Research Interest: Neurodevelopmental Disorders
| Name | PhD Program | Research Interest | Publications |
|---|---|---|
| Yang, En WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
The EnYang Lab explores interdisciplinary fields to unravel the intricate workings of neural networks within the brain, focusing on how they execute computations, foster imagination, and respond to emotional states. Using larval zebrafish as an animal model, the lab observes, decodes, and perturbs the entire neural networks at single-cell resolution during cognitive tasks. Through the integration of whole-brain imaging, brain-machine interface (BMI), Virtual Reality, optogenetic manipulation, deep learning, and other modern technologies, the lab aims to decipher cognitive abilities in the brain and translate findings into engineering solutions, potentially impacting fields like learning disorders and psychiatric management. |
| Chen, Jiakun WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
The goal of our research is to understand how astrocytes develop and how they interact with neural elements during nervous system formation, function, and maintenance. Our lab uses fruit fly Drosophila and zebrafish Danio rerio to explore fundamental aspects of astrocyte biology. We leverage the powerful genetics and unparalleled molecular toolsets in flies to uncover gene function, and we exploit the advanced live-imaging techniques in zebrafish to study astrocyte-neuron interactions in vivo. |
| Girault, Jessica WEBSITE PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
We are a lab using state-of-the art neuroimaging techniques to study brain development and its links to emerging cognition and behavior in young infants and children. We study both typically developing infants and those at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. We are particularly interested in how family study designs can help us understand genetic influences on brain development. |
| Vetreno, Ryan PUBLICATIONS |
PHD PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST |
My research interests involve investigation of proinflammatory neuroimmune and epigenetic mechanisms in animal models of developmental neurobiology and neurodegeneration, including (1) alcohol pharmacology, (2) alcohol responsivity and tolerance, (3) adolescent neurodevelopment, (4) cholinergic system and neurocircuitry, (5) microglial function, and (6) Alzheimer’s disease. A major focus of the laboratory is elucidation of neuroimmune and epigenetic mechanisms underlying adolescent binge alcohol-induced disruption of basal forebrain cholinergic neurocircuitry in adulthood. A second major focus of the laboratory is investigation of lasting adolescent binge drinking-induced neuroimmune priming as a novel etiological factor contributing to the onset and progression of basal forebrain neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease. Our laboratory combines ex vivo and in vivo rodent models of alcohol abuse and Alzheimer’s disease with innovative molecular techniques. |