Neuroscience / Neuropsychology

Elise Kinyanjui '25 plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience, focusing on neurodegenerative diseases and health disparities.

Merel Verhoeven '24 is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She is a laboratory assistant at University of Maryland Medical System.

Victoria Chang '20 is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at University of Colorado - Denver - Anschutz Medical Campus where she is a professional research assistant. She was the 2024 recipient of the Don Stabile Alumni Doctoral Scholarship.

Asia Dofat '20 is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience from Virginia Tech University with an expected graduation in 2026. She studies the sex differences in dopaminergic modulation of food reward in the Howe Lab at VT.

Lillian Folts '20 worked as laboratory animal research assistant at the Center for the Epigenetic Research in Child Health and Brain Development at the UMD School of Medicine Baltimore for a couple years after graduation from SMCM. She is now pursuing a PhD in the Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development Biology Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus with an expected graduation 2027.

Rachel Thompson '19  is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from UMD College Park with an expected graduation in 2025.

Maxwell Madden '18 earned a PhD in Neuroscience from UMD Baltimore  in 2024. He is a postdoctoral associate in the HUDA Laboratory.

Zoey Forrester-Fronstin '17 is pursuing a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from University at Buffalo, SUNY with an expected graduation in 2026.

Claire (Kostelnik) Robey '17 worked for a couple years as a research assistant at the Defense and Veteran’s Brain Injury Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after graduation from SMCM. She earned a PhD in Neuroscience at the Uniformed Services University in 2024.

Bradley Roberts '15 was a research assistant at the University of Maryland School of Medicine during the year following graduation. He earned a PhD in Neurosciences at the University of Oxford in 2019. Now based in London, he is the chief executive officer at Neuromatch, a global nonprofit.

Nicole DeAngeli '14 earned a PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Dartmouth College in 2020, and a MD at University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2024.

Danielle Lafferty '14 earned a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from Boston College in 2022.  She is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases (NIDKK).

Heather Pribut '14 earned a PhD in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from UMD in 2022. She is a senior science writer (account supervisor) at Palladian Partners, Inc. 

Jessica Marbourg '13 earned a PhD in Neuroscience at The Ohio State University in 2020. She is a postdoctoral scholar at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Christopher Bouslog '12 earned a MS in Drugs, Discovery, and Development from Drexel University in 2020, and is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. He is a training delivery coordinator for the Special Program for Embassy Augmentation and Response (SPEAR) of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). He is also a U.S. Marine -in the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance (L.A.R.) battalion.

Antigone Grillakis '11 is pursuing a PhD in Neuroscience from Uniformed Services University with an expected graduation in 2023.

Vaughn Bryant '10 earned a MSc in Behavioral and Social Health Science at Brown University in 2013, and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Florida in 2018. He is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Florida and a clinical neuropsychologist for UF Health Jacksonville.

Dan Kircher '10 earned a PhD in Pharmacology from University of Texas at Austin in 2017. He is an experienced biomedical scientist, project manager,  and certified Scrum Master. Currently he's a program manager at Eagle Genomics in NYC and an associate member of Cheeky Scientist, an industry training platform for academic PhDs.

Sean Piantadosi '10 worked as a research assistant at UMB investigating the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders for two years after graduation. He earned a PhD in Neuroscience from University of Pittsburgh in 2017. He is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington. 

Patrick Piantadosi '10 worked as a research assistant in Dr. Patricio O'Donnell's lab at UMB investigating the neurobiology of schizophrenia for a year following graduation. He earned a MA in Psychology and then PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from University of British Columbia in 2016. He is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Elizabeth (Smith) Khoury '10 earned a PhD in Psychology with a focus in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Texas in 2015. She is a postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Drew Solyst '09 earned a PhD in Neuroscience from Emory University in 2014. He is a user experience (UX) researcher for HomeAway.com as well as a senior neuroscience researcher for Vrbo, using methods from neuroscience to measure audience reactions and optimize advertising campaigns.

Josh Whitt '09 earned a PhD in Neuroscience from University of Maryland Baltimore in 2016. He is a senior scientist in translational research at  Flexion Therapeutics in MA. 

Eastman Lewis '08 earned a PhD in Neuroscience from University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2014. He is a postdoctoral fellow for the John's Hopkins University Department of Neuroscience.

Gwen Calhoon '06 earned a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2013. Following her thesis work, she returned to St. Mary’s College of Maryland as a visiting professor of psychology and neuroscience. Afterwards, she participated in a visiting fellowship in the lab of Dr. Michael Krashes at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), studying hypothalamic circuits driving feeding. In 2014,  Gwen joined the lab of Dr. Kay Tye at MIT, where she studied how hunger impacts activity in neurons encoding positive and negative emotional valence. She is a visiting assistant professor of neuroscience at Bates College.