Former Students

Jonathan Kim, PhD 2019
Postdoctoral Researcher
Mancia Lab, Columbia University

Thesis: Structural Investigation of Plasmodium falciparum Chloroquine Resistance Transporter in the Context of Anti-malarial Drug Resistance
Advisor: Filippo Mancia

Michael Holsey, PhD 2019
Project Manager
Digital, Merck

Thesis: Density-Dependent Mu Opioid Receptor Function Revealed by Single-Molecule Microscopy
Advisor: Jonathan Javitch

John Smerdon, PhD 2019
Research Administration Fellow
VP&S, Columbia University

Thesis: Axon Initial Segment Plasticity in Mouse Models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Advisor: Hynek Wichterle

Meagan Belcher Dufrisne, PhD 2018
Postdoctoral Researcher
Columbus Lab, University of Virgina

Structural and Functional Investigation of Bacterial Membrane Biosynthesis
Advisor: Filippo Mancia

Frances Forrester, PhD 2018
Director
Business Development, Boston University

Thesis:The Role of Modified UNC-68 in Age-related Caenorhabditis elegans Muscle Function Loss
Advisor: Andrew Marks

Tal Lorberbaum, PhD 2017
Biomedical Scientist
Apple

Thesis: Discovering New Drug-Drug Interactions Using Data Science: Applications to Drug-Induced Long QT Syndrome
Advisor: Nicholas Tatonetti

Jyun-You Liou, MD,PhD 2017
Anesthesiology Resident Physician
New York Presbyterian- WCMC

Thesis: The Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Human Focal Seizures
Advisor: Larry Abbott

Timothy Kernan, PhD 2016
Associate Director
Endless Frontiers Lab

Thesis: Tools and Methods to Engineer the Industrial Microorganism Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans
Henry Colecraft

Benjamin Choi, PhD 2015
Postdoctoral Fellow
Desplan Lab, New York University

Thesis: Regulation of Synapse Development by Miniature Neurotransmission in vivo
Advisor:Brian McCabe

Donald Chang, PhD 2015
MD Candiate
University of Queensland-Ochsner Clinical School
Thesis: The Regulation and Function of RGK Proteins on Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel Physiology
Advisor: Henry Colecraft

Alisa Umanskaya, PhD 2014
Vice President of Brand Development
Brand Institute

Thesis: Physiological and pathophysiological regulation of the ryanodine receptor in skeletal muscle
Advisor: Andrew Marks

Timothy Spellman, PhD 2014
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
New York Presbyterian-WCMC

Thesis: Modulation of Hippocampal-Prefrontal Circuitry During Spatial Working Memory
Advisor: Josh Gordon

Amit Duvshani, PhD 2014
Intern
Technology Ventures and Partnerships Office, New York University
Thesis: Structural Studies of the Ryanodine Receptor and Its Binding Protein, Calstabin
Advisor: Andrew Marks

Ying Wang, PhD 2014
Postdoctoral Fellow
Stanford University School of Medicine

Thesis: Roles of Macrophage Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress and Mitochondrial Fission in Atherosclerosis
Advisor: Ira Tabas

Spiro Pantazatos, PhD 2013
Assistant Professor of Clninical Neurobiology in Psychiatry
Columbia University
Thesis: Large-scale functional connectivity in the human brain reveals fundamental mechanisms of cognitive, sensory and emotion processing in health and psychiatric disorders
Advisor: Joy Hirsch

Julia Sommer, PhD 2011
Senior Staff Scientist
Simons Foundation

Thesis: Control of neuronal circuit assembly by GTPase regulators
Advisor: Peter Scheiffele

Sadna Buhdu, PhD 2010
Research Fellow
Memorial Sloan Kettering

Thesis: CD8+ T-cell concentration determines the efficiency of killing of cognate antigen-expressing syngeneic mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo
Advisor: Samuel Silverstein

Suzhao Li, PhD 2009
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Colorado

Thesis: Mechanisms of efferocytosis and its role in atherosclerosis
Advisor: Alan Tall

John Robert Bankston, PhD 2009
Postdoctoral Researcher
Zagotta Lab, University of Washington

Thesis: Structure, function, and pharmacology of the cardiac sodium channel: Implications for the Long QT syndrome
Advisor: Rober Krass

Thomas John Fralich, MD,PhD 2009
Emergency Physicians of the Rockies
Colorado Health System

Thesis: Roles of brain proteoglycans and neuroglia in amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition and clearance in Alzheimer’s disease
Advisor: Samuel Silverstein

Serena Carolyn Tan, PhD 2009
Thesis: The role of cytoplasmic dynein light intermediate chains in dynein-mediated transport, mitosis, and neural precursor migration
Advisor: Richard Vallee

David Castaneda-Castellanos, MD, PhD 2008
Thesis:Mammalian Par3 and Numb roles in radial glial cells asymmetric cell division during neocortical development
Advisor: Arnold Kriegstein

Rujin Tian, PhD 2007
Thesis: Putative mechanisms of Alexander disease, an astrocytic encephalopathy caused by a mutation in GFAP
Advisor: James Goldman

Benny Chih, PhD 2006
Thesis: The control of glutamatergic and GABAergic synapse formation by neuroligins
Advisor: Peter Scheiffele

Yan-Shan Dai, PhD 2004
Thesis: Role of the bHLH transcription factor HAND2 in sympathetic neuron development
Advisor: Peter Cserjesi

Cristovao Albuquerque, MBA, PhD 2003
Thesis: Calcium -permeable AMPA receptors as pathways for synaptic calcium influx in dorsal horn neurons
Advisor: Amy MacDermott

Justin Changooon Lee, PhD 2001
Thesis: The expression and function of kainate and AMPA receptors in nociceptive dorsal root ganglion neurons
Advisor: Amy MacDermott

JoAnn Marie Gensert, PhD 2000
Thesis: Glial progenitors in adult brain: Characteristics and role in repair
Advisor: James Goldman

Chuan Hu, PhD 2000
Thesis: LRP, the laminin receptor precursor, is an adhesion molecule for endothelial and smooth muscle cells
Advisor: Qais Al-Awqati