Members

Anna Lee - Associate Professor

Anna earned her B.S. in Pharmacology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada and her Ph.D. in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada. She completed her post-doc training with Dr. Robert Messing at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of San Francisco, California. After a brief stint at the University of Texas, Austin, Anna started her own lab in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota.

Matthew Scalf - Undergraduate research student

Matt is a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in Biology and minoring in Management. He hopes to go to medical school after graduating and is interested in pediatrics, physiatry, and emergency medicine.

Shaydel Engel - Research scientist

Shaydel earned her BA in International Studies from the University of South Dakota in 2014. She went on to complete a MS in Basic Biomedical Sciences, specializing in Behavioral Neuroscience, from the University of South Dakota in 2018. She is interested in developmental effects on neurocircuitry and its relation to addiction behaviors. When not in the lab, Shaydel enjoys promoting science communication and community outreach.

Janna Moen, PhD

Janna Moen completed her B.A. in Biology from Saint Anselm College in 2014. She spent a year at the National Institutes of Health working in cancer biochemistry and pharmacology. Janna completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota in the Lee lab and is now a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Akiko Iwasaki at Yale University.

Margot DeBaker, PhD

Margot DeBaker graduated from the Graduate Program in Neuroscience with her PhD in 2022 and is currently a Regional IP and Licensing Associate at WiSys Technology Foundation. 

Sarah Mulloy, PhD

Sarah received a degree in B.S. in Biology and B.A. Latin from Wake Forest University in 2018. Sarah completed her PhD in 2024 and is interested in applying her skills towards problems related to data science, visualization and programming.

Former member: Jill Touchette, PhD - Post-doc fellow

Jillienne Touchette graduated from University of Missouri – St. Louis with a B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology in 2009.  Jill earned a PhD in Pharmacological and Physiological Science from St. Louis University in 2015. After her post-doctoral training in the Lee lab, Jill entered industry in 2018 and is currently CEO of Superior Medical Experts.

Former member: Jenna Robinson, MS

Jenna completed her Master's degree in Pharmacology in the Lee Lab in 2018, and chose to stay in the lab as a research associate for another year to continue her work on alcohol aversion. Jenna was then accepted into medical school at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.

Ketki Pawaskar - MS student

Ketki completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy from Mumbai University, India in 2018. She completed her Master of Science in Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota in Dr. Lee's laboratory in 2023 and is working in industry.

Former member: Ky O'Rourke

Ky O'Rourke graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul in 2014 with a B.Sc in Biology. Ky left the lab in June 2017 to pursue a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering and is currently working in industry.

Runbo Gao - Research scientist

Runbo received his B.S. in Bioscience from Huazhong Agricultural University in 2018 and his M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Minnesota in 2020. He is interested in molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying substance use disorders (e.g. alcohol & nicotine) and related behaviors. Runbo is currently pursuing his PhD at Baylor College of Medicine.