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ASN Council Elections

2025 Candidates Standing For Election

The American Society for Neurochemistry is led by a group of visionary, passionate and committed members that serve on the ASN Council for a period of two or more years. Below you will find more information about those standing for election.

PRESIDENT ELECT (1 position)

Karen Chandross

Nomination Statement for Incoming President of the American Society for Neurochemistry 

I am honored to be nominated for the position of incoming President of the American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN). With over 20 years of R&D leadership experience and a longstanding, active membership in ASN, I am committed to advancing our mission to promote neurochemistry, stimulate communication between investigators, and support the education and recruitment of young scientists.

Academic and Professional Background: I received my Ph.D. with distinction in Neuroscience from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1995, under the mentorship of Dr. John Kessler, focusing on peripheral nerve regeneration. My postdoctoral research and senior staff fellowship under Dr. Lynn Hudson at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, delved into Multiple Sclerosis and mechanisms underlying myelin repair and neuroprotection. I began and continue my professional career at Sanofi, a biopharmaceutical company, where I pioneered brain-penetrable therapeutics for remyelination, successfully translating novel targets from the lab to clinical development. After more than 15 years in Research and Development, I became Head of North America R&D External Innovation, where my team spearheads collaborations with universities, clinical research centers, and early startups. Achievements include seed-funding programs (iAwards, iDEA-TECH, iNext) and larger collaborations, including with Stanford Medicine and Mass General Brigham, which bring respective strengths together to translate breakthrough science into solutions that advance the R&D pipeline. Notably, in 2023 I launched the Sanofi R&D Open Innovation Lab at Cambridge Crossing which welcomes external partners to collaborate directly with Sanofi scientists in our laboratories.

Contributions to the ASN: Since receiving the ASN Marian Kies Award in 1996 and becoming a member in 1997, I have actively contributed to ASN through various roles. Mentoring and talent development roles include as a member (1998-2001) followed by Chair of the Marian Kies committee (2001-2003), founding Chair of the Sanofi Travel Award (2014-present), member of the Jordi-Folch Pi committee (2016-present), panelist on early career workshops (2017, 2018) and consistent fundraiser for the ASN Awards (2000-present).  Leadership roles include Treasurer (2009-2014), Council member (2003-07, 2017-21), Program Committee member (2002, 2004, 2006, 2014), Task Force committee member (2001-03), Education and Policy Committee member (1999-2003), and, most recently, Local Host Committee and Public Forum organizer for the 2025 joint ISN-ASN meeting. I have organized sessions and presented at annual meetings, including “Remyelination therapies: What is holding us back and can we fix it?” (C06 2023). Key achievements include establishing a travel award for early post-doctoral fellows, implementing an investment strategy that increased ASN funds by 40%, and raising over $100K for ASN.

Summary: If elected, I will continue to elevate ASN’s role in empowering diverse talent and fostering scientific exchange and collaboration. My extensive experience serving the ASN through various roles since 1998, coupled with my proven ability to forge alliances and unite scientists across organizational, professional, and international boundaries, uniquely positions me to significantly contribute to ASN’s future. Thank you for your consideration!  

SELVA BALTAN

SELVA BALTAN earned her M.D. from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, in 1990 and later completed her Ph.D. in Neurophysiology at McGill University, Montreal, QC, in 1998. Under the guidance of Dr. Kresimir Krnjevic, her graduate research delved into synaptic transmission and the processes of memory and learning formation. During her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Mark Goldberg in the Neurology Department at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, Selva focused her research on elucidating the mechanisms of white matter injury by creating innovative models.

Continuing in this field at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, where she became a faculty member in 2005, she explored aging and the white matter's response to ischemic injury. Her investigation extended into synaptic changes related to cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis models while working within the Neurosciences Department at the Cleveland Clinic. Currently, she serves as an Endowed and Tenured Professor and Vice-Chair of Basic Sciences Research in the Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine department at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR.

