CNUP Alumni

Mandar Aras, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Elias Aizenman; Thesis: Zinc Signaling in Neuronal Tolerance; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Armen Arevian, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Nathan Urban; Thesis: Dynamic connectivity in the mouse olfactory bulb; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Debra Artim, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Stephen Meriney; Thesis: Somatostatin-mediated inhibition of calcium currents; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
James Bales, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2010; Mentor: Dr. C. Edward Dixon; Thesis: Dopamine and cAMP Regulated Phosphoprotein, 32 kDA: A Novel Therapeutic in Traumatic Brain Injury; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Layla Banihashemi, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Linda Rinaman; Thesis: Early life experience alters stress-related brain circuits: Effects of repeated brief postnatal maternal separation on central autonomic pathways; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Rebecca Berman, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Carol Colby; Thesis: When the brain is split, is space still unified?; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institutes of Health
Joel Brown, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Bill Yates; Thesis: The brain's map and compass: Neural substrates of spatial cognition in the rat; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Dartmouth University
Deanne Buffalari, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Anthony Grace; Thesis: Noradrenergic modulation of the basolateral amygdala: Alterations by stress exposure; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh
Jason Castro, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Nathan Urban; Thesis: Dendritic neurotransmitter release and its modulation in accessory olfactory bulb circuits; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Vanessa Chan, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Robert Turner; Thesis: The behavioral and neurophysiologic effects of acute dopamine receptor blockade in the macaque striatum; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Nadia Chaudhri, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Alan Sved; Thesis: Complex interactions between nicotine and nonpharmacological stimuli reveal a novel role for nicotine in reinforcement; Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Concordia University
Soyoun Cho, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Stephen Meriney; Thesis: Experimental and computational studies of calcium-triggered transmitter release.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Oregon Health Sciences University
Richard Clarke, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Jon Johnson; Thesis: Slow magnesium unblock and inherent voltage dependence of NMDA receptors; Current position: McKinsey & Company
Amanda Clause, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Karl Kandler; Thesis: Development and behavioral significance of precise tonotopy in an inhibitory circuit of the auditory brainstem; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Annie D. Cohen, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Michael Zigmond; Thesis: Role of exercise and GDNF in an animal model of Parkinson's Disease; Implications for neuroprotection; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Michael W. Cole, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Walter Schneider; Thesis: The biological basis of rapid instructed task learning; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University, St. Louis
Lesley Colgan, Ph.D.: Graduated: April 2009; Mentor: Dr. Edwin Levitan; Thesis: Trafficking and activity dependent function of vesicular transporters; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Kathleen Cosgrove, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2010; Mentor: Dr. German Barrionuevo; Thesis: High affinity group III mGluRs regulate mossy fiber input to CA3 interneurons; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University
Trinity Crapse, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Marc Sommer; Thesis: Neuronal mechanisms for evaluating the visual scene across eye movements; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University,
Allison Curley, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. David Lewis; Thesis: Cortical glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 expression in Schizophrenia: Defining the deficit; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Emily Drill, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Paula Monaghan-Nichols; Thesis: Deciphering the role of tlx in dorsal neural progenitors and its contribution to brain structure and behavior; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
April Dukes, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Teresa Hastings; Thesis: The role of dopamine oxidation in dopamine-induced toxicity, iniation of endoplasmic reticulum stress, and potentiation of rotenone-induced toxiticy in differentiated PC12 cells.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Catherine A. Dunn, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Carol Colby; Thesis: How the brain constructs stable visual representations: Cortical and subcortical mechanisms.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University.
