
Ph.D., Neuroscience (2020), University of Geneva and University of Liege
Research Interest: | Gut-brain interaction in neurodevelopmental disorder. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Elaine Hsiao |

Ph.D., Comparative Experimental Medicine (2010) - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Research Interest: | RNA editing, splicing, and modifications |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Xinshu (Grace) Xiao |

Ph.D., Animal Physiology (2016) - University of Havana
Research Interest: | Neuroethology, Bioacoustics, Sensory Physiology |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Peter Narins |

Ph.D., Molecular Biology (2012) - Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
Research Interest: | Understanding the role of autophagy/mitophagy in neurodegenerative diseases and aging |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor David Walker |

Ph.D., Environmental Toxicology (2017) - University of California, Riverside
Research Interest: | The complex interplay of metabolic disease and environmental factors. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Xia Yang |

Ph.D., Neuroimmunology (2018) - Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Research Interest: | Interaction of gut immune system and neurodegenerative diseases |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Elaine Hsiao |

Ph.D., Psychological Sciences (Neuroscience) (2020), University of Padova (Italy)
Research Interest: | Visual feature detection and visuomotor integration |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Mark Frye |

Ph.D., Neuroscience (2012) - University of Michigan
Research Interest: | Cellular mechanisms of neuromuscular disease |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Rachelle Crosbie |

Ph.D., Bioinformatics & Bacterial Genomics (2019), Seoul National University
Research Interest: | Host-microbiome interaction using multi-omics systems biology approach. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Xia Yang |

Ph.D., Bioengineering (2016) - Imperial College London
Research Interest: | Neurobiology of fly vision |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Mark Frye |

Ph.D., Biological Sciences (2020), University of California Irvine
Research Interest: | Computational approaches to understand cell signaling |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Eric Deeds |

Ph.D., Bioinformatics (2020), Peking University
Research Interest: | Bioinformatics, RNA biology, Sequencing technology |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Xinshu (Grace) Xiao |

Ph.D., Microbiology and Immunology (2014) - Stanford University
Research Interest: | Gut microbiota, animal-bacteria symbiosis |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Elaine Hsiao |

Ph.D., Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics (2017) - University of Minnesota
Research Interest: | My research focuses on characterizing cardiac fibrosis in Duchenne muscular dystrophy-associated cardiomyopathy. Fibrosis, or the excess deposition of extracellular matrix, prevents efficient cardiac contraction, diminishes regenerative capacity, and is a major barrier to therapy. The central hypothesis I am testing is that the structural, mechanical, and proteomic profiles of the cardiac ECM in the context of muscular dystrophy represent a distinct pathological microenvironment that is resistant to remodeling and negatively impacts cardiac cell function. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Rachelle Crosbie |

Ph.D., Neuroscience (2021), Michigan State University
Research Interest: | Experimental therapeutics for traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative disease. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla |

Ph.D., Biological Sciences (2016) - Clark Atlanta University
Research Interest: | Almost everyone can relate to sleep disturbances at some point in their life, however women disproportionately report insomnia related disturbances. My overall research goals are to determine the biological mechanism of how stress regulates sleep and cognitive behavior in females. My career mission statement is to increase minority representation in biomedical science by educating undergraduate students in biological sciences while motivating and preparing them to be leaders in research, medicine, and education. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Ketema Paul |

Ph.D., Bioengineering (2019) - UCLA
Research Interest: | Cultured Meat, Tissue Engineering, and Polymer Chemistry |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Amy Rowat |

Ph.D., Food Science (2019), University of Massachusetts Amherst
Research Interest: | Interaction of food components with microbes in the gut and this interaction's effect on the brain function and neurodegenerative disease. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Elaine Hsiao |

Ph.D., Biological Science (2015) - Seoul National University
Research Interest: | Anti-aging drug discovery |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor David Walker |

Ph.D., Molecular Biology (2015) - Pusan National University (South Korea)
Research Interest: | Screening of drugs which contributes mitochondria quality control for prolonging the lifespan, revealing the effect of tissue-specific gene expression on mitochondria function and stem cell behavior during aging, studying about NAD related mechanisms on mitophagy and stem cell homeostasis for prolonging the lifespan. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor David Walker |

Ph.D., Physiology (2017), Monash University (Australia)
Research Interest: | My ultimate goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms facilitating fat mobilization in the adipocytes that help promote positive metabolic outcomes at the organismal level. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Claudio Villanueva |

Ph.D., Biology of Aging (2020), University of Southern California
Research Interest: | Skeletal Muscle Biology |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Rachelle Crosbie |

Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2017) - Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
Research Interest: | It is very alarming the high incidence of metabolic diseases (e.g. Metabolic syndrome, Diabetes mellitus,) have serious consequences on brain functions. I have a great interest in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the development of neurological disorders, in particular how lifestyle (diet, exercise) impact on the cognitive function after traumatic brain injury. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla |

Ph.D., Immunobiology (2016) - Yale University
Research Interest: | Mitophagy and actin dynamics in healthspan and lifespan determination |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor David Walker |

Ph.D., Pharmacology and Toxicology (2019), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), S.A.S. Nagar, India
Research Interest: | To understand the cellular and molecular dynamics underlying neurodegenerative disorders associated with drug discovery. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla |

Ph.D., Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology (2015) - UCLA
Research Interest: | My research interest is in understanding the role of the gut microbiota in neural circuit development and function. My work in Dr. Hsiao's lab focuses on interrogating the impact of the maternal gut microbiota on embryonic brain axonogenesis and adult offspring somatosensory behaviors. In addition, we are probing the influence of maternal antidepressant use on maternal gut microbiota composition and fetal brain development. |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Elaine Hsiao |

Ph.D., Physical Chemistry (2018) - Peking University
Research Interest: | Studying RNA processing through computational methods |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Xinshu (Grace) Xiao |

Ph.D., Endocrinology (2017) - University of Amsterdam
Research Interest: | Hypothalamic estrogen signaling on thermoregulation |
Faculty Mentor: | Professor Stephanie Correa |