Selva is deeply dedicated to the ASN community. She joined the Membership Committee in 2012 and became Chair in 2017, holding that position until 2021. From 2019 to 2023, she served on the ASN Council as well. In addition, Selva was the Program Chair for the 2023 ASN Kentucky Meeting and the Host Chair for the 2024 Portland Meeting. Both events attracted excellent attendance and symbolized the ASN community's reunification following the COVID pandemic. During the Kentucky meeting, Selva introduced the “Chair’s Choice” award for a scientific session and successfully organized fundraising for these awards in 2023 and 2024. Moreover, she participated in the Program Committee for the ISN/ASN 2025 New York Meeting. Selva has been one of the Handling Editors for the ASN Journal since 2021.

She has engaged in and organized multiple sessions and colloquia to showcase her research during meetings. Members of her lab have also actively participated in ASN Meetings, presenting their discoveries through platform presentations and receiving the Sanofi Travel Award in 2023. My experience serving ASN at various levels has been both enjoyable and educational. I am honored to receive this nomination, and if elected, I will work to recruit new members and unite the ASN community to share scientific findings and enhance public awareness. 

SECRETARY ELECT (1 position)

Bonnie Firestein

Bonnie L. Firesteinreceived a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego in 1995. Her thesis advisor was Dr. Paul Insel, and her work focused on the role of purinergic receptors in phospholipid turnover and signaling. Bonnie then worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco under Dr. David Bredt where she studied mechanisms underlying the localization of synaptic protein complexes in hippocampal neurons.

Bonnie began her independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University in 2000 and is now a Full Professor since 2011. She maintains an interdisciplinary research program that focuses on central nervous system injury and mechanisms for recovery, and she has collaborated with bioengineers, physicists, cognitive neuroscientists, pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, and molecular modeling experts.

Bonnie began serving ASN as a Council member in 2023, and she is currently a member of the ASN membership committee and of the 2025 Local Host Committee for the ISN/ASN Joint Meeting. As a Local Host Committee Member, Bonnie is helping to plan and give a talk at the ASN High School Day program. In addition to ASN, Bonnie is a member of ISN, SFN, and Sigma Xi. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Biological and Medical Engineering and of AAAS and has promoted science funding to Congress. She regularly speaks to the public on traumatic brain injury, stroke, and schizophrenia.  “I love serving the ASN community. The scientists are welcoming and enthusiastic, and everyone I have met is very invested in the success of ASN.

Each year, I look forward to attending the annual meeting and hearing about current work from disciplines outside of my own. My membership has given me the opportunity to expand my interdisciplinary network and to share my enthusiasm for neurochemistry and neuroscience with others. If elected, I would be excited to serve as Secretary-Elect to promote ASN to the scientific community.” 


Pablo Paez

Dr. Pablo Paez earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Biochemistry at the University of Buenos Aires in 2005. Dr. Juana Pasquini directed his doctoral research, which focused on the developmental cell biology of myelinating glial cells. Dr. Paez joined Dr. Campagnoni’s laboratory at UCLA in 2006 for continued postdoctoral training in the cell and molecular biology of oligodendrocytes, focused on the determination of the role of the ubiquitous golli proteins encoded by the myelin basic protein gene. He was subsequently appointed to the position of Research Neuroscientist in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA.

In 2013, he joined the Jacob School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he is presently a full Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Paez’s current research focuses on understanding the function of calcium channels in oligodendrocytes and astrocytes and the participation of glial cells in brain iron metabolism. His research has been instrumental in identifying ions channels that connect the electrical activity of neurons with the maturation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells and the participation of oligodendrocytes and astrocytes in brain iron metabolism.

He joined the American Society for Neurochemistry in 2002. Since then, he and his students have presented more than 50 research posters and delivered 8 talks in various sessions. Furthermore, he has organized and chaired two symposiums for the 2021 and 2024 ASN annual meetings. He is currently serving as a member of the Marian Kies Award Committee, and he is an active member of the ASN Neuro editorial board. In addition to ASN, Dr. Paez also has ISN and SFN memberships. “The support of the Society and hit’s members has been crusial for my scientific career and for the professional development of my students. If elected, I would gratefully serve as Secretary-Elected and work hard for the well-being and growth of this inclusive and welcoming scientific society’’.

TREASURER ELECT (1 position)

Ranjan Dutta

Ranjan Dutta is an Associate Professor at the Department of Neuroscience, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, with a joint appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. I also hold faculty appointments at Kent State University and Cleveland State University. 

