Dr. Nicholas Everett completed his Ph.D. in under Prof Jennifer Cornish at Macquarie University, Australia, where he investigated the behavioural and neurobiological effects of the neuropeptide oxytocin as a therapy for methamphetamine addiction. He is now a Post-Doctoral researcher in the lab of A/Prof Michael Bowen at the University of Sydney, where he is researching the neurobiology of opioid withdrawal; developing withdrawal therapies; and identifying the neural mechanisms by which these therapies work. He is also involved in projects investigating the oxytocin system in sleep disturbances, and the use of cannabidiol as an opioid withdrawal therapy, and machine-learning analysis of withdrawal symptoms. His research uses rodent models of drug addiction, primarily intravenous drug self-administration in conjunction with neurobiological techniques including immunofluorescence, microinjections, fibre photometry, and DREADDs. A recent emphasis has been in vivo recording of neural substrates involved in addiction and withdrawal, to evaluate the efficacy of novel addiction therapies at the circuit level.

Dr. Anand Gururajan is a Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney. He obtained his degree in Pharmacy at the University of South Australia in 2006 followed by a PhD in Neuropharmacology at Monash University in 2008. His doctoral research was focused on investigating the antipsychotic potential of cannabidiol in preclinical models of aspects of schizophrenia. From 2011 to 2013, he gained further experience as a postdoctoral researcher at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health where he disentangled the complex interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors associated with schizophrenia and depression. In 2015, Anand moved to University College Cork where he carried out a clinical research project to identify diagnostic biomarkers of depression. In the following year he was awarded the Marie-Curie Individual Actions Research fellowship by the EU to investigate the central and peripheral basis of resilience to chronic stress. In 2018, Anand was awarded the University of Sydney Research Fellowship to develop a research program focused on the epigenetics of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ethics and Diversity Committee 

Susan Sangha, Chair, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA 2022 
Janine Kwapis,   Co-Chair, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA, 2023
Stephen Kent, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia 2022
Gregory Carr, Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD, USA 2022
Nicholas Everett, University of Sydney, Marsfield, Australia 2023
Nii Addy, Membership Committee Liason, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA  2023
Anand Gururajan, University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia 2023
Carlos Bolanos Guzman, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA 2024
Christian Bravo-Rivera, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, PR 2024
Martin Job, Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA 2024

The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society is proud to announce the commencement of a new virtual, global seminar series for early career researchers, “IBNS (is) Staying Connected.” We will be kicking off this series with a session hosted by Dr. Nicholas Everett (Trainee Representative to Council) and Dr. Anand Gururajan (Ethics and Diversity Committee member) on Thursday December 9, 2021 (5pm-6:15pm EST) which will feature 2 speakers who are either late-stage PhD students or postdoctoral researchers. Each speaker will be given 20 minutes to present their research, followed by 5 minutes of introspection about their own methods, data, and future directions, and finished off with a 5-10 minute Q&A. This will provide the selected ECRs with a unique opportunity to engage with the IBNS membership. If you’re interested in being one of the two speakers, please submit a 200-word abstract of your research and a 150-word diversity statement November 15, 2021 (11:59pm EST) using the application link below. For our inaugural seminar, you will need to be an IBNS member in order to apply.

Your abstract should clearly articulate your research question and approach, the interpretation of your findings and their implications, the innovativeness and impact of these findings, and should incorporate behavior.

For the diversity statement, you should describe ways in which you have made efforts or plan to make future efforts to promote diversity and inclusion, with regards to culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, national origin, physical or mental difference, politics, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and/or subculture, as described in the IBNS Diversity Statement. A statement evaluated as Outstanding would include specific examples (e.g. partnering organizations, collaborators, and/or applicant led-initiatives/programs) of things that have been done or being planned, as well as a clear explanation how these examples promote diversity and inclusion within the field of behavioral neuroscience.

If you cannot apply in time for 15th November, don't stress! In the lead up to the 2022 IBNS Conference (7-11 June, 2022), IBNS is Staying Connected will host 6x fortnightly seminars, giving 12 speakers this same opportunity. The call for abstracts for these seminars will be announced in early 2022, so keep an eye out for it!