welcome 2020 INSTITUTE GRADUATE NEUROSCIENCE TRAINING PROGRAM SCHOLARS
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: Elan Barenholtz, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Carmen Varela, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Summer Sheremata, Ph.D.
posei2020@fau.edu
BS Business Management & Real Estate, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
"I am so excited to be starting my Ph.D. studies with the GNTP in the Fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, I majored in Business Management and Real Estate at Florida State University in Tallahassee. I am particularly interested in visual perception as it relates to decision making in complex environments encountered during athletic team competitions. I plan to train artificial intelligence agents via reinforcement learning that can measure the decision-making processes of individuals facing a complex and dynamic environment and subsequently improve their ability to act effectively in such situations.
I am excited to be able to work and learn in my lab rotations under the guidance of Dr. Elan Barenholtz, Dr. Carmen Varela, and Dr. Summer Sheremata. . I was attracted to the GNTP because of the interdisciplinary approach to solving today's most pressing issues by consolidating the expertise from the areas of psychology, biology, and computational neuroscience. I hope you will consider joining our program!"
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Experimental Psychology
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: Summer Sheremata, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Gizelle Anzures, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Alan Kersten, Ph.D.
lpugh2020@fau.edu
BS Neuroscience, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA
“I am so thrilled to move to sunny south Florida to start my doctoral studies with the GNTP in the Fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, I majored in Neuroscience at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and am particularly interested in cognition and working memory and their relation to neurological diseases. My lab rotations will be under the guidance of Drs. Summer Sheremata, Gizelle Anzures, and Alan Kersten. I was attracted to the GNTP because of the ability to explore different interests and collaborate with other labs on projects. I hope you will consider joining our program!”
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Integrative Biology/Neuroscience
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: Erik Duboue, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: TBD
Lab Rotation: TBD
awalsh2020@fau.edu
MS Experimental & Clinical Neuroscience, University of Regensburg, Germany
MA Environmental Health & Toxicology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
BS Animal Science & Marine Biology, Auburn University, AL
“I am a 1st year student entering through the GNTP in the Fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, I majored in Animal Science and Marine Biology at Auburn University in Alabama. As a masters graduate I majored in Environmental Health and Toxicology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a 2 nd masters with a major in Experimental and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Regensburg in Germany. I am looking forward to my first lab rotation with Dr. Erik Duboue. I hope you will consider joining our program!”
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Integrative Biology/Neuroscience
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: Randy Blakely, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Erik Duboue, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Lucia Carvelli, Ph.D.
smclaughlin2020@fau.edu
BS Biology/Neuroscience/Chemistry, Lycoming College, PA
“I am looking forward to joining the GNTP in the Fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, I majored in Biology with a minor in Neuroscience and Chemistry at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, and am particularly interested in the cellular and molecular basis of drug addiction and mental illness. I am looking forward to my lab rotations that will be under the guidance of Dr. Randy Blakely, Erik Duboue, and Dr. Lucia Carvelli. I was attracted to the GNTP because of their partnership with the best research institutes in the world as well as the research aligning with my specific research interest. I hope you will consider joining our program!”
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Integrative Biology/Neuroscience
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: Lucia Carvelli, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Ning Quan, Ph.D.
Lab Rotation: Lawrence Toll, Ph.D.
madelinemart2020@fau.edu
MS Neuroscience, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
BS Neuroscience & Cognitive Science emphasis Neurobiology, University of Arizona
“I am excited to join the GNTP in the Fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, I majored in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science with an emphasis in Neurobiology at the University of Arizona. As a masters student, I majored in Neuroscience at Tulane University, in New Orleans, Louisiana. I am particularly interested in the neurobiological changes resulting from alcohol and substance use, and the epigenetic component of addiction. I will be in lab rotations with Drs. Lucia Carvelli, Ning Quan, and Lawrence Toll. I was attracted to the GNTP because of its extensive core facilities and collaborative culture. This is a great program you should apply!”
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: William Alexander, Ph.D./Collaboration with the Oxford University
Lab Rotation: William Hahn, Ph.D., Machine Perception & Cognitive Robotics Laboratory
Lab Rotation: Sarah Stern, Ph.D. @ Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI)
shoover2016@fau.edu
BS Mathematics, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
“I am a 1st year student entering through the GNTP in the Fall of 2020. As an undergraduate, I majored in Mathematics at Florida Atlantic University, and my interest in Neuroscience are mathematical models of Reinforcement Learning Agents and Artificial Intelligence. I have secured my GNTP lab rotations, with Dr. William Alexander, and Dr. William Hahn where they will use mathematics to predict and control the behavior of generally intelligent, artificial agents, and with Dr. Sarah Stern where my final rotation will be on the Jupiter campus at MPFI.”
"I was attracted to the GNTP because of the intercollegiate training which combines mathematics and neuroscience to understand generally intelligent agents. Additionally, I am excited to perform research at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience.”
“I hope you will apply for this program!”
Entered: Graduate Neuroscience Training Program 2020
Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Mentor: Unassigned
Lab Rotation: TBD
akatz2015@fau.edu
MS Biomedical Engineering, Boston University
MS Anatomy, Saint Louis University, MO
BA History/Chemistry, New York University
“I will be a first year student entering through the GNTP in the Fall of 2021. As an undergraduate, I majored in History with a minor in Chemistry at New York University. As a masters graduate I majored in Anatomy at Saint Louis University, and later earned a 2nd master’s degree from Boston University where I majored in Biomedical Engineering. I am particularly interested in the Brain's response to trauma, both acute and chronic as well as engineering based therapeutic modalities to assist patients afflicted with such brain injuries and diseases. I chose to join the Brain Institute as a student in the Complex Systems and Brain Sciences wing of the Graduate Neuroscience Training Program in order to take advantage of the rich resources the Institute and University has to offer. The talented and welcoming faculty, along with the scientific crosstalk and collaborations with Scripps and Max Planck, makes for a nourishing research environment . I hope you will consider joining our program!”