Huge thanks to all my colleagues for your generous contributions! The Eagles Autism Challenge 5K was a blast! It was amazing to end the run at the stadium. And it’s not too late to donate to the foundation that does so much for autism research and accommodations through the link below!

Please support me in the 5K to benefit the Philadelphia Eagles Autism Foundation and help me reach my goal! The Eagles Foundation supports neuroscience research and sets up wonderful initiatives around Philly to help children like my son.
fundraisers.eaglesautismfoundation.org/maria-geffen

Xiaomao defending.

Celebrating two PhD defenses this week: Congrats, Dr. Ding and Dr. Collina! You both did a terrific job and I feel very grateful for the privilege of serving as your mentor!

If you, like me, have spent some time squinting at the leaked NIH reorganization plan, squint no more! Here is a summary of the proposed reorganization courtesy of chatGPT.
www.science.org/do/10.1126/s...

Please join us for the trainee session of the EARS seminar series on Tuesday April 8 at 1 pm ET. www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...

Professional development EARS seminar tomorrow (Tuesday March 11 at 1pm ET). We invited three auditory experts to compare their experiences within and outside academia and discuss their career trajectories. www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...

Got a little break this morning from an onslaught of disappointing news to celebrate the Eagles win with great views of the parade from my husband’s office! Philly can be amazing! Go birds! 🦅🦅

Dissecting the function of the piriform-to-auditory cortical projection, we found that it is necessary for odor-driven enhancement of sound responses, but not suppression. (4/5)

Next, we recorded neuronal activity in the auditory cortex in awake mice in response to sounds and odors and found that odors upregulate sound responses in some neurons and downregulate sound responses in other neurons. (3/5)

We first identified anatomically a direct projection from the piriform cortex to the auditory cortex. (2/5)

We experience the world through a multitude of senses, and yet most studies of sensory perception focus on one sensory modality at a time. Our paper on how odors affect sound processing in now published in Journal of Neuroscience (1/5). www.jneurosci.org/content/44/4...

Attention auditory neuroscientists! Please join us for the E.A.R.S. trainee session on Tuesday Dec. 17 at 1 pm ET. www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...
The seminar will be hosted on Zoom. pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/96672201477

Join our list: groups.google.com/g/ears202.

Feeling very productive! I hope these will make it to DC tomorrow in one piece 😋

Happy Friendsgiving from the Geffen Lab!

Tune in to the EARS seminar tomorrow (11/19) with Dr Kasia Bieszczad and Dr. Andrea Hasenstaub at 1 pm ET to learns about plasticity in the auditory system from molecules to network dynamics: pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/96672201477

www.med.upenn.edu/pennhearing/...

EARS seminars resume today with Tobias Teichert and Angeles Salles at 1 pm ET pennmedicine.zoom.us/j/96672201477

We had a great time today at the CNI cni.upenn.edu open house. Great to learn about what our colleagues next door have been up to!

Fun Ethiopian dinner today with the lab saying a bittersweet goodbye to Janaki and a temporary one to Kath!