The focus of our laboratory is to understand the mechanisms underlying progressive disability in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). As we all know, MS is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. It is the major cause of atraumatic neurological disability in young adults in North America and Europe. We specifically are interested in the molecular changes underlying neuronal loss and remyelination failure in progressive MS patients. To increase our understanding of the processes underlying progressive disability, we use postmortem tissues derived from MS brains, animal models of MS, and in vitro systems to compare genetic and epigenetic components associated with cellular response towards demyelination, remyelination, and axonal and neuronal loss in MS.

I have been a standing member of ASN since 2005, attending most of the yearly meetings. During my scientific journey from postdoctoral fellow to associate professor, I enjoyed my association with ASN, which has always been an excellent meeting to meet and discuss science with dedicated researchers and educators. I have been an ASN Young Investigator Travel Award recipient and an invited speaker at ASN meetings. I have also served on 2 separate ASN Scientific Program Committees, organizing and chairing colloquia at the 2024 ASN meeting. I am also honored to be selected as part of the ASN Diversity and Inclusion Committee (DIC) through 2023-2027. If elected, it would be a great honor to serve as the Treasurer-Elect for ASN. 


Shinghua Ding

Shinghua Ding received a PhD in Chemical/Biochemical Engineering from the University of New York at Buffalo in 1999. His graduate research, under the guidance of Dr. Frederich Sachs, was in the area of ion channel biophysics, working on single-channel properties of the P2X receptor ion channel. Shinghua continued research as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Molecular Biophysics at Thomas Jefferson University under the tutelage of Richard Horn, working on the ion biophysics of Na+ and K+ ion channel.

Shinghua moved to the University of Pennsylvania as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate under the tutelage of Philip Haydon, working on the astrocyte function using in vivo 2-photon imaging. Shinghua began his independent academic career in 2007 at the University of Missouri-Columbia in the Department of Biological Engineering (now Chemical and Biomedical Engineering) and Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023 and Full Professor in 2018. Shinghua has been maintaining an active research program in the field of ischemic stroke, studying the role and mechanism of reactive astrocytes in brain repair and functional recovery. Shinghua recently extended his research to the metabolic function/dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.

Shinghua has been an involved ASN member, serving as a member and then Chair of the ASN Membership Committee. Mike was elected to the ASN Council in 2021 and completed a 4-year term in 2025. Shinghua was an involved member of the Local Host Committee of the ill-fated ASN 2020 St. Louis/St. Charles meeting. He has organized and chaired 4 colloquia at ASN meetings and delivered 5 talks in various sessions. In addition to ASN, Shinghua also has ISN, SFN, AHA, ISCBFM, and ISSCR memberships. “ASN is an excellent and unique organization with dedicated researchers, educators, and thinkers who are warm and open to discussion with scientists at all levels. The society has a proud history of attracting enthusiastic and interactive scientists from varied disciplines. I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with ASN and owe many thanks to its members for their welcoming and encouraging manner. If elected, I would gladly serve as Treasurer-Elect and work hard for ASN. 



COUNCIL ELECT (6 seats)

Iryna Ethell

Iryna M. Ethell is a proud Ukrainian American and the first in her family to graduate from college. She began her career at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in 2002 as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Biomedical Sciences, having moved from San Diego. Iryna received her PhD in Biochemistry from Oles Honchar Dnipro National University in 1991 and completed postdoctoral training in molecular neuroscience and mouse genetics at the Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada, the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and the Burnham Institute in La Jolla.

Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of neuronal networks in the brain, aiming to apply this knowledge to develop therapeutics for neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly those associated with autism. This work is funded by grants from the FRAXA Research Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Army Medical Research.

Iryna was also a founding faculty member of the UCR School of Medicine, which admitted its first class in 2013. Since joining UCR, she has been actively involved in biomedical research and graduate education, serving as a Graduate Advisor, Director of the PhD program in Biomedical Sciences, and Chair of the Faculty Executive Committee at the School of Medicine. Currently, Iryna holds the position of Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and is a Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Neuroscience at the UCR School of Medicine. In her role, she oversees the Academic Affairs unit responsible for faculty recruitment, promotions, and professional development programs.

