Graduate Students
Name: Razan Alotaibi
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Karin Schon, PhD
Research Summary: Razan is studying the influence of exercise on cognitive abilities through correlating processed structural MRI data with tasks of spatial navigation and executive function in older humans.
Name: Amara Ayoub
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Katharine Babcock
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ann McKee, MD
Research Summary: Katie is investigating potential mechanisms of blood-brain-barrier dysfunction and its relationship to neurodegeneration in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) using immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent techniques.
Name: Karen Bottenfield
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Tara Moore, PhD
Research Summary: Karen is studying cortical injury and mechanisms of recovery from cortical injury.
Name: Chris Brooks
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Kevin “Kip” Thomas, MBA, PhD
Research Summary: Chris is using video annotation software and wearable sensors to quantitatively assess the functional and motor impairments associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Name: Yi (Chloe) Bu
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Douglas Rosene, PhD
Research Summary: Chloe is studying the effects of normal aging on the primate brain.
Name: JoColl Burgess
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ki Goosens, PhD (MGH)
Research Summary: JoColl is studying calcium dynamics and spatial organization of neurons in the amygdala during extinction in mice.
Name: Samantha Calderazzo
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Tara Moore, PhD
Research Summary: Samantha is studying the effects of cortical injury on the primate brain.
Name: Wayne Chang
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Jennifer Luebke, PhD
Research Summary: Wayne is studying studying the effects of normal aging on diverse areas of the primate brain and the efficacy of dietary curcumin in preventing age-related changes.
Name: Matthew Czech
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Kevin “Kip” Thomas, MBA, PhD
Research Summary: Matthew is studying motor dysfunction and its treatment in Parkinson’s Disease.
Name: Renee DeVivo
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ron Killiany, PhD
Research Summary: Renee is analyzing cognitive impairment in the aging human brain and how such changes are reflected in the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and other cortical regions utilizing structural MRI.
Name: Amr Elmansoury
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Elizabeth Whitney, PhD
Research Summary: Amr is studying the branching point and course of the motor branch of the nerve to vastus medialis.
Name: Alan Espinal Martinez
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ki Goosens, PhD (MGH)
Research Summary: Nuclear translocation of glucocorticoid receptors in pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus of adrenalectomized mice
Name: Yi Guan
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Guanying He
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Jennifer Luebke, PhD and Maya Medalla, PhD
Research Summary: Guanying is studying the effects of mutant Huntingtin on the striatal neuropil of a mouse model of Huntington’s disease.
Name: Elva House
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Karim Hussain Ismat
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Kathryn Kern
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Karin Schon, PhD
Research Summary: Katie’s research examines the effects of exercise on the medial temporal lobe memory system in human aging using structural and functional neuroimaging and exercise physiology techniques.
Name: Chelsey LeBlang
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Jennifer Luebke, PhD
Research Summary: Chelsey is studying the relationship between stress granule biology, inflammation, and tau pathology in a mouse model of tauopathy.
Name: Evelyn Yee Fun Lee
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Brian Bacskai, PhD (MGH)
Research Summary: Evelyn is studying the disruption of slow oscillations in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease using multiphoton imaging and optogenetics.
Name: Songjun William Li
Program: MD/PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ziv Williams, MD (MIT)
Research Summary: Will is studying the neural mechanisms underlying social dynamics and social decision making in mice and monkeys using optogenetics and electrophysiological approaches.
Name: Seh Hong (Chris) Lim
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Jennifer Luebke, PhD, and Ki Ann Goosens, PhD (MGH)
Research Summary: Chris is using optogentics to identify the brain regions that govern the classical conditioning principles (contingency and contiguity) in the fear neural circuitry.
Name: Alexander Lobo
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Douglas Rosene, PhD
Research Summary: Alexander is studying the effects of normal aging on the primate brain.
Name: Elizabeth Marco
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Elizabeth Whitney, PhD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Anastasia Murati
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ron Killiany, PhD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Rakin Nasar
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Nick Nicoletti
Program: M.S. in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Jennifer Luebke, PhD
Research Summary: Nick utilizes electron microscopy to study microglial cell infiltration of the synaptic cleft and its relation to tau pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Name: Kayla Nist
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Junwoo (Louis) Park
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Yashar Rahimpour, MS
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ronald Killiany, PhD
Research Summary: Yashar is using structural MRI techniques such as diffusion in conjunction with functional MRI to study the Default Mode Network and its relationship in the healthy brain, aging brain, and cerebrovascular disease models.
Name: David Swain
Program: MD/PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Haiyan Gong, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Summary: David aims to investigate the mechanisms of increased resistance in the trabecular outflow pathway of glaucomatous eyes.
Program: MD/PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Douglas Rosene, PhD
Research Summary: Katelyn is looking at various inflammatory pathways associated with the white matter pathology observed in the normal aging primate brain.
Name: Alexandra Tsolias
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Maya Medalla, PhD
Research Summary: Alexandra is studying the neuronal circuitry of the prefrontal cortex and associated limbic brain areas in the primate.
Name: Ajay Uprety
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Douglas Rosene, PhD and Tara Moore, PhD
Research Summary: Ajay’s research interests include the effects of aging on cognition, learning and memory.
Name: Lauren Zajac, MS
Program: PhD in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ronald Killiany, PhD
Research Summary: Lauren is using structural and functional MRI to study how aging affects the human brain. Her work is largely focused on how normal aging affects brain regions involved in visual motion perception and spatial navigation.
Name: Wei Zhang
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD
Name: Zannan (Annie) Zhang
Program: M.S. in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: Ronald Killiany, PhD
Research Summary: Zannan is studying changes in white matter, cortical parcellations, and subcortical segmentations using NODDI and TRACULA processing methods for structural MRI scans in elderly adults at varying stages of mild cognitive impairment.
Name: Yuxin Zhou
Program: Masters in Anatomy & Neurobiology
Advisor: TBD
Research Summary: TBD