Events

Dr. Karen Morgenshtern

Dr. Karen Morgenshtern is a headache neurologist with UCLA Health. She focuses on migraines and other similar headache disorders. In her presentation, she discussed many of the technological treatments that patients use to decrease symptoms and increase quality of life.

Dr. Daniel Toker

Dr. Daniel Toker is currently at UCLA, researching the relationship between chaos theory and consciousness. His work in chaos theory began at UC Berkeley and has continued in Professor Monti's lab at UCLA. In his presentation, he spoke about the research that he is currently doing, his journey to being a neuroscience, and his passion as an influencer on platforms, such as Instagram and Tiktok.

Dr. Jeff Bronstein

Dr. Bronstein received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and M.D. and Ph.D. from UCLA as a recipient of the Medical Scientist Training Program Award. He completed a residency in Neurology and fellowship training in Movement Disorders at UCLA. Dr. Bronstein also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology before being appointed an Assistant Professor of Neurology. He was later appointed Director of the Movement Disorders Program at UCLA. His interests and expertise include the management of Parkinson's disease (PD) and other movement disorders, surgical treatment of PD, and developing new therapies for patients. Dr. Bronstein was recently awarded one of 6 National Parkinson's Disease Centers at the Veterans Administration Medical Center with the goal of furthering research, education and clinical care in the Southwest US. His laboratory studies the cause of PD using cell models and a newly developed zebrafish model. His work is supported by the NIH and private foundations. Dr. Bronstein also directs clinical trials in order to develop new therapies for PD that include transplantation and deep brain stimulation.

Dr. Laurice Yang

Dr. Laurice Yang is a board-certified neurologist, specializing in the diagnosis of movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, atypical parkinsonian disorders, Essential Tremor, and Huntington’s disease. Dr. Yang has a particular interest in dystonia and spasticity and has been trained to perform botulinum toxin injection under ultrasound guidance to better ensure accuracy and efficacy with each procedure. She is also the Assistant Clinic Chief for the department of Neurology, and she is the Co-Director for an MS 2 course that focuses on teaching the physical exam skills for cardiology, pulmonology, endocrine and neurology. She will be presenting how surgical interventions like deep brain stimulation can help patients with Parkinson's disease and dystonia.

Dr. Michele Basso

Dr. Michele A. Basso is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Neurobiology. She studied Neuroscience at Stony Brook University in NY and was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Eye Institute, NIH. After serving as a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Madison, she moved to UCLA to join the faculty and direct the Fuster Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience. The work performed in her laboratory is aimed at unravelling the neuronal circuits of decision-making in health and disease. Her work spans multiple species and employs multiple technologies designed to understand how memory and sensory information are combined to give rise to our decisions.

Dr. Daniel MacArthur

Daniel MacArthur, M.D., is a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist. He earned his medical degree at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and then did his Residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Tufts Medical Center. He then completed his Vascular and Interventional Radiology Fellowship at the Harvard affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He is a member of the Society of Interventional Radiology, Radiological Society of North America, and the American College of Radiology. His specific interests include interventional oncology, including catheter-directed chemo and radio-embolization, as well as percutaneous ablation of primary and metastatic tumors. He also specializes in uterine artery embolization, venous access, biliary intervention, and dialysis access.

Dr. Dorothy Hsiao

Dr. Dorothy Hsiao attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine where she received her MD. She then went on to do her residency in Pediatrics and her fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at George Washington University.

Dr. Kristin L. MacArthur

Dr. MacArthur is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She received her medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and her gastroenterology fellowship at Boston Medical Center. Dr. MacArthur is an active member of the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Dr. MacArthur has advanced training in inflammatory bowel disease, celiac sprue, colon cancer screening, pelvic floor dysfunction, and liver disorders including Hepatitis C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. She is proficient in upper and lower diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy as well as capsule endoscopy. Dr. MacArthur is skilled in the management of all forms of gastrointestinal bleeding, polypectomy, and endoscopic dilation.

In addition to presentations by our guest speakers, HAND will be facilitating journal clubs as part of the curriculum. The ability to read and understand scientific research is a crucial skill to possess in any STEM career. In groups, members will have the chance to practice breaking down research papers by sections, understanding the data and graphs, and summarizing key points. Papers will be related to topics of neuroscience and human behavior, with possible follow-up Q&A sessions with the authors.

Even with a remote session, community service will still be a key component of HAND. Members will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of virtual volunteering events, such as teaching K-12th grade science panels, creating educational newsletters, and publishing blogs to our website focusing on topics such as recent research breakthroughs, upcoming innovations, and the importance of bioethics.

HAND raised $1167 as part of Trivia for Charity as a whole, and donated $550 donated to the UCLA Movement Disorders Clinic