Position: PhD Student, Neuroscience Program

Education: B.S. Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, Texas

Contact: zpranske@brandeis.edu

Hometown: Coppell, Texas

Research Interests: I am studying the cellular processes which underlie inhibitory synapse formation in the brain. As our lab has previously shown that Sema4D promotes the formation of inhibitory synapses, I use Sema4D as a tool to rapidly induce synapse formation in vitro and study their assembly in real time using a variety of live and fixed imaging approaches. I am also interested in how GABAergic synapse formation onto inhibitory interneurons is regulated and am evaluating the translational potential of Sema4D for the treatment of epilepsy disorders. 

Personal Interests: I enjoy playing ultimate frisbee, weightlifting, and occasionally pretending to be outdoorsy. Much of my time at home is spent playing city planning games and hanging out with my cats, Nora and Huxley. 

If I weren't a scientist I'd be... an urban planner or coffee shop/brewery owner.