Nicole Edgar, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Etienne Sibille; Thesis: Beyond neurons: The role of the oligodendrocyte-specific gene CNP1 in major depressive disorder; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Stephen M. Eggan, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2007; Mentor: Dr. David Lewis; Thesis: Cannabinoid CB1 receptor: Role in primate prefrontal circuitry and schizophrenia.; Current position:
Christopher M. Elitt, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Brian Davis; Thesis: Artemin regulates nociceptor responses to thermal and chemical stimuli; Current position: Pediatrics/Child Neurology Resident, Children's Hospital, Boston
Aura F. Ene, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2003; Mentor: Dr. Karl Kandler; Thesis: Cellular mechanisms underlying glutamatergic calcium responses in developing auditory brainstem neurons.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Urogenix, Inc., Durham, NC
Patrick M. Fisher, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Julie Price; Thesis: In vivo assessment of serotonergic signaling pathways underlying the corticolimbic response to threat in humans; Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Center for Integrated Molecular Brain Imaging, Neurobiology Research Unit, Copenhagen, Denmark
George Fraser, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Andy Schwartz; Thesis: New frontiers in population recording; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Emerald Therapeutics
Christopher Gaiteri, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Etienne Sibille; Thesis: Finding the pathology of major depression through gene interaction networks; Current position: Network Biologist, Sage Bionetworks
Richard Gerkin, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Guo-qiang Bi; Thesis: Synaptic Plasticity and Hebbian Cell Assemblies; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University
Christin Glorioso, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Etienne Sibille; Thesis: Between destiny and disease: genetics and molecular pathways of CNS aging; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Sara Guediche, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Julie Fiez; Thesis: Adaptive processes in speech perception: Contributions from cerebral and cerebellar cortices; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Brown University
Alexandra A. Gulacsi, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Laura Lillien; Thesis: Regulation of telencephalic interneuron development; Current position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Cornell University Medical School
Adam L. Halberstadt, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Carey Balaban; Thesis: Anatomical characterization of serotonergic and nonserotonergic projections from the dorsal raphe nucleus to the vestibular nuclei; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Diego
Laura Heiser, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Carol Colby; Thesis: Spatial updating in parietal cortex: Accessing visual information beyond the bounds of the classic receptive field; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UCLA
Greta Ann Herin, Ph.D,: Graduated: December, 2003; Mentor: Dr. Elias Aizenman; Thesis: Studies on the role of the N-terminal domain of NR1 in the redox modulation of NR2A-containing NMDA receptors; Current position: Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Eastern Mennonite University
Yeung Ho, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Donald DeFranco; Thesis: Regulation of protein phosphatases in oxidatively stressed neurons; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Chinese University of Hong Kong, PRC
Ericka Holmstrand, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Susan Sesack; Thesis: Heterogeneity of high-affinity choline transporter expression and localization in limbic projections of the cholinergic tegmentum; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center,
Michael P. Jankowski, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Kathy Albers; Thesis: Neuron survival, axon growth and the transcription factor SRY-Box containing Gene 11 (SOX-11); Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Brian Jian, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Bill Yates; Thesis: Vestibular compensation: A spinovestibular mediated process; Current position: Resident, Neurological Surgery Department, University of California at San Francisco
Zheng Jing, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Robert Bowser; Thesis: The localization of c-Abl in Alzheimer's disease; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Vivek Khatri, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Daniel J. Simons; Thesis: Effects of adaptation in a somatosensory thalamocortical circuit neurobiology; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Hunter College
Gunsoo Kim, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Karl Kandler; Thesis: Refinement of inhibitory circuits during development of the mammalian auditory brainstem; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco
J. Darwin King, Jr., Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Stephen Meriney; Thesis: Action potential gating of calcium channels and transmitter release.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Shawn L. Kotermanski, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Jon Johnson; Thesis: Mechanism of block and behavioral effects of the NMDA receptor antagonists memantine and ketamine; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Duquesne University
Niccole J. Larsen, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Teresa Hastings; Thesis: Mechanisms of dopaminergic neurotoxin-induced blood brain barrier disruption.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Patryk A. Laurent, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Erik Reichle; Thesis: Basal ganglia involvement in the reinforcement learning of physical and cognitive actions; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
Hanmi Lee, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Karl Kandler; Thesis: Role of GABA/glycine depolarization and hyperpolarization in neonatal circuit development; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
SooHyun Lee, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Daniel Simons; Thesis: Motor cortex regulation of thalamic-cortical activity in the somatosensory system.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, New York University School of Medicine
David Levinthal, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Don DeFranco; Thesis: Mechanisms promoting ERK-dependent neuronal oxidative stress; Current position: Medical Resident, University of Michigan School of Medicine
Chen Li, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2007; Mentor: Dr. John Horn; Thesis: Cellular specialization of synaptic integration in a mammalian sympathetic ganglion.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Stony Brook University, New York
Witek Lipski, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Anthony Grace; Thesis: Role of locus coeruleus and amygdala projections to ventral subiculum in stress regulation; Current position: Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh
Zhenyu Liu, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Michael Cascio; Thesis: GlyBP: A structural model of the extracellular domain of human A1 glycine receptor.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles
Fujun Luo, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Stephen Meriney; Thesis: Experimental and Monte Carlo studies of CA²⁺ channel function and fast transmitter release at presynaptic active zones of the frog neuromuscular junction; Current position:
Yue Luo, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Donald DeFranco; Thesis: Divergent roles for the ERK1/2 signaling pathway in neuronal oxidative stress; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Greenwood Genetic Center, Greenwood, SC
Jamie G. Maldonado-Aviles, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2008; Mentor: Dr. David Lewis; Thesis: Altered markers of tonic inhibition in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia; Current position: Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University
