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Having a Brain Blast at Sevier Park!

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

(EBRL’s table setup for Brain Blast 2026)

Looking to learn more about brains and neuroscience in a kid-friendly environment? Well, we’re happy to teach you! Every March, Vanderbilt Brain Institute neuroscientists gather together to teach adults and kids alike all about neuroscience and their research in honor of Brain Awareness Month. Dozens of different labs and researchers all gather together for an event we call Brain Blast each March. The event is geared toward families and kids, aiming to teach people more about their very own brains! Brain Blast 2026 was held on Saturday, March 21st at Sevier Park in Nashville. Lab members had a load of fun teaching our visitors throughout the afternoon about the science that we do here in the lab, as well as played games, did tongue twisters, and gave away tons of free items! We were even visited by some record breakers. (If you went by our table, you know what we’re talking about.) 

(Labs setting up for Brain Blast 2026, hosted in the community center at Sevier Park)

Brain Blast is always a grand opportunity to learn more about neuroscience in a way that’s easy to understand. (It’s also a great way to get some free swag!) Spend a Saturday afternoon hanging out with neuroscientists, see real brains, ask all those burning brain questions you have, and even meet some creepy critters!

(You could find out what this giant cockroach on a treadmill has to do with neuroscience!)

(You could even get a temporary tattoo of a neuron painted live on your arm!)

(EBRL members from left to right: Micah D’Archangel, Kellam Schmudde, Dr. Amanda Martinez-Lincoln, Natalie Huerta, and Dr. Tin Nguyen)

EBRL is proud to participate in Brain Blast each year. It’s an event that’s just as fun for us as it is for the visitors we get throughout the day. If you happened to miss us this year, don’t worry! Brain Blast is usually hosted in late March every year, so we’ll be sure to see you next year! If you’d like to find out more about Brain Blast, please check out the VBI website here. Until next time!

Postdoctoral Fellows and Faculty Celebrated at Graduate Education Honors Banquet

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

(Awardees of the Postdoctoral Awards Ceremony 2026)

On March 19th, Vanderbilt held their annual Graduate School banquet and held their Postdoctoral Awards Ceremony simultaneously, bringing the two events together for the first time. Yearly this awards ceremony is held to honor those within the Vanderbilt community that have demonstrated exceptional leadership, excellence in academics, innovation, and mentorship. This year, our lab is overjoyed to report that multiple members of our lab were given distinctions that highlight their dedication to innovation in research.

 

(Dr. Cutting accepting her award)

Dr. Laurie Cutting was awarded the Excellence in Postdoctoral Mentoring Award; an award that the graduate school describes: “The recipient must demonstrate a willingness to share expertise and advice; services to the community at large, including other mentoring activities; and scholarship within the mentor’s own career, including publications, awards, presentations and honors.”

 

(Dr. Garon-Bissonnette accepting her award)

Dr. Julia Garon-Bissonnette was awarded the Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year award, an award established to honor a postdoctoral scholar who exemplifies excellence across research, leadership and science.

 

(Dr. Nguyen accepting his award)

Dr. Tin Nguyen was awarded the Postdoctoral Excellence in Innovation Award; an award the graduate school describes: “…honors postdoctoral scholars who demonstrate exceptional creativity, ingenuity and forward-thinking mindsets in their research.”

 

(Awardees of the Postdoctoral Awards Ceremony 2026)

Our lab is very proud of each of our awardees, and we’re glad that their continued hard work in academia is being acknowledged. If you’d like to learn more about the awards, other awardees, or the event, please check out the coverage of the event by clicking here.

 

(From left to right: Dr. Julia Garon-Bissonnette, Dr. Amanda Martinez-Lincoln, Dr. Sarah Hughes-Berheim, Dr. Laurie Cutting, Emily Harriott, Dr. Tin Nguyen)

 

 

 

Andrea Burgess Defends Her Dissertation

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

(Andrea Burgess in front of her slides.)

EBRL is overjoyed to report that the lab’s own PhD student Andrea Burgess has successfully defended her doctoral dissertation! On March 4th, 2026, she presented her dissertation titled: “How the brain processes emotional salience in text: Investigating lexical arousal in discourse processing” to a lively crowd of a mix of the public, Vanderbilt staff, and fellow students. Defending your dissertation is an incredibly important milestone in the life of a PhD student, and marks the official point where a PhD student crosses the final hurtle for receiving their PhD! We here at the lab are very proud of Dr. Burgess and are looking forward to her continued academic success!

