Alexey Ostroumov, PhD

Principal Investigator

Email: ao711@georgetown.edu 

• 2002 – 2006, B.S. in Physics, Kazan State University, Russia. 

• 2006 – 2010, PhD in Neuroscience, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Italy. Mentor: Dr. Andrea Nistri. 

• 2011 – 2013, Postdoctoral Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine. Mentor: Dr. John A. Dani.

• 2013 – 2016, Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Pennsylvania. Mentor: Dr. John A. Dani.

• 2016 – 2020, Research Associate at University of Pennsylvania.

• 2020, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University

Daniel Reid

Research Assistant and Laboratory Manager

Email: dr962@georgetown.edu 

Daniel graduated from the University of Maryland in 2021 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences: Physiology and Neurobiology. During his time at UMD, Daniel worked in a neurobiology lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, where he researched the effects of adolescent exposure to THC and/or Ritalin on neural and dopaminergic encoding of impulsive decision-making in adult rodents. Daniel's current research interests involve studying neuropharmacological approaches to treating various mood disorders such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder, and he plans to pursue PharmD/PhD programs. 

Aelon Ketema Samuel

Research Assistant

Email: as4056@georgetown.edu 

Aelon joined the Ostroumov lab as a Research Assistant in October 2022. She graduated in May 2022 with a bachelor's, majoring in Neurobiology and minoring in Studio-Art. During her undergrad, Aelon used boolean modeling to simulate the neuronal cell cycle and resulting cell-fates of an aberrant cell cycle entry (associated with Alzheimer's disease). In the Ostroumov lab, Aelon learned multiple experimental approaches and she plans to apply for graduate school in Behavioral/Cognitive neuroscience. 

Ajay Uprety, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Email: au183@georgetown.edu

Ajay graduated in May 2009 from the University of Arizona with a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology. During both undergraduate studies and after graduating, Ajay worked in Dr. Carol Barnes’ Lab, performing multi-single unit recordings in awake freely behaving rats studying normal aging related changes to learning and memory. After this, Ajay joined the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the Boston University School of Medicine to pursue his PhD. Ajay’s dissertation work involved examining inflammaging and its effects on cognition in the rhesus monkey. Ajay finished his PhD in July 2021, and  joined our lab to return to his electrophysiological roots with an interest in studying changes to neural circuits and reward processing in models of neuropsychiatric disorders. 

Joyce Woo

Graduate Student

Email: jw1936@georgetown.edu  

Joyce is a graduate student in the Pharmacology and Physiology program who joined the lab in June 2021. Joyce graduated from NYU with a Bachelor’s in Neuroscience in May 2020. Previously, Joyce worked in the Sullivan Lab at NYU Langone and Nathan Kline Institute, where she looked at the neural circuits underlying lasting social deficits after early life adversity. Her current research interests include: electrophysiology, behavioral neuroscience, neural plasticity, development, and computational neuroscience. 

Anna Pearson

Graduate Student

Anna earned her BA in Neuroscience with minors in Biology and Psychology from DePauw University in May of 2020. At DePauw, Anna worked with Dr. Henning Schneider to study behavioral responses to nicotine and vaping liquids in zebrafish. After graduating, Anna received a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research at the Section on Behavioral Neuroscience. Under the supervision of Dr. Yogita Chudasama, she worked with rodents and non-human primates to investigate the development of social-executive behavior. In 2022, Anna joined Georgetown’s Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience as a PhD student. Her dissertation research seeks to understand changes in neural activity that result from drug addiction using electrophysiology, behavior, and machine learning analysis techniques.

Helena Schuch

Graduate Student

Helena (Elena) joined the lab in May 2023 as a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience. Helena graduated from the University of Brasilia (UnB) with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a M.S. in Health Sciences: Neuroscience. During her time at UnB, Helena worked in a neurophysiology lab characterizing the impacts of fasting upon epileptic seizures induced in rodents, and the modulation of these effects through endocannabinoid administration. Helena’s current interests involve investigating the underlying neuro dynamics of social anxiety and its interconnections to addiction and learning processes.

Irene Chang

Undergraduate Student

Irene is an undergraduate student at Georgetown University in the class of 2024. She is a Neurobiology major and Public Health minor on the pre-med track. She is a part of the Georgetown Orchestra as a bassoonist and a board member for the Lombardi Ensemble Association for Patients that brings music of Georgetown students to patients at the Lombardi Cancer Center and across the D.C. area. 

Anna Douglas

Undergraduate Student

Anna is in the class of 2024 at Georgetown University where she is studying Neurobiology and Fine Art. Along with working at the Ostromouv lab, she is an avid horseback rider who competes in Dressage. She also leads a free sexual education initiative that provides free sexual education programming to schools in the DC area and creates connections between high school students and university students to generate spaces for difficult conversations about sex.