University of Iowa graduate students Eric Emmons and Benton Purnell won first- and second-place, respectively, in the 2017 Pappajohn Biomedical Institute Graduate Student Best Paper Competition.

All graduate students working in PBI labs were eligible to enter papers published during 2017. Finalists were invited to present their work to members of PBI labs on Monday, March 5. Postdoctoral associates in PBI labs evaluated the presentations. Emmons and Purnell received the highest rankings and were named the contest winners, each receiving a grant for travel to professional meetings.

Both are students in the UI Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience.

Emmons works with mentor Kumar Narayanan, MD, PhD., assistant professor of neurology. His paper was “Rodent Medial Frontal Control of Temporal Processing in the Dorsomedial Striatum,” from the Sept. 6, 2017 Journal of Neuroscience.

Purnell works with mentor Gordon Buchanan, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology. His paper was “Time-of-day influences on respiratory sequelae following maximal electroshock-induced seizures in mice,” from the Aug. 9, 2017 Journal of Neurophysiology.

Photo: Purnell, left; Emmons, right

Original Article: CCOM