Iryna has had significant involvement with the American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN) at various levels. After joining ASN in 2008, she served on the Membership Committee for several years. As Chair of the Host Committee for the 49th ASN Annual Meeting in 2018, she organized a pre-meeting workshop focused on glial-neuronal interactions, a high school day with short talks and interactive group discussions, as well as fun hands-on activities for high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds. She also coordinated a public forum on Concussions and Traumatic Brain Injuries in Children and Adults, securing support from the local Riverside Chamber of Commerce and the UCR School of Medicine. Since 2018, Iryna has served on the ASN Education and Public Policy Committee and recently took on the role of Chair of the Program and Planning Committee for ASN24 in Portland. Additionally, Iryna is a long-term member of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN), with over 30 years of involvement.

Iryna is a proud mother of two talented children and enjoys warm weather, art, food, Zumba, and hiking with her family. She expresses her passion for the ASN, stating, “I came from a biochemistry background to study brain development and found ASN to be my home. ASN offers a unique experience with high-impact presentations from leaders in the field of neurochemistry as well as promising young investigators. ASN fosters many opportunities for interactions among scientists, regardless of their status in the field. I am confident that ASN will continue to provide high-quality scientific and professional content, and together we will enhance neurochemistry's exposure to early-career scientists in academia and industry, particularly those from underrepresented groups in science and medicine.


Jessica Williams

Jessica L. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute in Cleveland, OH. She also holds faculty appointments at Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, and Cleveland State University. Dr. Williams trained at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, to earn an M.S. and then at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, where she received her Ph.D. in immunology under the advice of Dr. Caroline Whitacre. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, specializing in neuroimmunology and CNS autoimmunity in the laboratory of Dr. Robyn Klein. Dr. Williams’ research focuses on the regional responses of CNS glia to immune stimuli during neuroinflammation, particularly in multiple sclerosis. Dr. Williams has participated in ASN for nearly a decade having been an invited speaker first in 2016. She became a member of ASN in 2019 and has since chaired many symposia. She was also delighted to participate in the Journal of Neurochemistry-sponsored Neuroimmunology symposium at the ASN/ISN conference in Porto, Portugal in 2023. Jessica was invited to serve on the ASN program committee for the 2022 annual meeting and has served on the membership committee since 2021. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue to contribute to the success of ASN as a council member.

Jessica L. Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosciences at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute in Cleveland, OH. She also holds faculty positions at Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, and Cleveland State University. Doctor Williams earned her M.S. from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, and completed her Ph.D. in immunology at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH, under the guidance of Dr. Caroline Whitacre. She then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO, where she specialized in neuroimmunology and CNS autoimmunity in the laboratory of Dr. Robyn Klein.

Dr. Williams’ research focuses on the regional responses of CNS glia to immune stimuli during neuroinflammation, particularly in the context of multiple sclerosis. She has been involved with the American Society for Neuroimmunology (ASN) for nearly a decade, first as an invited speaker in 2016. Dr. Williams became an ASN member in 2019 and has since chaired several symposia. In 2023, she was pleased to participate in the Journal of Neurochemistry-sponsored Neuroimmunology symposium at the ASN/ISN conference in Porto, Portugal.

In addition to her research and speaking engagements, Jessica was invited to serve on the ASN program committee for the 2022 annual meeting and has been a member of the membership committee since 2021. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to further contribute to the success of ASN as a council member.


Kiran Bhaskar

Kiran Bhaskar received his Ph.D. in Neuropathology (from NIMHANS, India) in 2002. Then, he completed his post-doctoral training in Alzheimer’s disease at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA, and the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA, from 2006 to 2012. He then joined the University of New Mexico (UNM) as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Albuquerque, NM, USA. He is a Tenured Professor of molecular genetics, microbiology, and neurology at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He serves as Director of the UNM Brain and Behavioral Health Institute (BBHI) and Co-Director of the recently funded NIH P30 New Mexico Exploratory Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (NM ADRC).

