Doctoral Graduate Students
Michael Bahiru
B.S. Psychology/Neuroscience and French Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2018
Liz Beech
B.S. Biology, University of Kansas, 2012
Research interests: The function, development, and evolution of neural circuits underlying cognition
Advisor: Gerald B. Downes
Anusha Bharadwaj
Research interests: Aging, Alzheimer's disease. Interested in exploring the biological underpinnings of sex differences in the onset and neuropathological manifestation of Alzheimer's disease.
Advisor: Agnes Lacreuse, Elena Vazey
Annabelle Flores Bonilla
B.S. Biology, Pontifical Catholic Univ of Puerto Rico, 2019
Research interests: Neuronal maladaptive reward and stress mechanisms implicated in addiction. Interested in sex differences, glial cell interactions, and development of brain structures involved in decision-making processes.
Advisor: Heather N. Richardson
Natalie Bourdon
B.A. Neuroscience, Smith College, 2019
Research interests: Neuroendocrinology
Advisor: Joseph Bergan
Jennifer Christensen
Research interests: Neuroendocrinology of social behavior
Advisor: Kirby Deater-Deckard
Felipe Cini
B.S. Biology, Federal University of Parana, Brazil,
2016
M.S. Psychobiology, Federal University of Rio
Grande do Norte, Brazil, 2020
Research interests: Song learning, neuroendocrinology
Advisor: Luke Remage–Healey
Erika Correll
B.A. Neuroscience, Smith College, 2016
Research interests: Inhibitory mechanisms and serotonergic neurotransmission involved in sensorimotor gating; sensorimotor gating in the context of psychiatric illness and substance use disorders
Advisor: Karine Fénelon
Hannah Cournoyer
B.S. Neuroscience, Bay Path University, 2020
Research interests: Sex differences and sex hormones in the brain
Advisor: Agnes Lacreuse
Natasha M. de la Rosa-Rivera
Pronouns: she/her
B.S. Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences, University of Houston, 2015
Research interests: Visual attention and perception in humans
Advisor: Luke Remage–Healey
Melise Edwards
B.S. Biology and French, Appalachian State, 2013
Research interests: Investigating sex differences in age-related cognitive decline and the role of estrogens in synaptic homeostasis.
Advisor: Agnes Lacreuse, Courtney C. Babbitt
Brennan Falcy
B.S. Neuroscience, UCLA, 2018
Research interests: I study metabolism at the organismal and cellular level, and specifically how it is affected by circadian rhythms and endocannabinoid signaling
Advisor: Ilia Karatsoreos
Wanyun Huang
B.S. Medicine (MD Equivalent), Zhejiang University, China, June 2017
Research interests: Neurological/psychiatric disorders
Advisor: Karine Fénelon
Julia LaValley
Pronouns: she/her
B.A. Psychological Science, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2016
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2016
Research interests: Neural regeneration and motor control in animals with muscular hydrostats
Advisor: Josef Trapani
Miriam Munoz
Pronouns: she/her/ella
B.A. Psychology and Spanish, San Diego State University, 2014.
Research interests: The neural mechanism in hearing and perceptual adaptation to a talker with a speech disorder
Advisor: Jennifer E. Mack
Eunsol Noh
Pronouns: she/her
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, 2016
M.S. Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, 2021
Spencer (SomNeuroLab) Lab
Research interests: Neural signal analysis
Advisor: Rebecca Spencer
Kate Otter
Pronouns: sher/her
B.S. Zoology with a minor in Mathematical Biology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, 2018
Research interests: Predator-prey interactions and risky decision-making
Advisor: Paul S. Katz
Greg L. Pearson
B.A. Exercise Science, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
M.S. Biology, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Research interests: Using the circadian clock as a tool to understand neuroimmune responses to pathogens.
Advisor: Ilia Karatsoreos
Phoenix Quinlan
B.S. Neuroscience, The Ohio State University 2017
Katz Lab
Research interests: Invertebrate neuroethology
Advisor: Paul S. Katz
Shrishti Ramaiah
B.A. Psychology, minor in Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Research interests: Decision making, specifically addiction models of decision making in rodents. My work so far has focused on targeted drug manipulations to theoretically based cortical subregions to understand the neurobiological and behavioral underpinnings of risky decision making.
Advisor: David E. Moorman, Elena Vazey
Ramiro Eduardo Rea Reyes
B.S. Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, México, 2010-2014
Kwak Lab
Research interests: Decision making, heuristic use development
Advisor: Youngbin Kwak
Emily Robinson
Research interests: I study maternal behavior via the cellular activity in the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus.
Advisor: Mariana Pereira
Rebecca Sebastian
B.S. Biomedical Sciences, Arizona State University, 2017
M.S., Biology, Arizona State University, 2019
Pak Lab
Research interests: Neurodevelopment, specifically the biochemical and cellular mechanisms that govern the functions of a developing cerebral cortex that contribute to the understanding of neuropsychiatric diseases
Advisor: ChangHui Pak
Francesca Walsh
B.S. Economics, Neurobiology, Economic Decision-Making, and Social Systems, UMass Amherst, May 2018
M.S. Neuroscience and Behavior, UMass Amherst, Sept. 2019
Lab Website
Research interests: Neural mechanisms underpinning monetary choices and the role of risk and social pressure in economic decision-making
Advisor: Youngbin Kwak
Jennifer Jiexin Wang
B.S. Biology, minor in Chemistry, Brandeis University, 2015
Karatsoreos Lab
Research interests: Desynchronization of circadian rhythms and molecular mechanisms contributing to our circadian clocks
Advisor: Ilia Karatsoreos
