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.

Christina May, senior scientist

joint with Schoppik lab

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.

Yasha Zaman, RA

Yasha Zaman completed her B.S. in neuroscience with a concentration in neuropsychology at Hofstra University. She spent two years working with Dr. Alison Mello to utilize RNAi silencing techniques to mimic eczema phenotypes in C . el e gans. Prior to joining the Nagel Lab as an RA, she was an intern where she worked on determining the olfactory preference of the marine amphipod Parhyale hawaiensis and identifying tangential neurons in the mini wasp Megaphragma viggiani. Outside of the lab, Yasha loves to journal, bake, and travel to new places.

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.

Jocelyn Hung, RA

Jocelyn completed his BA at Columbia University where he worked with Dr. Qi Wang, studying how to use predictive modeling to identify distinct neural/behavioral states in mice performing a selective detection task. Outside the lab, Jocelyn enjoys playing instruments, tennis, games and watching movies.

Eleni Samara, postdoc

Eleni did her PhD with Alexander Borst at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Munich where she studied the acetylcholine receptors that govern direction-selective responses in T5 visual neurons of Drosophila. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading, skiing, playing tennis and sailing.

Yang Chen, postdoc

Yang completed his Ph.D. with Rebecca Chung-Hui Yang at Duke University studying the neural circuit and molecular mechanisms of non-visual cues-driven spatial learning in Drosophila.  Outside of research, he enjoys playing badminton, ice skating, hiking, and collecting insects.