His research focuses on determining the role of neuroinflammation in tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s disease. His group is also developing and testing vaccines for Alzheimer’s disease. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Neuron, Brain, Nature Communications, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Nature Reviews Immunology, and Cell Reports. He has served on NIH and DOD study sections. Dr. Bhaskar’s team is also developing vaccines for Alzheimer’s disease, with primary targets being pathological tau and inflammasomes. His group will soon test their Alzheimer’s disease tau vaccine in clinical trials.

Dr. Bhaskar has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association for the past 13 years. He has been a member of several societies, including the American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN), for the past ~5 years. He chaired the ‘Inflammasomes in CNS’ session at the 52nd Annual ASN Meeting in Roanoke, VA. He also served as a member of the Marian Kies Award committee at ASN from 2019 to 2024. If I become a member of the ASN Council, Dr. Bhaskar will strive to contribute to expanding the ASN mission.


Lisa Julian

Dr. Lisa M Julian is an Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, where her lab uses human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived models to investigate how genetic mutations associated with rare diseases disrupt early brain development. Currently, her lab focuses on the neurochemical mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of the cortical malformation syndrome tuberous sclerosis (TS) and the early onset neurodegenerative disorders Spinocerebellar Ataxia 1 (SCA1) and CLN3 Batten Disease (BD), a severe lysosomal storage condition.

Lisa earned her Ph.D. in 2013 in the field of developmental neuroscience with Dr. Ruth Slack at the University of Ottawa, where she identified non-canonical roles for cell cycle regulators in fine-tuning neural stem cell self-renewal versus differentiation. Lisa then completed postdoctoral training with Dr. William Stanford at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, where she developed hPSC-derived models, using patient-specific cell reprogramming and genome editing, for TS and the related pulmonary neoplastic disorder lymphangiolieomyomatosis (LAM). Here, she discovered that the brain is particularly sensitive to the loss of TSC2, with the development of neural neoplasms in TS beginning at the earliest stage of brain development. Lisa’s research combines genetics, omics analyses, functional metabolics, live cell imaging, stem cell biology, and tissue engineering to uncover neurochemical contributions to developmental brain disorders.        

Lisa’s work has been recognized by early career research awards from the Cancer Research Society (CRS), the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and, most recently, by the American Society for Neurochemistry (ASN) as the 2024 co-awardee of the Jordi-Folch Pi new investigator award. Since attending her first ISN conference, in Porto, Portugal, in 2023, Lisa has been consistently impressed by the supportive and constructive environment offered by the ASN and ISN, particularly for young researchers and new labs, and vowed to become an active and dedicated member.  She has kept this promise by attending all subsequent ASN/ ISN conferences (the ASN meeting in Portland, Oregon, 2024; the upcoming 2025 ISN meeting in New York) and has given a talk and organized a speaker session at each of them. After becoming an ASN member, Lisa immediately felt welcomed and supported by the community, and she recognizes the great value that this support brings to her lab, her students, and the broader neurochemistry research community. If elected to the ASN council, Lisa will strive to pay it forward by ensuring we continue to support cutting-edge research and the talented scientists who are doing the work across North America. Additionally, as a Canadian researcher in a strong position to increase awareness of the ASN to a greater diversity of North American labs, Lisa will also work to increase the geographical strength and diversity of the ASN community.


Marie Eve Tremblay

Marie-Ève (Eve) Tremblay is a Canada Research Chair in Neurobiology of Aging and Cognition and a Full Professor at the Division of Medical Sciences of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, since July 2023. Eve obtained her Ph.D. in Neurological Sciences at Université de Montréal in 2009. She has conducted postdoctoral training with Dr. Ania Majewska in Rochester, New York (2008-10) and with Drs. Giulio Tononi and Chiara Cirelli at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2010-12). Eve started her first independent position at CRCHU de Québec-Université Laval in 2013, where she was Assistant Professor (2013-18) and Associate Professor (2018-20) of Molecular Medicine, as well as a Canada Research Chair in Neuroimmune Plasticity in Health and Therapy, before relocating to the University of Victoria as an Associate Professor at the Division of Medical Sciences (2020-23). Eve’s research investigates the outcomes of various lifestyle and environmental influences on microglia, the immune cells of the brain, to design innovative treatment strategies for neurological disorders along the aging trajectory. Eve is highly collaborative and was ranked among the 1% most highly cited researchers by Clarivate in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. She has also been a College Member of the Royal Society of Canada since 2023.

