Student Research Week 2024 | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
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36th Annual Student Research Week

2024 Information

2024 Theme

This year's Student Research Week centers around the theme "Brain Wars: May the neurons be with you." Similar to the dynamics in Star Wars, a functional nervous system relies on two essential forces: excitation and inhibition. Maintaining a delicate balance between neural excitation and inhibition is pivotal for ensuring healthy cognition and behavior. Any deviation from this homeostasis is a hallmark of any disease, potentially leading to a disorder. The diverse research endeavors at TTUHSC in the department of neuroscience and pharmacology spans across pain, alcohol use disorder, Alzheimer’s, and among others. Brain Wars serves as a platform for an intellectual battleground, where students from various disciplines partake in friendly competition. This not only fosters collaboration but also encourages the convergence of diverse perspectives and expertise, reflecting the multifaceted nature of research in biological sciences.

This year SRW will be conducted in-person with poster sessions and a vendor fair. The poster sessions allow students from different biological research areas to present their research projects, discuss their results, and disseminate their findings and ideas. Students from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), School of Medicine (SOM), School of Pharmacy (SOP), School of Nursing, School of Population and Public Health, Texas Tech University, and other colleges show great interest by participating in these poster sessions.

Student Research Week also provides research seminars presented by distinguished biomedical students, and is an opportunity to recruit regional students into GSBS degree programs.

GSBS students organize, plan, and coordinate the entire event, and determine the overall seminar series theme. While the event has a biomedical theme, the posters are open to all biological research areas. The judging criteria are set to evaluate a hypothesis, the methods used to test that hypothesis, and the presenter’s ability to effectively communicate the research idea.

Helpful Links

Topics over the years:

  • 2019 - Animalcules Detected: Immune Response Activated
  • 2018 - Protein Chronicles: From Unknown Structures to Essential Functions
  • 2017 - Molecular Neurosciences & Systems: From Nucleotides to Networks
  • 2016 - Molecular Basis of Life and Disease
  • 2015 - Host-Microbe Interactions: Exploring Worlds Within
  • 2014 - Molecular Imaging: Advancing Diagnostics
  • 2013 - Genomic Revolution: Personalizing Medicine
  • 2012 - Cure Diabetes
  • 2011 - Vaccine Development: A Shot in the Dark
  • 2010 - Demystifying the Brain: Aging and Addiction
  • 2009 - Molecular Pathways of Cancer
  • 2008 - Fertilization
  • 2007 - Phage Therapy
  • 2006 - Senescence
  • 2005 - Stem Cell Research
  • 2004 - Substance Abuse and Addiction
  • 2003 - Biofilms
  • 2002 - Cell Cycle, Cell Proliferation and Cancer
  • 2001 - Hypoxia and High Altitude Physiology
  • 2000 - Prions