Illinois Mexican and Mexican-American Student Initiative. Precision Brain Health: Merging Genetic Insights with Nutritional Neuroscience Symposium

Position: Director of the comprehensive UIC Neuromuscular Center, Professor Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois Chicago

Email: cabrams1@uic.edu

Talk: Developing a Rational Therapy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT)1X

Dr. Abrams received his PhD in Neuroscience in 1991 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York and his MD followed in 1992. Following residency and fellowship training, assumed a position as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, and then served as an Associate Professor and Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Physiology and Pharmacology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He is currently a Professor and Section Chief of the Neuromuscular Division of the UIC Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation. The Abrams Laboratory studies the roles of connexin proteins in the function of myelinating glia in the CNS and PNS. Dr. Abrams has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, The Muscular Dystrophy Association, The CMTA, CMTRF and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Position: Dean School of Medicine, International Program, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Mexico

Email: kashif@uag.edu

Talk: Recent Advances in Diagnosis and Management of Neurocutaneous Disorders

Dr. Kashif Ahmad is a diligent, adaptable, resourceful administrator, educator, and researcher with a progressive career within diverse business cultures including medical education, faculty development, research, leadership, educational technology, and talent enhancement. A dynamic leader, award-winning instructor (including the prestigious Golden Apple) and professor and established author of medical and scientific books, theses and articles including service as an international thesis evaluator. A strong compassionate collaborator with a high degree of responsibility for quality, accuracy and implementing sound solutions for continuous improvement of programs in educational institutions.

Adept at developing proactive strategies for thorough evaluation, rigorous academic and institutional success, expertise in student engagement and advisement, faculty development, medical education innovation, and influential research. He is Professor and Dean at Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG) School of Medicine and is the founding faculty for Carle Illinois College of Medicine where he served as a course director, professor, and medical education facilitator.

Position: Department of Neurology & Rehabilitation, UI Health, University of Illinois Chicago

Email: mmaris3@uic.edu

Talk: Protecting Neurocognitive Function with Age

Dr. Melissa Mariscal is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. She completed her medical degree at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School, followed by residency training in Neurology and a fellowship in Vascular Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. Her clinical and academic interests include cognitive health, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and stroke prevention, with a strong focus on community engagement and improving awareness of neurologic disease.

Position: Department Director of Neuroscience and Research School of Medicine, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Mexico

Email: lucia.palazuelos@edu.uag.mx

Talk: Neurogenic Reserve in The Adult Human Brain: SVZ Biology, Age-related Decline, and Candidate Modulators

Lucía Álvarez-Palazuelos is a physician-neuroscientist, Director of the Department of Neuroscience and Research at the School of Medicine of the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), and Honorary Professor of Neurology and Medical Curricula at the Universidad de Guadalajara. She has collaborated in research with institutions including the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and the Instituto de Fisiología Celular at UNAM. She is currently leading an ongoing multi-institutional research project with Universidad de Galala (Egypt) and Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence (India), funded by CINTANA Education Research Call 3. She has served as Guest Lecturer at the University of Leipzig and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Her research focuses on adult neurogenesis in the human subventricular zone and its role in cerebrovascular disease, neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's disease, and glioma biology. She is a contributing author to the ScholarRx/Bricks USMLE platform and founder of Cerebrum Zeitung and EthiWrite, bilingual platforms for evidence-based neuroscience communication and ethical scientific writing.

Position: Faculty and Researcher. P.I. School of Sport Sciences, Universidad Anáhuac México, Mexico

Email: carlos.cuellarra@anahuac.mx

Talk: Non-Invasive Neuromodulation in Spinal Cord Injury

Dr. Carlos Cuellar Ramos holds a PhD in Sciences with a specialization in Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology from CINVESTAV-IPN. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, USA, affiliated with the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Neurology. He has been a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (SNI) since 2019 and has published in journals and book chapters, including the Journal of Neuroscience, Frontiers in Neurology, Neuroimage, and Academic Press, among others. His research focuses on the study of sensory and motor integration of the spinal cord in chronic degenerative diseases. Since 2019, he has been a professor at Anáhuac University Mexico, where he teaches at the Master's and Doctoral levels in the Faculty of Health Sciences. He is currently a full-time professor and researcher at the School of Sports Sciences of Anáhuac University, Mexico, where he is also responsible for the Movement Analysis Laboratory.

Position: Assistant Professor Department of Health and Kinesiology University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Email: mraj@illinois.edu

Talk: Development of a Structured Nutrition Education and Skills Training (NEST) Program for Family Caregivers of Older Adults

Dr. Minakshi Raj is an Assistant Professor in Health and Kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Raj is a mixed-methods researcher with training in health services research and health policy. Her work focuses on healthcare organizational, policy, and technology interventions to support older adults and their family caregivers. Her recent work considers opportunities to better prepare family caregivers for their responsibilities related to managing nutrition modifications for older relatives with an emphasis on developing culturally personalized education and resources for caregivers and older adults.

Position: Principal Investigator Professor Head of the Neurobiology of Learning Laboratory Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology, National Autonomous University of Mexico

Email: ginaqui@unam.mx

Talk: Boosting and Breaking Memory Formation Under Stress

Dr. Gina Lorena Quirarte is a Professor and Principal Investigator at the Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Neurobiology at the Instituto de Neurobiología of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, located at the UNAM Campus Juriquilla. She also serves as Head of the Neurobiology of Learning Laboratory (Lab B-04), where she leads cutting-edge research in the field of neuroscience.

