Jai Yu Principal Investigator

Jai Yu performed postdoctoral research with Loren Frank at the University of California San Francisco, where he used in vivo electrophysiology to investigate the relationship between coordinated hippocampal-cortical activity and memory. As a data scientist at a startup in the San Francisco Bay Area, he analyzed clinical and device data for the development of bioelectronic neuromodulation therapies. For his graduate research with Barry Dickson at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Austria, he used genetic and imaging methods to map a neural circuit in the Drosophila brain. He received a BBiomedSc and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Zac Leveroni Research Associate

Zac studied philosophy and the history of math and science at St. John’s College, Annapolis. His studies there fostered a curiosity with the mind and a reverence for empiricism, which combined led him to the field of neuroscience. Zac was awarded a Hodson Fellowship from St. John’s College prior to his current role.

.

 Nan Zhou Integrative Neuroscience PhD Student

Nan is a 1st year PhD student in the Integrative Neuroscience program. She completed her BA in Chinese Language & Literature at Wuhan University and her MEd at Zhengzhou University. Prior to joining the lab, she received her MA in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University and worked as an RA in the Affect and Cognition Lab under the guidance of Dr. Adam Anderson and Dr. Eve De Rosa. She is currently interested in how the brain forms memories from individual experiences and the neural mechanisms involved in these processes.

Sameera Shridhar Integrative Neuroscience PhD Student

Sameera graduated from Vellore Institute of Technology with a BTech in Biomedical Engineering. Thereafter, she worked as a research assistant at the Indian Institute of Science with Prof. Rishikesh Narayanan where she used computational modeling to understand how systems maintain stability and robustness in the face of environmental stimuli that drive learning. She hopes to gain a deeper understanding of how reactivation of memories can influence the representations of the environment during behavior.

Pinar Toptas Integrative Neuroscience PhD Student

Pinar is a doctoral student in the Integrative Neuroscience program. She received her BA in Psychology from Bogazici University and her MA in Cognitive Psychology from Koc University. During her master’s, she worked with Prof. Fuat Balci in the Timing and Decision Making Laboratory and studied time- and number-based decision making in mice using behavioral paradigms and optogenetic stimulation. Pinar’s current research interests are the neurophysiological mechanisms of learning and memory, and the interaction between multiple brain regions in enabling the ability to learn and remember across different time scales.

Jhan Liufu Data Science Intern (CDAC, Quad Research Fellow, Training Program in Theory and Computation for Next Generation Neuroscientists)

Jhan joined the lab as a 1st-year studying neuroscience and molecular engineering at the University of Chicago. His interest in optogenetics technology and the neural mechanism of memory formation and organization drew him to the lab. John plans hopes to continue in neuroscience and neuroengineering after graduating.

 

Bojun Feng Data Science Intern

Bojun joined the lab as a 1st-year studying computational and applied mathematics at the University of Chicago. His interest in data science naturally turned into an interest in the brain, the most complicated data processor ever known to mankind. This curiosity in the brain as a powerful computing machine drew him to the lab. He hopes to further explore the mechanisms used by the brain to create, store, and edit complex information.

 

Glingna Wang Data Science Intern

Glingna joined the labs as a 2nd-year studying physics and molecular engineering at the University of Chicago. Her interest in computational engineering lead her to the area of brain function and memory mechanism. She wish to continue on problem solving based engineering after graduation.

 
 

Audrey Kaye Research Intern (NESSTP and Stamps Scholar)

Audrey joined the lab as a 1st-year undergraduate studying neuroscience and science communication at the University of Chicago. She was drawn to the lab by an interest in associative memory formation and its role in compulsive decision-making. She aims to investigate the inter-region interactions behind memory formation, reflect upon animal use techniques, and develop her scientific intuition.

 

Anna Poon Data Science Intern

Anna joined the lab as a second-year undergraduate studying data science at the University of Chicago. Her interest in how the brain learns and stores information drew her to the lab, and she is excited to use computational methods to understand memory and decision-making. She looks forward to gaining more experience in research and drawing on data science tools to explore the brain as an information processor.

 

Krish Khanna Data Science Institute Research Intern (DSI)

Krish Khanna is a rising junior at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. His interest in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, and Neuroscience led him to the lab. After High School, he hopes to continue to pursue Data Science, CS, and Statistics, and use his skills to generate valuable insights across multiple fields.

