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

Camila Alvarez
Email: camila.alvarez@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Nicholas V. DiPatrizio
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Sushmitha Arumugam
Email: sarum004@ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Ysabel Giraldo
Degree Program: Ph.D.
Research Focus
My research explores how hypergravity alters the neural circuits that control locomotion and activity rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster. By studying how the brain responds to energy-demanding conditions like increased gravity, I aim to uncover how the nervous system senses and adapts to extreme environments.

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

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

Kaira Carstens
Email: kaira.carstens@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Hongdian Yang
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Locus coeruleus modulation of cognitive flexibility.

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

Christopher Creighton
Email: christopher.creighton@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anupama Dahanukar
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
The gustatory system of Drosophila melanogaster

Jeffrey Delgado
Email: jeffrey.delgado@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Dominic Garcia
Email: dominic.garcia003@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Ellie Hodge
Email: ellie.hodge@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Katherine, Meltzoff
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Carrie Jonak
Email: carrie.randle@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Sarah Kabbara
Email: sarah.kabbara@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Edward Zagha
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Neural Mechanisms of Sensory Selection

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
My research involves comparing construct and format differences of inhibitory control and impulsivity assessments. I also study the functional connectivity of the locus coeruleus with higher-level brain regions using fMRI.

William Mol
Email: william.mol@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Anubhuti Goel
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Circuit basis of sensory processing and sensory processing differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Seung Moon
Email: seung.moon@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Rachel Wu
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

David Nikom
Email: david.nikom@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Sika Zheng
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
I'm interested in how RNA splicing gets dysregulated in neurodegenerative disease, focusing on the consequences of alternative RNA splicing deficits on Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Brandon L. Oliver
Email: brandon.oliver@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Natalie Zlebnik
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Reward motivated behavior

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

David Parker
Email: david.parker1@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Payton Rao
Email: payton.rao@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Martin Riccomagno
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
I study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cortical lamination

Daniel Peixoto
Email: daniel.peixoto@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Rhiannon Rivas
Email: rhiannon.rivas@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Andrea Rocha
Email: andrea.rocha@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Courtney A. Scaramella
Email: courtney.scaramella@email.ucr.edu
Major Professors : Co-mentored by Dr. Khaleel Abdulrazak and Dr. Iryna Ethell
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Sarah Sharif
Email: sarah.sharif@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Seema Tiwari-Woodruff
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Neurodegenerative disease, visual system dysfunction

Levi-Briana Shinn
Email: levibriana.shinn@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Thomas A. Shoff
Email: thomas.shoff@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Ryan Julian
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
My work focuses on the fundamentals of protein structure, the chemistry underlying aspartic acid isomerization, the isomerization of tau in Alzheimer's disease.

Sandhya Sriram
Email: sandhya.sriram@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Todd Fiacco
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
astrocytes, astrocyte volume regulation, reactive astrocytes, epilepsy

Argishti Stepanian
Email: argishti.stepanian@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Christopher Taitano-Johnson
Email: christopher.taitanojohnson@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Viji Santhakumar
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), Epilepsy, lncRNAs, retrotransposons

Alexandra Tejada
Email: alexandra.tejada@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Ritika Thapa
Email: ritika.thapa@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

Ashley Valdez
Email: ashley.valdez@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

Ian Warren
Email: ian.warren@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

JiaMin Yan
Email: jiamin.yan@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Rotating
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus

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

Octavio Zaragoza Rodriguez
Email: octavio.zaragozarodriguez@email.ucr.edu
Major Professor: Dr. Nicholas DiPatrizio
Degree: Ph.D.
Research Focus
My interest lies in the effects of Δ9-THC, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, on incretin release and its role in enhancing food reward.

Gohar Zavradyan
Email: gohar.zavradyan@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.