Graduate Students

Melina Acosta

Email: melina.acosta@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Wendy Saltzman
Degree Program: Ph.D.

Research Focus

I am interested in the role of catecholamines in modulating the expression of parental behavior

Will Agnew Svoboda

Email: will.agnewsvoboda@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Martin Riccomagno
Degree Program: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Angela Avitua

Email: angela.avitua@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Byron Ford
Degree Program: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Repair and regeneration following traumatic brain injury; Neuregulin-1

Tyler Bailey

Email: tyler.bailey@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Korzus
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Development of the neocortex, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Alexander Bilas

Email: alexander.bilas@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Riley Bottom

Email: riley.bottom@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Kelly Huffman
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Development of the neocortex, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Jonathan Clark

Email: jonathan.clark@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anand Ray
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Neural mechanisms underlying avoidance behavior in insects.

Kathleen Conner

Email: kathleen.conner@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Kelly Huffman
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Katilynne Croom

Email: katilynne.croom@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Paula Da Silva Frost

Email: paula.dasilvafrost@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Monica Carson
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Microglial cells; Neuroinflammation; Epigenetics.

Manali Dey

Email: manali.dey@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anupama Dahanukar
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Jordan Donohue

Email: jordan.donohue@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Garret Anderson
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Role of latrophilin two in development of hippocampal circuits

Zoe Figueroa

Email: zoe.figueroa@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Indira Harahap-Carrillo

Email: indira.harahapcarillo@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Marcus Kaul
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Mawaheb Kassir

Email: mawaheb.kassir@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Khaleel Abdulrazak
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Foucs

Alexander King

Email: alexander.king@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Jamiela Kokash

Email: jamiela.kokash@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Khaleel Abdulrazak
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Effects of noise induced hearing loss in the auditory cortex

Joel Kowalewski

Email: joel.kowalewski@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anand Ray
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Elena Kozlova

Email: elena.kozlova@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Margarita Curras-Collazo
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Krista Marrero

Email: krista.marrero@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Zagha
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Kamryn Mattingly

Email: kmatt014@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Jim McBurney-Lin

Email: jim.mcburneylin@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Hongdian Yang
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Neuromodulation in sensory perception.

Vaibhav Menon

Email: vaibhav.menon@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anupama Dahanukar
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Neuronal circuitry guiding gustatory behavior in Drosophila and its intersection with metabolic control

Seung Moon

Email: seung.moon@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Amanda Nguyen

Email: amanda.nguyen@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Iryna Ethell
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Ephrin-B1 signaling in astrocytic-mediated synapse development and remodeling.

Quynh Anh Nguyen

Email: quynhanh.nguyen@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Neural activation following olfactory-mediated defensive behaviors

Susan Nguyen

Email: susan.nguyen004@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Viji Santhakumar
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Neural-Immune signaling following brain injury

Noorhan Rahmatullah

Email: noorhan.rahmatullah@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Jeffrey Rumschlag

Email: jeffrey.rumschlag@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Khaleel Abdulrazak
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Auditory processing deficits in aging

Margaret Schmill

Email: margaret.schmill@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Ted Garland
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Neurobiology, behavior, and reward systems of high runner mice selectively bred for increased voluntary exercise.

John Speigel III

Email: jspei003@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Korzus
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

The role of sub-regional specialization and connectivity of the medial prefrontal cortex in the acquisition and expression of contextual fear memory

Christian Stadler

Email: christian.stadler@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Xin Tao

Email: xin.tao@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Khaleel Abdulrazak
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

My current research focuses on Fragile X Syndrome. In human, FXS patients represent hypersensitivity to sound, and this characteristics is measured by audiogenic seizures in animal models. My goal is to see if Fmr1 knock-out mice (a mouse model of FXS) will display sound hypersensitivity as human beings by designing a new behavior paradigm (less drastic than audiogenic seizures). And if that's the case, I'll further pursue the behind mechanisms.

Andy Tseng

Email: andy.tseng@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Glenn Stanley
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Teresa Ubina

Email: teresa.ubina@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Martin Riccomagno
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Molecular mechanisms of pruning

Tyler Vahedi-Hunter

Email: tyler.vahedihunter@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Martin Riccomagno
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Joseph Valdez

Email: joseph.valdez@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Monica Carson
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Anu Venkatesh

Email: anu.venkatesh@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Ilana Bennett
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

My projects in the LANI lab use diffusion imaging along with other MRI methodology (e.g. Iron imaging and FLAIR) to characterize hippocampal gray matter integrity as it relates to aging and memory.

Wenny Wong

Email: wenny.wong@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Martin Riccomagno
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Courtney Wood

Email: courtney.wood@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Nicholas DiPatrizio
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

The endocannabinoid system; how afferent & efferent vagal signaling between the brain and the gut regulates feeding and metabolism

Hana Yamate-Morgan

Email: hana.yamatemorgan@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Seema Tiwari-Woodruff
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

Zhaoran Zhang

Email: zhaoran.zhang@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Zagha
Degree: Ph.D.

Research Focus

The functions of neuronal circuits underlying animal’s behavior, such as paying attention and making decisions.

Shan Zhong

Email: shan.zhong@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.