Eve would be most honoured and delighted to serve on the ASN Council for the 2025-2029 term. She would do her very best to help the ASN members in her leadership abilities, demonstrated by her previous contributions to the microglia field and the various scientific endeavours she has undertaken. Eve strongly advocates equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in her lab and within the broader scientific community. On the ASN Council, she would dedicate her efforts to strengthening ASN’s relationships with both the scientific community and the public. She is dedicated to ASN and has participated in several ISN-ASN, ISN-ESN, and ISN-APSN events. She first spoke in a symposium that Michael (Mike) R. Nichols and Colin K. Combs organized at the 2017 ISN-ESN meeting in Paris, France. She subsequently co-hosted a symposium with Laura Civiero at the 2019 ISN-ASN meeting in Montreal, Canada, a symposium with Hiroaki Wake at the 2022 ISN-APSN meeting in Honolulu (in which she also delivered a talk), and a symposium with her postdoc, Marianela E. Traetta, at the 2024 ISN-ASN meeting in Portland. Over the years, several of her trainees have participated in ISN-ASN, ISN-ESN, and ISN-APSN meetings, and her lab will be represented by one PhD student and one postdoc at the upcoming 2025 ISN-ASN meeting in New York. In addition to supporting these events, Eve published in January 2025 a review article with her trainees in the Journal of Neurochemistry and currently has a research article in press at the journal.


Sarah Ackerman

Sarah D. Ackerman received a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Genomics from Washington University School of Medicine (WashU) in 2016. Under the guidance of Dr. Kelly Monk, her graduate research utilized zebrafish and mouse model systems to define new molecular regulators of myelinating glia in the central nervous system (oligodendrocytes) and peripheral nervous system (Schwann cells).

Indeed, Dr. Ackerman’s first-ever conference presentation was at the 2013 ISN-ASN myelin satellite meeting, where she described her early findings on the role of Gpr56 in oligodendrocyte precursor cell proliferation. Dr. Ackerman then transitioned to the lab of Dr. Chris Doe (HHMI, University of Oregon) for her postdoctoral studies, where she leveraged Drosophila to explore astrocyte regulation of developmental neural plasticity and synaptogenesis.

In 2022, Dr. Ackerman returned to WashU as the first tenure-track Assistant Professor hired into the newly opened Brain Immunology and Glia Center (Department of Pathology and Immunology). Her lab now combines the complementary strengths of zebrafish and Drosophila model systems to test how distinct glial populations, alone and in concert, regulate the development and remodeling of neural circuits across the brain. Dr. Ackerman has been a member of ASN since 2013. She is also a member of SFN, SDB, GSA, and IZFS.

Since joining ASN, she has had the opportunity to present her graduate research at the joint ISN-ASN conference in 2013, her postdoctoral work at the 2023 ASN conference, and will discuss her lab’s independent findings in a symposium entitled “Spatiotemporal dynamics of glutamate and GABA signalling among neurons and astrocytes” at the upcoming 2025 ISN-ASN conference in NYC. In each of these meetings, Dr. Ackerman was struck by the interdisciplinary nature of ASN, sparking partnerships between basic researchers, clinicians, and industry representatives. Moreover, she is continually impressed by the warm and open environment that characterizes the ASN leadership and community. If elected, she looks forward to the opportunity to take her involvement to the “next level” as a member of the ASN Council, helping this community come together and continue the march forward towards scientific progress. 


Tim Hammond

Tim Hammond is a neurobiologist at Sanofi in Cambridge, MA. He works as a lab head in the Neuroscience drug discovery therapeutic area, leading a team that develops new therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.

He obtained his PhD from George Washington University in the lab of Vittorio Gallo, where he studied mechanisms of myelin regeneration. He then completed a postdoc at Boston Children’s Hospital with Beth Stevens, exploring microglia diversity and neuro-immune signaling in developmental and degenerative diseases.

He has been involved with ASN for several years, serving on the YIEE committee and helping to administer the Sanofi Travel Award prize for young investigators. He also won the Jordi Folch Pi awards in 2024, recognizing his contributions to the microglia field. 