 

 
 

Cedric Haddad Data Science Intern (Neuroscience Metcalf Research Internship)

Cedric joined the lab as a 2nd year undergraduate student studying neuroscience and computer science. He was drawn to the lab by his interest in the computational modeling of the neural underpinnings of learning and memory. He seeks to gain a deeper understanding of data science and the brain as a data processor, as well as to sharpen his scientific intuition, with the goal of eventually applying this knowledge to the development of advanced machine learning and AI models.

 

Yuanhao Li Research Intern

Yuanhao joined lab as a first year majoring in Neuroscience and Computer Science. He is interested in applying computational methods to analyze neural data and to understand the mechanism of cognitive function.

 
 
 

Natalie Gergov Data Science Institute Research Intern (DSI)

Natalie joined the lab as a summer intern as part of DSI’s Summer Lab program. She is a rising sophomore at the College interested in Computer Science and Data Science, particularly in learning how to use computational techniques to draw insights from data.

 
 

Noah Oppermann Data Science Institute Research Intern (DSI)

Noah Oppermann is a rising Senior at Harding University, where he is studying Computer Science and Mathematics. He seeks to gain a better understanding of the brain and use that knowledge to improve machine learning and AI models. When he graduates, he plans on pursuing a doctorate in Computer Science with an emphasis on AI and Human-Computer Interaction.

 
 

Theo Williams Data Science Intern (UChicago Lab School Summer Link)

Theo is a rising senior at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. He was attracted to the lab by his interest in Data Science and Neuroscience and is currently taking a quantitative approach to investigating behavior. In the future, he hopes to apply his knowledge and enthusiasm for Data Science to solve a variety of problems.

 
 

Bennett Scott Hodson Fellow, St. John’s College

Bennett is a recent graduate of St. John’s College where he studied history of math and science and philosophy, and is now on the Hodson Fellowship to work as an intern at UChicago. He is interested in using computational and behavioral methods to understand the neural basis for spatial understanding and memory.

 
 

Former members

Jackie Gutierrez Post-Baccalaureate Student (UChicago PREP)

Jackie graduated from Dominican University with a Neuroscience degree. She joined the lab through the University of Chicago’s post-bac program, PREP. She is interested in the molecular foundations that underlie the brain to produce behavior and thought.

 
 
 

Anmin Yang Data Science Intern

Anmin joined the lab as a second-year student in the Masters in Computational Social Science Program. Prior to joining our team, he served as a research assistant under the guidance of Professor Ke Zhou at Beijing Normal University where he applied machine learning methods on a large-scale fMRI dataset to unveil the neural signatures of feature and spatial attention. His current interest is to explore in-vivo electrophysiology data with a finer spatial and temporal resolution. His goal is to gain deeper insights into how the brain orchestrates interactions among various regions to facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge from everyday experiences.

Dean Casey Data Science Intern

Dean joined the lab as 4th-year Economics and Data Science student with a passion for machine learning and AI. He is very interested in understanding how insights from neuroscience and brain research can inform and advance AI models, especially as we move towards AGI. He focuses on blending economic theory with data science, and seek to understand the mechanisms behind current advanced AI models such as LLMs. Dean’s goal is to understand as much as possible the relationship between human learning and machine learning, and he hopes to contribute to the field of AI in a meaningful and safe manner.

Jared Bendavid Research Intern

Jared joined the lab as a third year undergraduate at the University of Chicago, studying neuroscience and data science. He was drawn to the lab by its interest in the neural mechanisms of memory and learning and its use of methods, such as optogenetics. He looks forward to exploring and further understanding complex neuronal dynamics via interesting data science techniques.

 
 

Amanda Rodríguez-León Research Intern (Leadership Alliance)

Amanda Rodríguez-León is an undergraduate student from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras campus. She is a recipient for the fellowship NIH BP-ENDURE Neuroid program. Her interests are neuropsychopharmacology and behavioral neuroscience.

 
 

Bryan Garcia Computational Neuroscience Graduate Student

Bryan is a first-generation college student in the computational neuroscience PhD program at the University of Chicago. He completed his B.S degree in Mathematics with a concentration in mathematical biology and a minor in statistics at the University of Central Florida (UCF). During his undergraduate career, he performed research in Dr. Suren Tatulian’s lab at UCF looking at a popular hypothesis underpinning the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease through the lens of biophysical chemistry. He also worked in Dr. Josh McDermott’s lab as a visiting student at MIT where he developed a model of a cochlear implant stimulated auditory nerve to generate spectrograms and train deep neural networks for fundamental frequency estimation among other auditory tasks. Currently, he is interested in the bidirectionality of sensation and memory and aims to one day develop a mathematical framework for how the brain stores, retrieves, updates, and protects memories.

