From the left:

Deyshawn Thomas, Neeta Y. Yousaf,Tizita Z. Zeleke, Henock Tsegaye

Poster Session, SFN, Washington D.C. November 2011

"The enhancement of the neuroprotective properties of silymarin and silibinin by addition of phosphatidylcholine and various bioantioxidants to neurotoxic insult-inducing Parkinson's Disease in neuroblastoma cells in vitro"

In November 2011, I had the honor to present research at the annual convention of Society for Neuroscience along with other peers. This work conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Bettica was showcased in this conference in Washington D.C., attended by 30,000 students, researchers, scientists from around the globe. It was an immense learning opportunity which made us feel proud and honored as we were among a handful of undergraduate presenters at this convention- most of the audience being Ph.Ds and Post-Docs. It was quite amusing as everyone automatically assumed that we were Post-Docs too; I am definitely not going to complain for being called Dr. Yousaf! :)

From the left:

B-35 Rat neuroblastoma cells,

SK-N-SH Human neuroblastoma cells

This project involved studying if enhanced silymarin in a phytosome form has improved neuroprotection in rat and human neuroblsatoma cells in comparison to regular silymarin. In addition various combination studies were performed to examine synergistic or additive action.