People

Brendon Watson, MD-PhD

  • Physician-scientist with an interest in both basic neuroscience and translational neuroscience

  • PhD with Dr. Rafael Yuste studying cortical microcircuit dynamics using calcium imaging (Columbia University)

  • Postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. György Buzsaki studying cortical circuits in sleep and wake cycles of freely behaving animals using silicon probes (New York University)

  • Practicing general psychiatrist at University of Michigan (website). MD from Columbia University. Psychiatry residency at Cornell University Medical Center / New York Presbyterian Hospital

  • Twitter profile

  • CV Download

  • Google Scholar page

  • University of Michigan Experts profile

Jeremiah Hartner, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

  • PhD in Neuroscience from Tulane University with Dr. Laura Schrader: studied the effects of stress hormones on cell circuitry in the entorhinal cortex using patch clamp electrophysiology.

  • Expertise in rodent behavior, electrophysiology, entorhinal anatomy and entorhinal-hippocampal connectivity

Tangyu Liu, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

  • PhD in Biophysics, The Ohio State University, 2016 with Dr. Janet Best: Decoding and incorporating estrogen and pulsatile GnRH signals into a mathematical model of hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary system.

  • Expertise in mathematical modeling, analytical coding, quantitative approaches

  • MS in Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

  • BS in Electrophysics, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

Lezio Soares Bueno-Júnior, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Biologist, MSc in Psychobiology, and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, with Drs. Jose Lino O. Bueno, Rodrigo N. Romcy-Pereira, and Joao Pereira Leite.

  • Postdoc with Drs. Bita Moghaddam (University of Pittsburgh) and Joao Pereira Leite (University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto).

  • Background (rodent studies): thalamic- and hippocampal-prefrontal interactions, in vivo synaptic plasticity, nicotine sensitization, cholinergic modulation, psychiatric comorbidities in epilepsy, conditional discrimination, interval timing.

  • Experienced in teaching, music, and science awareness. Interested in the collaboration with computational neuroscientists.

  • Google Scholar Page: https://scholar.google.com.br/citations?user=O_uVH7gAAAAJ&hl=pt-BR

  • Currently engaged in two mouse studies: (1) temporal structure of REM sleep in terms of theta frequency and rapid movements, and (2) laminar cortical activity across arousal states and learning. Techniques include intrinsic imaging of the brain, chronic implantation of silicon probes, transcortical electrophysiology, whisker and eye videography, 3D printing, programming of behavioral hardware, and data analysis.

Tia Tsimpanouli, PhD - Collaborating Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Background in sleep and memory consolidation

  • Science Communication Fellow @UMMNH

  • Current interest in the role of sleep in neurodegenerative disorders in both humans and rodent genetic models

Maxwell Ruckstuhl - Doctoral Student, Neuroscience

  • BS in Physiology & Neuroscience from UCSD

  • Additional studies in Cognitive Science and Philosophy

  • Studied gene expression in the Sejnowski lab at the Salk Institute

Ivo Cerda - Masters Student, Biomedical Engineering

  • BS in Biology from University of Michigan

  • Pre-medical

  • Focused on multi-dimensional measurement of behavior and electrophysiology in mice over weeks

Josh Ghimire - Technician

  • Michigan State University Class of 2015

  • Masters in Physiology, University of Michigan, 2020

  • Background in microbial ecology and bioremediation, MSU Center for Microbial Ecology

Ridge Weston - Undergraduate Researcher

  • University of Michigan class of 2022

  • Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience

  • Co-President of Blood Drives United

  • Auditor and Treasurer-elect of Alpha Chi Sigma, U of M professional chemistry fraternity

  • Background in studying the effects of repeated ketamine dosing on rodents

  • Current activities: Mouse neurosurgery


Deniz Kirca - Undergraduate Researcher

  • University of Michigan class of 2024

  • Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Neuroscience with a minor in Computer Science

  • Background in studying neurobiological underpinnings of stress in mice


Alumni

Paul Fitzgerald, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow

  • Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, studied somatosensory cortex with the late Dr. Steven Hsiao

  • Postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health studying fear circuitry with Dr. Andrew Holmes

  • Postdoctoral fellowship at Texas A&M University studying interactions of fear circuitry with neuromodulatory systems with Dr. Stephen Maren.

  • Interest in both basic and translational neuroscience

  • Expertise in rodent brain electrophysiology, behavior and limbic system function

  • CV Download

Wenjia Cao - Masters Student - Bioinformatics


Mingxin Ding - Technician

  • Masters in Biology from New York University

  • Now at the Brandeis University PhD program in Neuroscience

Jessica Yen - Undergraduate Researcher

  • Undergraduate student at the University of Michigan Class of 2021

Andrew Polis - Undergraduate Researcher

  • University of Michigan Class of 2020

Abheek Mukherjee - Undergraduate Researcher

  • University of Michigan Class of 2021

  • Pre-medical student working towards a B.S. in Neuroscience (BCN).

  • Background in studying mitochondrial movements in a LRRK2 mouse model

Pho Hale - Technician

  • BS in Computer Engineering with Honors from University of Kansas

  • Now in the UMich Neuroscience PhD program.