Students

Research interest - regulation of synapse development, function, and plasticity

Research interest - synaptic transmission, ion channel properties

I graduated from Yale College in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in cognitive science. There, I completed a senior project, advised by Brian Scholl, that investigated a relationship between eye movements and memory. I have also conducted psychology research with Daniel Richardson at University College London, and with Marcia Johnson at Yale. Beyond many interests within psychology, I enjoy music and dance -- and I have studied and performed traditional and contemporary West African dance.

I am interested in studying how sensorimotor information is encoded in the cerebellar cortex and how this level of processing is impacted by neuromodulation.

I am interested in studying network level neural dynamics, dissecting sensory information pathways, and modeling simple neural circuits with cortical computing algorithms. Ultimately, I hope to combine quantitative neural modeling approaches, various dimensional experiment techniques, and applications based on neural theories to develop a systematic understanding of how the brain works, why it works, and whether it can be improved.

My research interests include neural networks and signaling as well as their pathophysiology in diseases such as Parkinson's and epilepsy. I am further interested in studying novel techniques, especially electrical stimulation, to treat these diseases.

Generally, I'm interested in how interactions between individual neurons and neural systems shape perception and cognition. Currently, I'm investigating how response properties of single neurons and neural populations change during concurrent presentation of multiple stimuli. I'm also quite interested in analyzing/modeling neural networks as recurrent dynamical systems.

My research interest is in exploring the interconnection between neural & glial circuitry and, ultimately, their synergistic role in controlling behavior.

I am interested in how the mammalian nervous system coordinates motor output. Currently,  I am investigating circuit level characteristics of motor learning and coordination in the mouse cerebellum. 

I aim to investigate specialized routing of visual Information from primary visual cortex (V1) to higher areas to guide visual tasks in mice. 

I am interested in understanding the biophysical properties of proteins involved in neurological pathways and how the structure and function of proteins translate to certain neurological diseases. Currently, I am working on elucidating the activation mechanism of mechano-sensitive ion channels.

I am interested in the roles microglia and infiltrating monocytes play during neurodegeneration. My research involves the use of biolistic transfection of gene constructs into organotypic slices. I use this assay to study how microglia and infiltrating monocytes affect the rate of neurodegeneration with the goal of therapeutically targeting these cells.

I am interested in finding and understanding the molecular factors that instruct neurons to wire into circuits. I want to study the function of the molecules involved in circuit formation and the consequence of misconnection in the retina through genetic and biochemical manipulations.

I seek to understand how neural circuits form in terms of the genetic instructions underlying their wiring. Furthermore, via manipulations of select molecules, I hope to elucidate how circuit organization translates to circuit function.