J. Patrick Mayo, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Marc Sommer; Thesis: Neuronal encoding of brief time intervals in the visual system; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University School of Medicine
Cyrus McCandless, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Carey Balaban; Thesis: Responses of parabrachial nucleus neurons to whole-body macaque.; Current position: Director of Integrated Research, Merchant Mechanics, New Hampshire
Vince McGinty, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Anthony Grace; Thesis: Amygdala regulation of prefrontal-to-accumbens information flow: Implications for motivation and action; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine
David McMahon, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Carl Olson; Thesis: Effects of stimulus repetition on behavior and single neurons in inferotemporal cortex; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Elisha Merriam, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Carol Colby; Thesis: Spatial updating in human cortex; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, New York University
Paul Middlebrooks, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Marc Sommer; Thesis: Neuronal correlates of metacognition in frontal cortex; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt University
Mala Misra, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Cynthia Lance-Jones; Thesis: Hoxd10 and Hoxd11 regulate motor column patterning in the lumbosacral spinal cord; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
David Moorman, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Carl Olson; Thesis: Representation of object-centered space by neurons of the supplementary eye field; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of South Carolina
Harvey M. Morris, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. David Lewis; Thesis: Alterations in GABA-related transcripts in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia.; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University
David Nauen, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Guo-qiang Bi; Thesis: Investigating Mechanisms of Activity-Dependent Plasticity at Individual Synaptic Contacts; Current position: Medical student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Sumon K. Pal, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Elias Aizenman; Thesis: Potassium channel mediated neuronal apoptosis; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University
Mark Parrish, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2003; Mentor: Dr. Paula Monaghan-Nichols; Thesis: An investigation in the roles of Spalt homologues during murine development.; Current position:
John Pattillo, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2002; Mentor: Dr. Stephen Meriney; Thesis: The relationship between calcium influx and neurotransmitter release: The role of active zone organization studied with Monte Carlo simulations; Current position: Assistant Professor, Biology Department, Macon State College
Patrick Redman, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Elias Aizenman; Thesis: Zinc-dependent potassium channel modulation mediates neuronal apoptosis; Current position: Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Matthew Roesch, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Carl Olson; Thesis: Neural activity related to anticipated reward: Does it represent value or reflect motivation?; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Michael J. Sabatini, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Karoly Mirnics; Thesis: Behavioral and Gene Expression Changes Following Early Social Bond Disruption in the Rhesus Monkey; Current position: Internal Medicine Resident, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Kathleen Salerno, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Kathryn Albers; Thesis: Identification of Transcriptional Targets of the Nerve Injury-Induced Transcription Factor Sox11; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Ranmal Samarasinghe, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Donald DeFranco; Thesis: Non-classical glucocorticoid receptor action regulates gap junction intercellular communication and neural progenitor cell proliferation; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Andrew Samuelsson, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Yan Xu; Thesis: Dissecting the registration and processing of olfactory events during general anesthesia; Current position: Graduate Student, University of Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of Business
Veeral S. Shah, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Cynthia Lance-Jones; Thesis: The role of Hoxd10 in the development of the motoneurons in the posterior spinal cord; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Samuel Shin, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Edward Dixon; Thesis: The effects of nicotine on striatal dopamine signaling after traumatic brain injury; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
SooYoon Shin, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Marc A. Sommer; Thesis: Role of the primate basal ganglia in saccadic eye movements; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco
Beth Siegler Retchless, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2010; Mentor: Dr. Jon Johnson; Thesis: Mechanistic bases of subtype-specific NMDA receptor channel properties; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh,
Amy Sinor, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Laura Lillien; Thesis: Akt regulation of progenitors and stem cells during cortical development.; Current position: Post-doctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School
Kristen Stedenfeld, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Alan Sved; Thesis: Preclinical evidence for the efficacy of angiotensin receptor antagonism in a rodent model of vulnerablity to comorbid depression and cardiovascular disease; Current position:
Ruth Anne Stetler, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2005; Mentor: Dr. Don DeFranco; Thesis: Crosstalk between the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway and protease pathways in a model of glutamate-induced oxidative stress; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
David A. Sturman, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Bita Moghaddam; Thesis: Neural correlates of adolescent behavior; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Stefan Ursu, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Cameron Carter; Thesis: Behavioral control, outcome representation and the human OFC: Basic fMRI findings and relevance for psychopathology; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Davis
Victor Van Laar, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2008; Mentor: Dr. Teresa Hastings; Thesis: Proteomic analysis of dopamine oxidation-induced modifications to mitochondrial proteins: Implications for Parkinson’s disease; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Sriram Venneti, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Clayton Wiley; Thesis: Role for the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor in neuroinflammation of neurodegenerative disorders; Current position: Resident: Anatomic pathology and Neuropathology, University of Pennsylvania
Peter Vosler, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2009; Mentor: Dr. Jun Chen; Thesis: Critical role of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4G degradation in mediating ischemia-induced neuronal death; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Ting Wang: Graduated: August, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Brian Davis; Thesis: Neurturin's role in sensory neuron plasticity; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Shuying Wang, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Kathryn Albers; Thesis: Molecular mechanisms of aging in the peripheral nociceptive system; Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Meghan Wilson, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2011; Mentor: Dr. Robert Bowser; Thesis: Protein biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Characterization and implications for disease pathogenesis; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine