 50 of them — who have filled the large hall with poster presentations. The studies represent a wide array of fields, including neuroscience, music, occupational therapy, biology, communication sciences and disorders, mathematics and statistics, physics, psychology, philosophy, physical therapy, chemistry, computer science, kinesiology and nutrition.

“The energy, excitement and intellect of our students — along with innovative research — really highlights what makes the Brains & Behavior program so special,” says Anne Murphy, a neuroscience professor, acting director of the Neuroscience Institute and head of the B&B program. “It’s a great reminder of the value of interdisciplinary research and mentorship. I’m proud of what we’ve built together as a team, and excited for where it’s headed.”

Brains & Behavior founders and current staff are honored with 2025 Founders Awards for their lasting contributions to the program. They are, from left, Charles Derby, Regents' Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience; Tara Alexander (B.A. '07), business manager of the Neuroscience Institute; Don Edwards, founding director of Brains & Behavior and Regents' Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience; Marcus Germann, professor of chemistry; Anne Murphy, acting director of the Neuroscience Institute and head of B&B; Unil Perera, Regent's Professor of Physics; and Ying Zhu, professor of computer science and neuroscience.

To get an idea of the breadth of work underway, one of the research project posters focuses on how to help people recover after a stroke and includes researchers from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Another poster developed in the Kinesiology Department is focused on gauging college athletes’ mental health. One psychology-based study is investigating young people who have survived brain tumors to determine if their levels of self-control are impacted. In yet another project which incorporates both biology and neuroscience, researchers are looking at the neurobiology of prayer to identify what changes might occur in the brain.

Those are just a few of the 57 different poster presentations being showcased, highlighting how the program serves as a touchpoint for students and faculty researchers across the university.

“This program allows really powerful connections to be made,” says Elizabeth Weaver II, associate director of the Brains & Behavior program, a member of its Interdisciplinary Committee and a doctoral candidate in higher education leadership and policy. “We encourage students and faculty to discover new aspects of their research by collaborating with experts in other fields. After all, when we examine the brain from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, our knowledge is more panoptic than when we explore it from only one. Our faculty comes from 15 different departments, so students are pulled into a vast community full of people who can support their work.”

The program’s impact on students is remarkable. Over the life of the program, the B&B initiative has successfully supported the mentorship and development of more than 150 graduate fellows and over 250 undergraduate scholars.

Brains & Behavior leaders celebrate the program’s success at the 2025 Brains & Behavior Annual Retreat. From left are Distinguished University Professor Sarah Brosnan, acting chair of the Psychology Department; Brains & Behavior Program Associate Director Elizabeth Weaver II; and Anne Murphy, acting director of the Neuroscience Institute and head of the B&B program.

DEVELOPING EXPERTS

Ella Atkinson is an occupational therapy doctoral student conducting research to help stroke survivors use piano therapy to aid recovery at home. She is one of a handful of students selected to give a Fellow Talk to present her research.

“B&B has significantly enhanced both my research and academic experience at Georgia State,” Atkinson says. “Through the program, I have been able to attend multiple conferences, connect with so many incredible researchers and thoroughly expand my understanding of neuroscience. I love how I am able to apply what I learn through the B&B program to my occupational therapy-based courses and also strengthen my ongoing research.”

As a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience, Meghan Vogt is deep into her dissertation research, exploring how morphine exposure during pregnancy can affect brain development, learning and memory performance. She’s on track to defend her dissertation by December, then plans to begin teaching undergraduate neuroscience courses in the Atlanta area.

“I was honored to give a Fellow Talk at the Brains & Behavior Annual Retreat this year. There were only five slots, and I loved being on stage, sharing my enthusiasm for my research with everyone in the audience,” she says. “The experience of giving an oral presentation at the retreat was especially useful as a small taste of what my dissertation defense will be like in the fall.”

Vogt adds that one of the most impactful parts of the program has been learning to communicate her research beyond her field.

“Not only do you need to practice disseminating your work to a non-specialist audience, which is a tremendously useful skill in any field, you get to hear what your research looks like to people with specializations in other areas,” Vogt says. “These alternative perspectives can help you solve problems, optimize your techniques and gain a new sense of appreciation for the impact of your work.”

It’s not just students who gain from this community, however. More than 100 faculty members across the university are part of the program, including a number who are members of the founding group, which was recognized at the retreat.

Sarah Brosnan is a Distinguished University Professor of Psychology. She is one of the first faculty hires of the program and works at the nexus of psychology, philosophy and neuroscience. She also holds a leadership position in the program as a policymaker.

“Being a scientist requires expertise in a variety of skills that are hard to learn in a classroom,” Brosnan says. “You can tell someone how to develop a hypothesis or the experiment to test it, but science is rarely so straightforward. Having an experienced mentor who can support you through the process is invaluable.”

Attendees of the Brains & Behavior Annual Retreat enjoy research presentations, gaining insight into the work of their peers.

MODEL FOR SUCCESS

Brosnan says she’s especially proud of how Brains & Behavior’s innovative Seed Grant program has become a point of pride across the university.

“One of the markers of B&B’s success is the incredible amount of external funding that has been generated from our collaborations and seed grants, which I think is due to bringing together faculty and students who share these interests from across the university,” Brosnan says. “We have also trained hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students who have gone on to great success. This large-scale interdisciplinary program is a model for success across other fields.”

According to Weaver, the Seed Grant program offers an impressive 17-to-1 return on investment through the program, contributing to more than $66 million in extramural funding to date.

“Seeing so much interdisciplinary research all in one place at this year’s retreat was rewarding,” Weaver says. “These events really reflect our commitment to student success and faculty collaboration, which is stronger than ever after 20 years.”

This fall, a new cohort of fellows will begin their journey, launching into the 21st year of the program. Given the impact so far, there’s little doubt they’ll be helping to shape the future of collaborative research and our understanding of the human brain.