 

(Andrea Burgess with members of her family.)

(Cookies from her Dissertation Defense after party) 

Laurie Cutting Selected as an 2026 AERA Exemplary Scholar

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

The American Educational Research Association has announced their selections for the 2026 AERA Exemplary Scholars, one of which being Vanderbilt’s (and EBRL’s) own Dr. Laurie Cutting. AERA is a community of education researchers dedicated to advancing knowledge about education and promoting the usage of research to improve education for the common good. The AERA Fellows Program honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to, and excellence in, education research. They will be inducted during a ceremony at the 2026 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles on April 9.

 

To find out more about the selection, see AERA’s own press release here.

Vanderbilt HBCD Study Team at Nashville Recovery Fest

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

Our team on the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study was proud to be a part of the 2025 RecoveryFest Nashville at East Park on September 27, 2025. We loved meeting members from the community at our booth – especially moms, babies and some special pups – and also connecting with folks from other local support agencies.
We spread the word that we’re recruiting pregnant moms to follow them and their babies from pregnancy through early childhood. Our long-term goal is to better understand how child development is affected by exposure to social and environmental experiences and conditions.

Learn more about the HBCD study (here): https://hbcdstudy.org/

Connect with RecoveryFest Nashville (here): https://www.recoveryfestnashville.org/

EBRL at Flux 2025 Dublin, Ireland

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

EBRL gives a warm wave from the often rainy land of Ireland. Earlier this month the annual Flux conference was held in the lovely Dublin, Ireland, and EBRL made the trip over the pond to attend. Flux is a society for developmental cognitive neuroscience; “dedicated to advancing the understanding for human brain development by serving as a forum for professional and student scientists, physicians, and educators.” as they say on their website. Every year the lab tries to send PhD students and Post-docs alike to present our ongoing research and connect with other scientists in the same field. If you’d like to learn more, you can find out more about the conference here.

EBRL at SSSR Conference 2025

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

It’s once again conference season here at EBRL and once again members of the lab attended the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading (SSSR) Conference to share our research and interact with our fellow researchers on the field of reading study. Each year representatives of the lab go to learn from fellow scientists and share our own scientific findings in the same area of study. This years conference was held in the lovely Calgary, Canada, a location that our lab members thoroughly enjoyed exploring once the conference was done. If you’d like to learn more about the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, you can go to their website here! You can even sign up to be a part of next year’s conference on July 15th – July 18th in Rotterdam, Netherlands.


Dr. Laurie Cutting Awarded SEC Faculty Achievement Award

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

Laurie Cutting in her lab.
Photo: Harrison McClary/Vanderbilt University

EBRL is proud to report that Dr. Laurie Cutting has been named the 2025 SEC Faculty Achievement Award winner. The annual award honors faculty members from across all the 16 SEC universities for dedication to advancing academic excellence through teaching, innovation, and service.

Learn more about the award by clicking this link.

Natalie Huerta Receives Peabody Special Education Department Award

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

EBRL’s Natalie Huerta is a recipient of the 2025 Robert Gaylord-Ross Award, a Peabody Special Education Department award for excellence in scholarly writing by a doctoral student. We’re happy to see her being recognized for her hard work, particularly for her scholarly writing! The award was established in 1995 in memory of Dr. Robert Gaylord-Ross an outstanding researcher in the Department of Special Education. It’s presented annually to a doctoral student in the Graduate School or Peabody College who is the sole or fist author of the most distinguished scholarly paper.

EBRL at Brain Blast 2025

by Education Brian Generic 0 Comments

We had a lot of fun meeting with future scientists and students at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute’s annual Brain Blast event. Every year at the Nashville Public Library, the VBI puts on a free event for students of all ages to come and learn about real brain science from scientists in the field. This year our lab participated once again and taught people about reading in the brain. We got to meet so many people and get to teach them about how different parts of the brain all work together during reading. If you stopped by our booth, you might have got a free bookmark, got to play some games with us, or have even got a little book buddy for you to read to! If you’re interested in learning more about Brain Blast and when it’ll be next year, check out the Vanderbilt Brain Institute’s website here! https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/brain-institute/brain-blast/
We might even see you there next year.