People

Photo by David

Photo by David

 

Katherine Nagel, PI

Katherine Nagel started her lab at NYU School of Medicine in 2014, after receiving her PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF with Allison Doupe, and pursuing postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School with Rachel Wilson. Before focusing on Drosophila, she worked on central pattern generators and auditory processing, always combining experiments with computational modeling. She has always been fascinated by biological complexity, by neural dynamics, and by the intricate interactions between molecules, cells, and circuits that give rise to behavior. Outside the lab she raises two spirited children with her husband David, and stays sane by making artwork and clothing.

Current Lab Members

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Nick Kathman, postdoc

Nick did his graduate work with Roy Ritzmann studying visual motion processing in the cockroach central brain and a postdoc with Jessica Fox looking at how mechanosensory representations from the fly haltere are integrated with visual motion in the central brain. In his free time he enjoys swimming, playing tennis, and exploring the city.

 
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Hannah Gattuso, PhD student

Hannah earned a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. While at NJIT she worked with Eric Fortune studying multi-sensory control of locomotion in weakly electric fish. Outside of the lab, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, playing arcade games and indulging in desserts.

 

Jacob Freed, RA

Jacob completed his B.S. in Neuroscience and Applied Mathematics from the University of Nevada, Reno in the spring of 2023. During this time, he studied applied probability models to neuroscience problems with Dr. Deena Schmidt. In his spare time, Jacob likes to play the piano, bake cookies, and go for walks

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Christina May, postdoc

Christina completed her PhD with Monica Dus at the University of Michigan studying the influence of dietary sugar on taste and feeding behavior. In addition to science, she enjoys baking, gardening, reading, and being outdoors with her husband and their dog, Whisky.

 
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Aaron Lanz, PhD student

Aaron completed his BSc and MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Calgary where he studied synaptic regulation of the stress response with Dr. Jaideep Bains and Dr. Grant Gordon. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing soccer, exploring the outdoors/city, and playing board games.

 

Kavin Nuñez, postdoc

Kavin completed his PhD work with Karla Kaun at Brown University studying how hunger affects olfactory memory processing and retrieval for ethanol associated cues. Outside of research, he enjoys practicing martial arts, baking, exploring the outdoors, and hanging out with his significant other and their dog.

 
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Theresa Steele, PhD student

Theresa earned her BA in Neuroscience from Reed College where she worked with Erik Zornik studying sexual dimorphism in the vocal pattern generator of Xenopus frogs. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking too much food and hoarding house plants.

Ryan Farrell, postdoc

Ryan completed his PhD with Tim Ryan at The Rockefeller University leveraging optical indicators to study the role of Presenilins in controlling neurotransmission. Outside the lab he enjoys hiking, baking, reading, theatre and walking his dog Benny.

 

Beatriz de la Rea, RA

Beatriz completed her B.S in Neural Science from New York University. In Summer 2021, she worked with Dr. Shelly Flagel at the University of Michigan studying the neurobiology underlying individual differences in associative behaviors. She enjoys going to coffee shops, crocheting, reading, and spending time with friends.

Alumni

 

Marie Suver, Postdoc

Current position: Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University

Andrew Matheson, PhD student

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Tosches Lab, Columbia University

Tim Currier, PhD student

Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Clandinin Lab, Stanford University

Ashley Medina, Research Associate

Current Position: Research Associate, Komiyama Lab, UCSD

David Fox, Postdoc

Current Position: Data Scientist/Software Engineer

Al Licata, PhD student

Current Position: Case Manager, Long Island Coalition for the Homeless

Efrén Álvarez-Salvado, Postdoc

Current position: Lab Manager, Ehrlich Lab, UW Madison

Katie Eyring, PhD student

Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Geschwind Lab, UCLA

Uche Anene, Research Associate

Current position: Development Engineer, Intel