Doctoral Graduate Students
Wayne Barnaby
B.S. degree in Biology from Westfield State College, May 2017
Advisor: Gerald B. Downes
Downes Lab
Research Interests: The structure and function of synaptic and extrasynaptic receptors that regulate motor function and locomotion. Currently targeting GABA receptor subunits with CRISPR gene editing in order to characterize their role in various forms of epilepsy.
Jessica Caballero-Feliciano
B.A., Psychology, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, 2014
Advisor: David E. Moorman
Moorman Lab
Research Interests: Neurobiological and anatomical mechanisms underlying response execution and inhibition, decision making and working memory.
Jennifer Christensen
Smith College
Advisor: Annaliese Beery
Beery Lab
Research Interests: Neuroendocrinology of social behavior
Erika Correll
B.A. in Neuroscience, Smith College, 2016
Advisor: Karine Fenelon
Research Interests: I am interested in the role of serotonin and inhibitory transmission in sensory gating mechanisms. I am particularly curious as to how these mechanisms may differ in schizophrenic and autistic brains.
Emma Dauster
B.S., Biology, Case Western Reserve University, May 2017
Advisor: Elena Vazey
Vazey Lab
Research Interests: Sex differences in neural circuits regulating attention, specifically through norepinephrine release from the locus coeruleus. Using DREADD chemogenetics to create an ADHD model
Natasha De La Rosa
B.S., Biochemical and Biophysical Sciences, University of Houston, 2015
Advisor: Rosie Cowell
Research Interests: Visual attention and perception in humans
Joseph Dwyer
B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Umass Amherst 2017 and B.S., Psychological and Brain Sciences, Umass Amherst 2017
Advisor: Joseph Bergan
Bergan Lab
Research Interests: Determining how memories are formed in the brain on a circuit level
Melise Edwards
Research Interests: I'm interested in studying sex hormones, cognition and sex differences in aging.
Adaeze Egwuatu
B.S. Psychology, University of Florida, December 2011
Advisor: Jennifer McDermott
McDermott Lab
Research Interests: The neural mechanisms underlying self-regulation in typical and atypical populations throughout development
Pearson L. Gregory
Advisor: Ilia Karatsoreos
Karatsoreos Lab Website
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.
John Hernandez
B.S. Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, May 2010
M.S. Biology, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, August 2012
Advisor: David E. Moorman
Moorman Lab
Research Interests: Behavioral, Electrophysiological, and Molecular mechanisms underlying sexually dimorphic behavior
Wanyun Huang
B.S. Medicine (MD Equivalent), Zhejiang University, China, June 2017
Rotations with Agnes Lacreuse, Karine Fenelon, Luke Remage-Healey
Research Interests: Neurological/psychiatric disorders
Len Jacob
B.S. Biology, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Brazil, 2013
Advisor: David E. Huber
Huber Lab
Research Interests: Vision and memory
Kyle Kainec
BS, Neuroscience, The Ohio State University 2017
Advisor: Rebecca Spencer
Spencer Lab
Research Interests: I am currently using fMRI and EEG to investigate the effects of sleep on procedural memory consolidation, and how this process changes across normal healthy aging
Beata Kaminska-Kordowska
B.S. in Developmental Neuropsychology, B.A. in Spanish Communication. University of Connecticut, May 2014
Advisor: David E. Moorman
Moorman Lab
Research Interests: The role of appetitive and aversive conditioning in the neural mechanisms of learning
Julia LaValley
Bachelor of Arts in Psychological Science (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2016) and Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2016)
Advisor: Paul Katz
Research Interests: I am interested in the unique behavior of animals and the neural circuitry that lets animals do the amazing things that they do.
Nicole Lee
B.A., Biology & English, Cornell University, May 2015
Advisor: Annaliese Beery
Beery Lab
Research Interests: Neuroendocrinology, social behavior, neuropeptides
Matheus Macedo-Lima
B.S. Biology, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil, October 2013
Advisor: Luke Remage–Healey
Remage-Healey Lab
Research Interests: Evolutionary neurobiology/endocrinology, song learning and songbird development
Miriam Munoz
Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2014-2015.
B.A. in Psychology and Spanish, San DIego State University, 2014.
Advisor: Lisa Sanders
Sanders Lab
Research Interests:
Kate Otter
B.S. in Zoology with a minor in Mathematical Biology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, 2018
Advisor: Paul Katz
Research Interests: Computational and evolutionary neuroscience with sea slugs
Phoenix Quinlan
B.S., Neuroscience, The Ohio State University 2017
Advisor: Paul S. Katz
Katz Lab
Research Interests: Invertebrate neuroethology
Ramiro Eduardo Rea Reyes
B.S., Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, México, 2010-2014
Advisor: Youngbin Kwak
Kwak Lab
Research Interests: Decision making, heuristic use development
Sumire Dorothy Sato
B.S. Human Physiology, Boston University, May 2012
D.P.T., Physical Therapy, Emory University School of Medicine, May 2016
Advisor: Julia T. Choi
Choi Lab
Research Interests: Motor learning, motor control
Rebecca Sebastian
B.S., Biomedical Sciences (2017) and M.S., Biology (2019) - Arizona State University
Advisor: ChangHui Pak
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
Andrea Silva-Gotay
B.S. Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras, 2014
Advisor: Heather N. Richardson
Richardson Lab
Research Interests: I am interested in adolescent brain development and how drugs of abuse, especially alcohol, can interfere with the normal course of myelination during this period.
Benjamin Slay
B.S. Clinical Research, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2018
Advisor: Elena Vazey
Research Interests: How endogenous and exogenous psychoactive chemicals modulate the nervous system on molecular and behavior levels
Francesca Walsh
B.S. in Economics, Neurobiology, Economic Decision-Making, and Social Systems, UMass Amherst, May 2018
M.S. Neuroscience and Behavior, UMass Amherst, Sept. 2019
Advisor: Youngbin Kwak
Lab Website
Research Interests: Neural mechanisms underpinning monetary choices and the role of risk and social pressure in economic decision-making
Sarah Winokur
B.A., Neuroscience, Smith College, 2015
Advisor: Mariana Pereira
Research Interests: Neurobiological mechanisms underlying social behaviors, with a particular focus on maternal behavior and postpartum depression
