CNUP Alumni

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
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 South Carolina
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, Carnegie Mellon University
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: Postdoctoral Fellow, Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, CA
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:
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
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
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: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Christopher M. Elitt, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2006; Mentor: Dr. Brian Davis; Thesis: Artemin regulates nociceptor responses to thermal and chemical stimuli; Current position: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
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, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Rick 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
Alexandra A. Gulacsi, Ph.D.: Graduated: August, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Laura Lillien; Thesis: Regulation of telencephalic interneuron development; Current position:
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
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
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
Niccole J. Larsen, Ph.D.: Graduated: December, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Teresa Hastings; Thesis: Mechanisms of dopaminergic neurotoxin-induced blood brain barrier disruption.; Current position: Instructor, University of Pittsburgh
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
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
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
Cyrus McCandless, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2007; Mentor: Dr. Carey Balaban; Thesis: Responses of parabrachial nucleus neurons to whole-body macaque.; Current position:
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
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
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
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
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: Medical Student, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
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
Amy Sinor, Ph.D.: Graduated: April, 2004; Mentor: Dr. Laura Lillien; Thesis: Akt regulation of progenitors and stem cells during cortical development.; 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
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
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
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