Current Members
Post-Doctoral Researchers
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Research Scientist
Ekaterina Semenova, PhD
Ekaterina’s research focuses on human stem cell-based disease modeling, and aims to apply 2D and 3D human stem cell-derived models to study the molecular mechanisms underlying neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Her long-term goal is to advance personalized therapeutic strategies for dementia.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Ruchika, PhD
Ruchika’s research focuses on the molecular basis of MDD, with an emphasis on mitochondrial dysfunction. Using multi-omicron approaches, she studies cell type- and region-specific alterations to understand the mechanisms of psychiatric disorders and identify potential therapeutic targets.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Xinyue Huang, PhD
Xinyue’s research focuses on understanding how age and dementia alter the cellular and molecular landscape of the human hippocampus. She integrates sn-omics approaches to investigate changes in neurogenesis and brain cell-state regulation and uncover mechanisms underlying cognitive aging and neurodegenerative disease.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Jialin Jiang, MD PhD
Jialin’s current work focuses on characterizing non-neuronal niche and stromal cell populations in the brain, integrating single-cell and spatial transcriptomic approaches to understand their roles in tissue homeostasis and disease.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Xi Xiao, PhD
Xi’s work focuses on identifying dynamic, cell-type-specific convergence of genetic risk factors associated with psychiatric disorders.
Assistant Research Scientists
Assistant Research Scientist
Victor Anosike, BSc
Victor is interested in neurology, psychiatry, engineering, the intersection of medical research/advances with emerging engineering computer technology, and writing articles that explain complex scientific topics to laypeople. He plans to be a major contributor to neuroscience research and computer software/biomedical engineering.
Assistant Research Scientist
Giulia Guasoni, MSc
Giulia is interested in using multi-omics approaches to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders. In the lab, she contributes to data analysis, scientific visualization, and the development of digital resources. She is particularly passionate about translating complex scientific ideas into clear and engaging content for both scientific and public audiences through illustrations and interactive media.
Assistant Research Scientist
Hannah Persis Jeyakumar, MSc
Hannah is interested in exploring neurogenesis and neural plasticity in psychiatric disorders.
Assistant Research Scientist
Lucia Polizzi, MSc
Lucia is interested in studying neurogenesis.
Assistant Research Scientist
Rakshitha Ramkumar, MA
Rakshita is passionate to unravel the complexities of neuropathology and delve into research endeavors concentrated on exploring the molecular mechanisms governing cell viability and functionality within the human brain, with a particular emphasis on employing cutting-edge techniques such as single-cell and spatial multiome sequencing
Assistant Research Scientist
Tiancheng Shi, MPH
Tiancheng is interested in applying data science and statistical techniques to address real-world problems, with a focus on machine learning, as well as exploring genomic sequences to study gene regulation and disease mechanisms.
Assistant Research Scientist
Alexandra Mukami Wamalwa, BA
Alexandra is interested in exploring neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
Students
PhD Candidate
Juliana Rose Montanez
Juliana is interested in investigating the role of neurogenesis in neurological and psychiatric disorders. Using human stem cell models and postmortem brain tissue, she integrates multi-omics data to determine how genetic and epigenetic factors shape the development of new neurons. Her work aims to identify the molecular pathways linking impaired neurogenesis to disease.
Masters Candidate
Julia Elia
Pursuing her Master of Divinity, Julia interested in trauma, resilience, and their relationship to psychopathology. She is currently investigating clinical phenotypes of suicide in a postmortem brain cohort.
Masters Candidate
Rachel Goldman
Rachel is interested in understanding the underlying psychological and biological mechanisms that contribute to vulnerability and resilience following early life adversity, with a focus on suicide risk. In the lab, she contributes to research and literature synthesis that examines the relationship between early life adversity, psychiatric disorders, psychosocial functioning, and suicide. She is particularly interested in understanding why individuals exposed to similar psychological risk experience substantially different outcomes and how identifying these mechanisms can be used to develop prevention and early intervention tools.
Pre-Baccalaureate Candidate
Daniel Shin
Pursuing his Bachelor in Neuroscience and Behavior, Daniel is conducting a single-nucleus and tissue-level analysis of the human hippocampus. He is interested in what disrupts neurogenesis in the adult human brain and how that contributes to psychiatric and neurodegenerative disease.
Pre-Baccalaureate Candidate
Siddhant (Sid) Gaur
Siddhant is interested in both computational and wet-lab approaches to understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders, with a particular interest in hippocampal neurogenesis and cell signaling. He is especially interested in combining spatial transcriptomics and single-nucleus sequencing data to investigate the molecular and cellular alterations associated with suicide.