Raeesa Gupte, a Pharmacology graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. D.P. Mohapatra was awarded for her poster presentation at the 47th Annual Winter Conference on Brain Research, Jan 25 to 30, at Steamboat Springs, CO.  The title of her poster was “Neuropeptide PACAP-induced modifications in Kv2.1 channel provides neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury”.  Intrinsic mechanisms that operate within mammalian brain, in order to provide neuroprotection against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury are not well understood.  Raeesa’s research focuses on identifying the cascade of cellular events originating from the endogenous neuropeptide PACAP that influence the localization and function of the major neuronal potassium channel Kv2.1 during reperfusion following cerebral ischemic stroke.  These distinct modifications in Kv2.1 channel ultimately result in switching on the intrinsic neuroprotective key in neurons.  Results from this research has a high likelihood of identifying function-based pharmacotherapeutics targets for stroke/reperfusion injury, as well as for a number of related neuropathological conditions.