Dr. Quirarte’s research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Her work explores the roles of stress hormones, particularly glucocorticoids and noradrenaline, in memory processes, with special emphasis on key brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and striatum. Her research contributes to a deeper understanding of how emotional and physiological factors influence cognitive function.

She is a Level III member of Mexico’s National System of Researchers (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores), one of the highest distinctions for scientific achievement in the country.

Position: Professor and Researcher, Institute for Research in Eating Behavior and Nutrition, Centro Universitario del Sur, University of Guadalajara, Mexico

Email: zyanya.reyes@cusur.udg.mx

Talk: The Gut-Brain-Immune Crosstalk in Behavioral Regulation: Implications for Obesity, Eating Disorders and Aggressive Behavior and Emerging Nutritional Strategies.

Zyanya Reyes-Castillo is a Professor and Researcher at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Immunology) and completed a research stay at the University of Rochester Medical Center, USA. Her work focuses on the interplay between Immunology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, particularly the role of gut microbiota and hormone-reactive antibodies in metabolic diseases and eating behavior. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters.

Dr. Reyes-Castillo is a Level II member of Mexico's National System of Researchers and leads a consolidated research group in Biomedicine, Nutrition, and Behavior.

Position: Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Email: ncliang8@illinois.edu

Talk: Sex-specific Physiological and Behavioral Deficits Following Diet Plus Streptozotocin-induced Diabetes in Middle-aged Rats

Dr. Nu-Chu Liang studied the central neural pathways for taste-guided behaviors and received her Ph.D. in Neural and Behavioral Sciences from Pennsylvania State University. During postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University, she investigated physiological and neural mechanisms of feeding and related eating disorders. She joined the Psychology department at UIUC in 2014 and is currently an Associate Professor with indefinite tenure. Her laboratory uses rat models to study mechanisms underlying the metabolic and cognitive outcomes of western diets, cannabis and alcohol use, and exercise. Dr. Liang is also a Section Editor for the journal Physiology & Behavior.

Position: Professor, Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Email: rdilger2@illinois.edu

Talk: From Brain Imaging to Behavioral Insights: Utilizing Pigs as a Preclinical Model

Dr. Ryan N. Dilger is Professor of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University and completed his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training at Illinois. His research integrates nutrition, immunology, and neuroscience using a comparative species approach to understand how early-life nutrition shapes growth, immunity, and tissue development. His work spans two main areas: practical nutrition and health challenges in production animal agriculture, and fundamental developmental nutrition research using the pig as a translational model for improving human health.

Position: I-MMÁS Overview and Introduction, University of Illinois System

Email: ui-mexico@uillinois.edu

Role: Welcome Speaker & I-MMÁS Program Lead

Professor, University Scholar, former Presidential Fellow, University of Illinois System I-MMAS Founder and Executive Director, Director of Institutional Relations-Mexico Past Director Division of Nutritional Sciences, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Position: Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Corporate Relations and Economic Development

Role: Welcome Remarks

As Executive Associate Vice Chancellor for Corporate Relations and Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Pradeep oversees the Office of Corporate Relations and economic development for the campus. He works closely with the campus administration as well as academic and other units to accomplish the strategic goals of the offices that he oversees. Prior to joining the campus administration, Pradeep served as the Associate Director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory in the College of ACES at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Position: Vice President, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara

Role: Welcome Remarks

Jalisco businessman and current Vice President of the UAG Group. Since 2005, he has served as Vice President of the Educational System of the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, where he has been responsible for driving the institution’s strategic development and sustained growth.

He has stood out for his key role in its modernization and for leading an unprecedented alliance in Mexico with Arizona State University and Cintana Education. Furthermore, he has successfully managed major academic and technological projects in the real estate and health sectors.

In 2024, he received the title of Honorary Doctor (Honoris Causa) from Caucasus University, in recognition of his leadership and contributions to higher education.

Position: Vice President of Academic Affairs and Health Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara

Role: Integration and Closing Remarks

Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Dr. Alfonso Petersen Farah, a medical professional with more than 30 years of experience in Internal Medicine. Throughout his distinguished career, he perfectly combined medical practice with administrative, political and academic activities. It should be noted that he served as Secretary of Health in the State of Jalisco on three occasions, collaborating with various administrations and addressing various challenges. Additionally, Dr. Petersen held the position of Technical Secretary of the National Health Council in the Ministry of Health, showing his commitment to national health initiatives.

In public service, he served as Mayor of Guadalajara, chaired the Organizing Committee of the Pan American Games in 2011, and played key roles on the Governing Board of the Jalisciense Institute of Social Assistance. Active in academic and professional communities, Dr. Petersen is a member of several medical schools and academies, demonstrating his dedication to the advancement of health education. In 2019 he held the position of Vice President for Health Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, where he currently serves as Vice President of Academics Affairs and Health Sciences. Dr. Petersen's multifaceted career reflects a commitment to excellence in healthcare, administration and academia, establishing him as a respected and influential figure in the medical community.