Neuroscience Graduate Students
(For additional information about each, click on the card)

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

Camila Alvarez
Email: camila.alvarez@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Sushmitha Arumugam
Email: sarum004@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Michael Adams
Degree Program: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Neuroendocrine signalling in Drosophila Melanogaster.

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: Dr. Todd Fiacco
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Crisylle Blanton
Email: crisylle.blanton@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Hogyu Choi
Email: hchoi117@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Christopher Creighton
Email: christopher.creighton@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Katilynne Croom
Email: katilynne.croom@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Khaleel Abdulrazak
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
My interest in research include how peripheral inflammatory responses can influence the central nervous system, particularly in the gut-brain axis and how viral infections cause brain pathologies.

Payton DePalma
Email: payton.depalma@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Zagha
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Zoe Figueroa
Email: zoe.figueroa@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Emma Wilson
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Dominic Garcia
Email: dominic.garcia003@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

Lucas Hodge
Email: lucas.hodge@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Anjum Hussain
Email: anjum.hussain@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Sarah Kabbara
Email: sarah.kabbara@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
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: Dr. Garret Anderson
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Yuqi Ma
Email: yuqi.ma@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anand Ray
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Kamryn Mattingly
Email: kmatt014@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Aaron Seitz
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
I am interested in studying executive function and inhibitory control in humans using fMRI.

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: Dr. Rachel Wu
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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
David Nikom
Email: david.nikom@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Brandon L. Oliver
Email: brandon.oliver@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Haneal Pae
Email: haneal.pae@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Jun Cho
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Noorhan Rahmatullah
Email: noorhan.rahmatullah@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anu Goel
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Courtney A. Scaramella
Email: courtney.scaramella@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Thomas A. Shoff
Email: thomas.shoff@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Sandhya Sriram
Email: sandhya.sriram@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.

Teresa Ubina
Email: teresa.ubina@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Martin Riccomagno
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Molecular mechanisms of pruning

Andrew P. Villa
Email: andrew.villa@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Victoria Wagner
Email: victoria.wagner@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Iryna Ethell
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, vagus nerve signaling, gut-brain axis

Chia Wei Yeh
Email: cyeh036@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Gohar Zavradyan
Email: gohar.zavradyan@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Zhaoran Zhang
Email: zhaoran.zhang@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Zagha
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Understanding the neuronal mechanism 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.
Research Focus

Trevor E. Zimmerman-Thompson
Email: tzimm002@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.