"I am investigating the cognitive and psychosocial symptomatology associated with long COVID. The objective of my research is to determine the potential therapeutic benefits of photo biomodulation in alleviating symptoms within these domains for long COVID patients, under the mentorship of Dr. Chad Forbes.

During my first year in the NGP I was given the opportunity to rotate with Dr. Julie Pilitsis, Dr. Henriette van Praag, and Dr. Carmen Varela. The lab rotations offered through the neuroscience graduate program (NGP) presented the opportunity to explore various research domains, assisting me in selecting the lab where I am currently conducting my studies with Dr. Forbes. As an undergraduate, I majored in Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. During that time, I worked on a research project aimed to investigate neural and behavioral differences in executive function between bilinguals and monolinguals as well as reveal the relationship between inhibition and linguistic balance.

I was attracted to the Ph.D. Neuroscience program not only because of its cross-disciplinary nature but also due to the unique two-way partnership between FAU and Max Planck. Through NGP I look forward to collaborating across different areas of research and becoming involved in the numerous community outreach programs available through this institution."

"Under the mentorship of Dr. Rodrigo Pena, I am developing a novel framework for creating computational models of neuronal bioenergetics to study the role of bioenergetics in influencing neural morphology and activity. The framework uses insights from neuroscience and thermodynamics to organize existing computational models into a single cell model that accurately reflects bioenergetic constraints. This framework will be used to understand how bioenergetic dysfunction leads to cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.

More generally, I am interested in the problem of “Open-Ended Evolution”, that is, how to create a computer program that, like our universe, starts simple and grows indefinitely complex. Towards that end I use constructor theory to create thermodynamic models of evolutionary processes to gain insight into the precise physical requirements for open-ended evolution.”

"I was excited that I was able to experience three different labs in my rotations with Dr. Wen Shen, Dr. Jang (John) Wu, and Dr. Howard Prentice in my first year in the NGP. I am particularly interested in Neurophysiology, which studies the nervous system function. To be more specific, I am fascinated with studying synapses, which assist in neural communication, and neuroplasticity, concerning the change or reorganization of neural networks. I am also interested in the morphology of neurons, connecting their function to how they are structured. Currently, I am being mentored by Dr. Wen Shen while researching neurons in the mouse retina. Dr. Shen has been assisting me on using electrophysiology techniques, such as voltage clamp and patch-clamp, to study these retinal cells. My goal is to study the neural mechanism of a new subtype of neurons in the mouse retina that expresses the receptor tyrosine kinase by using Cre techniques and intravitreal injections of AAV-GFP to differentiate neuron morphology and different drugs to identify their function and synaptic activity.

I was attracted to the Ph.D. Neuroscience programs because of the ability to have lab rotations. I believe that with these rotations I will gain a lot of research experience and be able to learn new techniques that might assist in my research. In addition to that, I am excited to be part of the FAU Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute community and participate in the growth of Neuroscience research. I hope you will consider being part of our program, and I am looking forward to the future neuroscientists that will join our community."

“I am researching contralateral processing biases in working memory and attention. I am interested in understanding how attentional processes are influenced by uncertainty in the visual environment under the mentorship of Dr. Summer Sheremata. The goal of my research is to further our current understanding of how hemispheric asymmetries permeate human cognitive processes and to provide increased awareness of contralateral processing biases in working memory and attention. The long-term objective of my research is to benefit current therapies for attention and visual processing disorders, specifically attention deficit disorder and dyslexia. During my first year with the NGP, I rotated in labs with Dr. Summer Sheremata, Dr. William Alexander, and Dr. Sammy Hong.

As I received my bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University, I already knew firsthand the amazing opportunities FAU offers and how the faculty truly care for their students. I was attracted to the Ph.D. Neuroscience program because of the impressive list of Brain Institute members from various scientific backgrounds. I chose the Neuroscience Graduate Program because of the amazing opportunities and nurturing educators that this interdisciplinary program offers.”