The 27th annual Neuroscience Day is hosted by the Louisville Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. Scheduled events include DataBlitz, a poster competition, seminars highlighting the exciting research being done here at the University of Louisville, announcement of the Outstanding Trainee Award.

Michael Caterina, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Biological Chemistry, at the Center for Sensory Biology, Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, will serve as plenary speaker. Caterina’s laboratory studies the mechanisms for detecting, transmitting and perceiving thermal sensations and pain. Using molecular, genetic and behavioral approaches, his group has established the role of mammalian Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of channels in thermosensation. These channels, first identified by Caterina when he was a postdoctoral fellow, are responsible for the pungency of hot peppers, painful heat, as well as the cooling sensation of menthol. Currently his lab is elucidating the roles of temperature-gated TRP channels in non-neuronal cells such as skin keratinocytes, and a novel form of activitydependent plasticity in TRP channel signaling.