An online game that lets citizen scientists help map the brain connections involved in vision is the subject of one of three public presentations by leading neuroscience experts being held April 16 and 17 to celebrate University of Iowa Health Sciences Research Week.

H. Sebastian Seung, Ph.D., a professor of computational neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present, “Mapping the retinal connectome with EyeWire, an online community of ‘citizen scientists,’” at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at the Coralville Marriott. The presentation is free and open to the public, but due to space limitations, individuals interested in attending must RSVP to sonya-housholder@uiowa.edu.

Health Sciences Research Week is sponsored by the UI Carver College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Public Health, Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science and the Iowa City VA Health Care System. The theme of this year’s event is “Molecules and Mental Illness." In addition to Seung's talk, the Carver College of Medicine will host two additional public presentations on April 16 and 17:

—Kenneth Kendler, M.D., of Virginia Commonwealth University, an expert in genetics of psychiatry and substance abuse disorders, will discuss “New Directions in the Genetic Epidemiology of Psychiatric Disorders," at noon on Tuesday, April 16, in the Prem Sahai Auditorium (Room 1110 of the Medical Education and Research Facility (MERF)).

—Andrew Feinberg, M.D., of John Hopkins University, who studies the epigenetic basis of normal development and disease, including cancer, aging, and neuropsychiatric illness, will talk about “The Epigenetic Basis of Common Human Disease," at noon on Wednesday, April 17, in the Prem Sahai Auditorium (1110 MERF ).

Both presentations will be followed by poster sessions featuring the research of graduate, medical, and PharmD students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff. Poster sessions will run from 1 to 4 p.m. each day in the in the MERF Atrium.

For more information about 2013 Health Science Research Week and the schedule of events, visit www.medicine.uiowa.edu/researchweek/.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Sonya Housholder at sonya-housholder@uiowa.edu .