Hi! I’m Cesiah and I’m a Neuroscience major in the class of 2022.

As a Beckman Scholar, I carried out a thesis project my senior year on the effects of stress on the vaginal and gut microbiomes in female mice. After graduation, I spent the summer at Mayo Clinic headquarters in Dr. Marina Walther-Antonio's lab, where I learned the ins and outs of microbiome diversity analysis. I will be continuing my journey in research at Baylor College of Medicine in Dr. Elizabeth Zuniga-Sanchez's lab, which focuses on the development of synaptic specificity using the mouse retina as a model system.

Before joining the lab, I participated in summer research at MD Anderson Cancer Center investigating the effects of delta-catenin proteins on the morphology and development of neurites. I then joined the Tetel Lab in the fall of my sophomore year through the SERP program and studied the effects of the gut microbiome on anxiety and weight gain in female mice, and continued in the lab for the rest of my time at Wellesley. 

In addition to participating in the lab, I was also part of Wellesley Aiko, a taiko group on campus, and am in Wellesley Posse 2. Being a posse scholar allowed me to have a support system and foster a safe space on campus for diverse discourse. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, cooking, and going out to find cool new places to eat!