Rajat Gupta Data Science Intern

Rajat graduated from IIT Kharagpur, India with a Bachelors in Civil Engineering. He had the opportunity to work with two prominent Indian banks, namely Axis Bank and IDFC First Bank, as a data analyst in their Credit Cards division. After gaining valuable industry experience, Rajat decided to further enhance his skills and knowledge by pursuing a Masters degree in Computer Science at the University of Chicago.

 

Kendyl Cardwell Research Intern

Kendyl joined the lab as a second year undergraduate at the University of Chicago studying molecular engineering on the bio track. She was drawn to the lab by an interest in learning 3D design and printing methods, as well as by an interest in neuroscience. She is excited to work with project design, product optimization, and other lab technologies to get a hands-on experience with engineering techniques.

 

Liam Hade Data Science Intern
Liam joined the lab in his 2nd-year studying computer science at the University of Chicago. He was attracted to the lab because of his interest in neuroscience, specifically in understanding the brain as an information processor. He plans to continue gaining experience in a lab environment, and is excited to learn more about the brain circuitry underlying our everyday experiences.

 
 

Michelle Awh Research Intern, Data Science Research Intern (CDAC)

Michelle joined the lab in her 3rd-year studying neuroscience and computer science at the University of Chicago College. Her interest in the intersection between biological systems and their computational representations drew her to this lab. After graduating, she hopes to spend some time involved in research before pursuing graduate studies.

 
 
Yeri Won Research Intern (NESSTP)

Yeri joined the lab as a 2nd-year studying neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Her interest in memory and information processing along with her desire to learn more about neural mechanisms drew her to the lab. After graduating, she hopes to continue participating in research in medical school.

 
 

Uma Mani Research Intern (Quad Research Fellow)

Uma joined the lab as rising 2nd-year studying neuroscience at the University of Chicago. She was drawn to the lab by her interest in the use of electrophysiology to study memory formation and retrieval, and by her desire to learn more about 3D design. Uma is working towards an Honors B.S. and plans to continue her participation in research throughout her undergrad; after graduating, she hopes to pursue her study of neuroscience in medical school.

 
 
Lawrence Chen Research Intern

Lawrence joined the lab as a 2nd-year pre-med studying biology and neuroscience at the University of Chicago. His interest in utilizing 3D design in scientific research and studying how the brain forms and recalls memories drew him to the lab. After graduating, he plans to continue participating in research in medical school.

 

Jacob Proctor-Bonbright Research Intern (NESSTP)

Jacob joined the lab as a 3rd-year pre-med, and neuroscience major at the University of Chicago. Initially focused on English and creative writing, a chance neuroscience course would lead him in another direction. An interest in the formation of the brain during development, as well as how the brain forms and changes memories over time, led him to this lab.

 

Caitlyn Tien Data Science Intern, Dean’s Fund Research Award

Caitlyn joined the lab as a 4th-year studying economics and computer science at the University of Chicago. Her interest in data science brought her to the lab as she is curious to explore its application in many different fields. Post-graduation, she became a consultant focused in data science and analytics.

 

—

 Aazer Siddiqui Data Science Intern

Aazer joined the lab as a 3rd-year studying philosophy and computer science in the College at the University of Chicago. A lifelong preoccupation with how we learn and a deep scientific background drew him to the lab. He was interested in constructing an analysis pipeline and gaining experience with neural data and computational techniques in neuroscience that will support his interest in human and artificial intelligence.

.

 Hunter Thompson Data Science Intern

Hunter joined the lab as a 4th-year studying Computer Science with minors in Chemistry and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Chicago. His deep interest and experience in the connection between biology and computation interested him in the lab. After graduating, he entered a Masters program in Data Science.

.

.

 Bailey Forgus Data Science Intern

Bailey joined the lab when he was a 2nd-year studying Computational and Applied Mathematics at the University of Chicago. His interest in neurophysiology and data science drew him to the lab and he is eager to learn how data science is used in biology, public policy and finance.

.

.

 Harrison Santiago Data Science Research Intern (Leadership Alliance)

Harrison is a 3rd-year studying Computer Science and Statistics at the University of Florida. His interest in data science and neuroscience led him to this lab. Post graduation, he would like to volunteer with Peace Corps Response, then go to graduate school and earn a PhD.

.

.

 Zoe Stephens Data Science Research Intern (CDAC)

Zoe is a rising Junior at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. Working with the lab appealed to her interest in Computer Science. After high school, she aims to continue studying computer science and its applications across many fields.

.

.

.