Dr. J. Bryce Ortiz Selected for Prestigious Neuroscience Scholars Program Fellowship

J. Bryce Ortiz, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix’s Department of Child Health and the Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, has been awarded the Neuroscience Scholars Program (NSP) Fellowship. This is a highly competitive and prestigious two-year online training program, offered by the Society for Neuroscience, with no more than 18 applicants chosen per year. As an NSP fellow, Dr. Ortiz serves as an ambassador for the college on a national level.

“Receiving the NSP fellowship will position me to achieve my goals of becoming a principal investigator in my own lab at a research university,” Dr. Ortiz said. “It will also help me to become a better mentor and advocate for underrepresented individuals in the sciences.”

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NSP fellows receive a mentoring team consisting of a senior mentor, a peer mentor and a member of the Neuroscience Scholars Program Subcommittee with whom to discuss research, career plans and additional topics. Other NSP fellow benefits include enrichment funds of up to $1,500 to support professional development activities, a structured online training program, and multiple networking opportunities with leaders in the field, peers and alumni.

“The NSP fellowship provides a large circle of networking. I will get to meet past and present NSP fellows, PIs from institutions around the world, and program officers from large agencies at the NIH and from the NSF,” Dr. Ortiz said. “It allows me to attend the Society for Neuroscience conference for the next two years. The conference is the largest neuroscience research conference and a great opportunity to share my research and to receive feedback on it.”

Dr. Ortiz’s current research involves understanding the dynamic relationship between pediatric traumatic brain injuries, sleep and hormones. He works in the lab of Rachel Rowe, PhD, assistant professor with the Translational Neurotrauma Research Program. The Rowe Lab is devoted to investigating the role of inflammation in regulating sleep disturbances, with the goal to improve treatment of patients with brain injuries by reducing the burdens of the injury that are associated with poor quality of life.

“Dr. Ortiz is an asset to the research community on campus and provides experience and leadership to junior scientists,” Dr. Rowe said. “This experience will allow him to share his conceptually innovative project with a national mentoring team. Such exposure will increase his visibility within the neuroscience field and facilitate his transition to faculty.”