Neuroscience Graduate Program Alumni*
*By Year of Thesis Defense
2013
Rayna Carter, Ph.D. Hippocampal Adult Neurogenesis and the Novel Antidepressant, Ketamine. (Advisor: H. Cameron-NIH).
Elizabeth A. Normand, Ph.D. Genetic Disruption of the Thalamus in the Context of the Neurodevelopment Disorder Tuberous Sclerosis. (Advisor: M. Zervas).
Avinash Pujala, Ph.D. The Neural Mechanisms Underlying Ventral and Dorsal Root-Evoked Fictive Locomotion in the Neonatal Mouse Spinal Cord. (Advisor: M. O'Donovan-NIH).
Shau-Ming Wei, Ph.D. BDNF Val66Met Polymorphism and Gonadal Hormones Modulate Basal and Cognitively-Related Neural Functions in Humans. (Advisor: K. Berman-NIH).
2012
Emmette Hutchison, Ph.D. Investigation of the miR-181 Family in Glioblastoma Multiform and Astrocyte Inflammatory Response. (Advisor: M. Mattson-NIH).
Deborah Y. Kwon, Ph.D. Characterization of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein degradation. (Advisor: K. Fischbeck-NIH).
Ashly C. Leder Brown, Ph.D. The Dynamic Role of Wnt1 in Midbrain Dopamine Neuron Development. (Advisor: M. Zervas).
Julia A. Najera, Ph.D. Seeing from the Skin: Characterization of the Ultraviolet Light Induced Phototransduction Pathway in Human Epidermal Cells. (Advisor: E. Oancea).
2011
Summer E. Allen, Ph.D. Cell-Specific Splicing Factors That Optimize Calcium Channel Function. (Advisor: D. Lipscombe).
Mark R. Bell, Ph.D. A Neuroprotective Role for Putrescine in a Xenopus Tadpole Seizure Model. (Advisor: C. Aizenman).
Carolyn Graybeal, Ph.D. Stress Modulation of Cognitive Flexibility. (Advisor: A. Holmes-NIH).
Cole Graydon, Ph.D. Tight diffusional spaces beneath the ribbon promote sharp calcium rises and synchronous vesicle release at hair cell synapses. (Advisor: B. Kachar-NIH).
Nellwyn A. Hagan, Ph.D. The Spatial and Temporal Control of Gene Expression in Cerebellum Development. (Advisor: M. Zervas).
Lindsay Hayes, Ph.D. Temporal Control of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling for Midbrain Dopamine Neuron Development. (Advisor: S. Ahn-NIH).
Cecilia Phillips, Ph.D. Alternative Splicing Controls Gs Protein Inhibition of CaV2.2 Calcium Channels. (Advisor: D. Lipscombe).
Naveen G. Rao, Ph.D. Cortical Dynamics of Movement Planning, Execution, and Sensory Integration in Parietal-Motor Networks. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
Matthew van Hook, Ph.D. Interactions of Ganglion-Cell Photoreceptors and Dopaminergic Amacrine Cells. (Advisor: D. Berson).
Luke Woloszyn, Ph.D. Perception, Visual Memory and Inferior Temporal Cortex. (Advisor: D. Sheinberg).
Timothy Zolnik, Ph.D. Development and Function of Synapses in the Thalamus. (Advisor: B. Connors).
2010
Arjun Bansal, Ph.D. Sensorimotor Information in Frontal Cortical Signals. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
Jennifer Kim, M.D., Ph.D. Febrile seizures, hyperthermia and hippocampal neuron physiology. (Advisor: B. Connors).
Seung-Chan Lee, Ph.D. Development, organization and function of electrical synapses in the thalamus. (Advisor: B. Connors).
Carlos Vargas-Irwin, Ph.D. Motor Cortical Control of Naturalistic Reaching and Grasping Actions. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
2009
Omar Ahmed, Ph.D. Interpreting the rhythms of the hippocampus and neocortex. (Advisors: M. Mehta, B. Connors).
Anne Booker, Ph.D. The Long and Short of the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 Gene. (Advisor: J. Fallon).
Ethan Bromberg-Martin, Ph.D. The Role of Dopamine in Information-Seeking. (Advisor: O. Hisosaka-NIH).
Dustin Graham, Ph.D. Melanopsin Ganglion Cell Phototransduction: A Bit of Fly in the Mammalian Eye. (Advisor: D. Berson).
Ilya Monosov, Ph.D. Primate Frontal Eye Fields Mediate Spatial Attention in Covert Visual Search. (Advisor: K. Thompson-NIH).
Benjamin Philip, Ph.D. Control of Continuous Reaching Movements in Primary Motor and Posterior Parietal Cortex. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
Ammar Shaikhouni, M.D., Ph.D. Sensory input to the human primary motor cortex after long term damage to motor output pathways: implications for the design of neural interface devices. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
2008
Gul Dolen, M.D., Ph.D. Genetic interaction between Fmr1 and Grm5: A role for mGlu5 in the pathogenesis of Fragil X Syndrome. (Advisor: M. Bear).