Xianlin Han

XIANLIN HAN received his PhD in Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis in 1990. His graduate research, under the guidance of Dr. Richard Gross, a physician scientist, focused on the Membrane Dynamics of Plasmalogen (which is highly enriched in myelin). Xianlin continued his research as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Gross, where he developed lipidomics technologies using mass spectrometry to study various altered lipidomes under path(physio)logical conditions, including post-mortem brains with Alzheimer’s dementia. Xianlin began his academic career in 2000 in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine – St. Louis. He is now a Chair Professor of Medicine at the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He maintains an active interdisciplinary research program in Alzheimer’s disease, focusing on myelin injury and sulfatide deficiency-driven AD pathogenesis.

Xianlin has been an active ASN member since 2006 (the 37th Annual Meeting in Portland) and served as a member of the Jordi Folch-Pi Award Committee from 2010 to 2016. He has organized and chaired four colloquia at ASN/ISN-ASN meetings and delivered ten talks in various sessions at ASN meetings. In addition to ASN, Xianlin has long-standing memberships in ISN, SFN, ACS, and ASMS, and is actively involved in these societies. “ASN is an excellent and unique organization with dedicated researchers, educators, and thinkers that are warm and open to discussion with scientists at all levels. The society has a proud history of attracting enthusiastic and interactive scientists from varied disciplines. I have thoroughly enjoyed my association with ASN and owe many thanks to its members for their welcoming and encouraging manner. If elected, I would gladly serve as a Council member and work hard for ASN to advance and promote the science of neurochemistry and related neuroscience, and to increase and enhance neurochemical knowledge."


Zezong Gu

ZEZONG GU, MD/PhD, is a Tenured Full Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences (PAS) at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine. After obtaining his MD from Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China, he conducted graduate studies in the Cell Biology/Neuroscience Program under the mentorship of Dr. J. Regino Perez-Polo at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, TX. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Stuart A. Lipton's group and subsequently became a Research Assistant Professor at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, CA. In 2007, Zezong was recruited as a founding faculty member for the development of the Center for Translational Neuroscience in the Department of PAS at the University of Missouri. Over the years, he has advanced through the ranks by maintaining an active interdisciplinary research program that studies risk factors and molecular mechanisms related to traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, and aging.

Since his graduate studies, he has been a member of ISN/ASN, thoroughly enjoying his involvement with the Society and becoming actively engaged in various activities. Initially, he participated in organizing the ASN Public Forum Theme: HOPE on Alzheimer’s Disease at the ASN meeting in 2011 in St. Louis, MO. He later became a member of the ASN Local Organizing Committee for the 2020 Annual Meeting in St. Louis/St. Charles, which was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. Zezong was also involved in organizing the 2009 Biennial ISN-APSN Satellite Conference in Taipei, Taiwan, a symposium at the 2013 ISN-ASN Biennial Joint Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, and the 2014 ISN-APSN Satellite Symposium in Singapore. As the ASN 2026 Annual Meeting returns to Missouri to be held in St. Charles, Zezong will serve on the Local Host Committee. In addition to ASN activities, Zezong has actively engaged with the neuroscience community by serving in various positions within professional societies, including secretary, president-elect, president, and member of the Board of Directors/Councils. “It would be a great honor for me to serve the ASN society by fostering interactions among members and promoting the advancement of this vital discipline in neuroscience. If elected, I will leverage my organizational and administrative skills, along with my experience serving other societies, to serve as a dedicated and humble Council member. I aim to work closely with fellow Council members to advance neurochemistry and related neurosciences, enhance communication among investigators, support the education and recruitment of young investigators, and elevate the visibility of ASN within the scientific community and the public.” 



How To Vote

Instructions and links for voting will be emailed directly to members in good standing, eligible to vote on June 17, 2025. If you did not receive your email or need assistance please contact Heather Yip at asnmanager@asneurochem.org.

Election Results Announced

Will be announced at the Business Meeting on August 21st, 2025 at the
ASN Annual Business meeting in New York City, USA.

Questions or Comments

  • Trouble with the elections form, contact Heather Yip at 
  • Questions about election process, contact Donna Osterhout, ASN Secretary at 
OsterhoD@upstate.edu

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