LAFAYETTE TODAY
LEARNing with Alumni
 | | Sylvina Mullins ’07 researched the effects of prenatal exposure to Oxycontin under the direction of Lisa Schrott ’85 at Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center. |
“I had wonderful mentors throughout my research career, so it’s wonderful to give back to the scientific community that nurtured me by mentoring a new generation of researchers,” says Lisa Schrott ’85.
For three summers she has collaborated with Lafayette students in research at Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, where she’s an assistant professor of pharmacology. The LEARN (Lafayette Alumni Research Network) program makes it possible
for neuroscience students to spend
8 to 10 weeks in the labs of alums who are leading researchers in their field. This year Schott and Sylvina Mullins ’07 probed the effects of prenatal exposure to the narcotic analgesic Oxycontin on learning and memory later in life.
“As an alumna, it’s wonderful to mentor Lafayette students. They are bright, motivated, enthusiastic, and willing to jump in,” Schrott says. And there’s a bonus: “Living in northwest Louisiana, this gives me the opportunity to stay in touch with Lafayette and learn about new programs and campus growth.”
A LEARN mentor since the program started in 2002, Jay Weiss ’62, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University’s School of Medicine, guided Danielle Sliva ’07 in research on the neurochemical
basis of mental illness this summer.
“It’s very gratifying to see students applying themselves to research problems and really getting involved
in the process,” he says.
“The program takes advantage of a much wider range of resources than would be available just at Lafayette,” says James Simmons ’65, professor of neuroscience at Brown University, where he studies how bats’ sonar works. “I like this approach. I wish it had been available when I was at Lafayette.”
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