Jodi Gilman, Ph.D. Alcohol, Alcoholism, and the Neural Correlates of Emotion. (Advisor: D. Hommer-NIH).
Jocelyn Lippman, Ph.D. Forming the tripartite synapse: Development of glial ensheathment and its role in synaptogenesis. (Advisor: A. Dunaevsky).
Kara Agster, Ph.D. Structure and function of the rodent postrhinal cortex: Comparisons to related cortices.(Advisor: R. Burwell).
Alison Amenta, Ph.D.Biglycan at synapses, the sarcolemma and as a potential therapeutic for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.(Advisor: J. Fallon).
Stephanie Carlson, Ph.D. The Phototransduction Cascade in the Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells. (Advisor: D. Berson).
Wendy Chen, M.D., Ph.D. Effect of synaptic activity on NMDAR subunit composition in the visual cortex. (Advisor: M. Bear).
Ryan Mruczek, Ph.D. Neural Correlates of Efficient Visual Search. (Advisor: D. Sheinberg).
2006
Britt, Anderson, Ph.D. Changes in Neuron Firing Rates and Synchronies as a Concomitant of Visual Grouping: A Multi-Electrode Study in the Awake Monkey. (Advisor: D. Sheinberg).
Mikhail Frenkel, Ph.D. Experience-dependent plasticity in the mouse visual cortex. (Advisor: M. Bear).
Annette Gray, Ph.D. An intracellular domain of N-type calcium channels regulates inactivation and binds a novel secretory protein. (Advisor: D. Lipscombe).
Jae Lim, M.D., Ph.D. Developmental and experience-dependent regulation of fragile X mental retardation-1 gene expression. (Advisor: J. Fallon).
Cheng-Hang Liu, Ph.D. The role of endocannabinoid signaling in visual cortical plasticity. (Advisor: M. Bear).
Leigh Needleman, Ph.D. Regulation of Kainate Receptors at the Synapse. (Advisor: J. Marshall).
Stephen Taubenfeld, M.D., Ph.D. Molecular Mechanisms of Memory Stabilization and Amnesia. (Advisor: C. Alberini.
Aaron Taylor, Ph.D. Dendrites contain a spacing pattern that may organize branches. (Advisor: J. Fallon).
Jonathan Whitlock, Ph.D. Learning Induces LTP in the Hippocampus. (Advisor: M. Bear).
2005
Catherine Clarke, Ph.D. Receptive field properties in V4: Effect of attention. (Advisor: M. Paradiso).
Matt Fellows, Ph.D. Neural basis of learning in motor cortex. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
Jonathan Fritz, Ph.D. The neurobiology of echolocation: Insights from neurophysiological studies of auditory cortex in the big brown bat, eptesicus fuscus. (Advisor: J. Simmons).
Susan Huang, Ph.D. Characterization of cannabinoid actions on spinal nociceptive neurons. (Advisor: M. Walker).
2004
Sean MacEvoy, Ph.D. Neural basis of visual perception. (Advisor: M. Paradiso).
Wes Wallace, Ph.D. Structural basis for synaptic plasticity in visual cortex. (Advisor: M. Bear).
2003
Xin Huang, Ph.D. The psychophysical and physiological studies of brightness perception. (Advisor: M. Paradiso).
Michael Long, Ph.D. Electrical synapses in the mammalian brain. (Advisor: B. Connors).
Nathanial Sawtell, Ph.D. Cellular and biochemical mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity in the rodent visual cortex. (Advisor: M. Bear).
Mijail Serruya, M.D., Ph.D. Intracortical Neuromotor Prosthetics: Design and Application. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
Eric Snyder, Ph.D. Regulation of Glutamate Receptor Surface Expression. (Advisor: M. Bear).
2002
Mark Sanderson, Ph.D. Sensitivity to echo delay and spectral shape in the auditory cortex of the big brown bat. (Advisor: J. Simmons).
Weifeng Xu, Ph.D. Functional impact of splicing of N-type calcium channel. (Advisor: D. Lipscombe).
2001
Michael Rafii, M.D., Ph.D. Novel proteins involved in synaptic formation, plasticity and disease states. (Advisor: J. Fallon).
2000
Michael Beierlein, Ph.D. Dynamic properties of chemical and electrical synapses in neocortex. (Advisor: B. Connors).
Cynthia Rittenhouse, Ph.D. A role for presynaptic activity in the developmental plasticity of primary visual cortex. (Advisor: M. Bear and M. Paradiso).
Nicole Fortin Strangman, Ph.D. Evidence for a role of cannabinoids in the suppression of pain. (Advisor: M. Walker).
1999
Bettina Osborn, Ph.D. Cortical substrates of problem solving. (Advisor: J. Donoghue).
Stephanie Schorge, Ph.D. mRNA variants of the N-Type CA channel a1B subunit: Their distribution and functional impact on the mammalian nervous system . (Advisor: D. Lipscombe).