Undergraduate Neuroscientists: Past and Present

2022-2023 Research Students

Ava Wagner

My name is Ava Wagner, and I am from Roanoke, VA. I am a biology major with a neuroscience concentration. In the lab, I am currently looking at glucocorticoid receptors in the lateral habenula to examine aversion-driven plasticity and stress differences between lab and wild rats. This summer I plan to continue with the wild rat project by exploring potential markers of neuroplasticity through immunohistochemistry. After graduation in 2024, I hope to attend a neuroscience Ph.D. program to prepare for a career as a pharmaceutical or biotechnology researcher.

Paean Luby

My name is Paean (pronounced like payin' the bills), and I am in the class of 2025 at the University of Richmond. I am also an aspiring virtual and augmented software engineer with a hope to eventually impart this experience as a computer science professor. Specifically, after my grandparents’ deaths from dementia and stroke, I’ve dedicated my schooling to slowing neurodegenerative diseases using digitally simulated enriched environments. My particular focus is on the Latino community, who are among those least likely to seek assistance despite their being disproportionately affected. I am currently pursuing pre-clinical behavioral neuroscience research in the Lambert Lab with an emphasis on how enriched environments influence vascularization. In my graduate studies, I aim to expand into clinical models of neurodegenerative diseases and virtual reality's potential as a treatment.

Yulia Shatalov

My name is Yulia Shatalov and I am from Cheshire, Connecticut. I am double majoring in leadership studies and biology with a concentration in neuroscience. My first summer in the lab, I worked on the Unpredictable Positive Experience Responses (UPERs) project in addition to helping quantify blood vessels in the Wild vs Domestic rat brains. Since then, I have been involved in quantifying glucocorticoid receptors in the amygdala of wild rat brains and counting neurons and glia in the brains from the summer optimism study. After I graduate, I hope to attend an MD/ PhD program where I can continue pursuing neuroscience.

Isabel DiLandro

My name is Isabel DiLandro, and I'm from Fairfax, Virginia. I'm double majoring in Psychology and Cognitive science with a double minor in Linguistics and Latin. My current project focuses on comparing the brains and behaviors of lab raised rats and wild rats, and I'm also really intrigued by the USVs emitted by rats. After graduation, I really hope to be going to grad school for sports psychology.

Aditya Narayanan

My name is Aditya Narayanan, and I am from Mumbai, India. I am a Psychology and Biology double major, with a Neuroscience concentration. Currently, I am working on assessing Glucocorticoid receptor counts in wild rat brains sampled over the last summer, and am assisting with behavioural training and testing for a project on the effects of Optimism and Anticipation on the brains and behaviours of lab rats. Over the upcoming summer, I will be working with a team on a project exploring wild and captive rats, focusing on markers of neuroplasticity, as well as cognitive and emotional behavior. After graduation, I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience.

Megan Hooper

My name is Megan Hooper, and I’m from outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I am currently a senior majoring in psychology and biology with a concentration in neuroscience. In the Lambert Lab, I am currently working on a project investigating the effects of positive anticipation on optimistic behavior in the rats. After graduation, I am planning to get my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Emily Weiner

I'm Emily, and I am a senior from outside of Philadelphia. I am a double-major in journalism and psychology. In the Lambert Lab, I worked mainly on the Spring 2023 optimism project, in which I helped with the behavioral tasks. These tasks are designed to (hopefully) increase anticipation and an optimism bias in the rat pups. After graduation, I hope to continue working in the journalism field with a focus on scientific writing as a way to increase mental health awareness and knowledge for the public.

Tom Colucci

My name is Tom Colucci and I am a senior from Danvers, Massachusetts. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science of Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. Last semester I worked on the Optimism study and now I am currently helping out with the UPERs project. After graduation, I plan to earn a Masters of Social Work degree and to pursue a career involving the prevention and treatment of mental illness.

Lily Bastian

My name is Lily Bastian and I’ll soon be a graduate of the Lambert Lab! I’ll be graduating in May 2023 with a major in Cognitive Science and minors in LALIS and Linguistics. I’m from Long Island, NY but after my time in Richmond will be moving down to Atlanta to attend the Emory University School of Medicine. My work in the lab consists of working with the driving rats and assisting with counting neurons and glial cells in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex for the current Optimism Project. This project is investigating the impact of optimism on rats’ behavior and certain neurobiological factors as well.

Caroline Owens

Hello! My name is Caroline Owens and I am from Marion, Massachusetts (a small town about an hour south of Boston). I plan on obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience and a minor in Health Studies. In the Lambert lab, I am exploring the underlying neurobiology of positive emotions, such as optimism and anticipation, of laboratory rats that were exposed to optimism tasks throughout a short period of time. After graduation, I hope to obtain my PsyD in Neuropsychology, focusing on neurodegenerative disorders.

Andres Mauco

Hi my name is Andres, and I am currently a freshman in the Lambert lab! I am from Panama and I plan on double majoring in Cognitive Science and Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience, as well as minoring in Data Science and Statistics. I have been helping all over in the lab, and this summer I will be working on a study comparing markers of neuroplasticity, stress hormone levels, neural vascularization and more in Long-Evans laboratory rats and wild rats caught in the City of Richmond. I feel passionate about Neuroscience, and hope to eventually become a researcher in Computational Neuroscience.

Isabella Tome

My name is Isabella Flór Tomé and I am from New York. I am double majoring in Cognitive Science and Health Studies. I have been most involved in our neurobiological investigation of unexpected positive expectancy responses in both male and female rats by comparing their mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors. Moreover, I will begin studying and understanding concurrent fos-activation patterns throughout the emotional circuits of the brain in addition to the other findings of this continuing study. After graduation, I am planning on pursuing a Ph.D. in Cognitive and perceptual psychology and working as a researcher.

Brendan Crockett

My name is Brendan Crockett and I am from Atlanta but went to high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I am majoring in Biology with a Healthcare Studies minor. The main focus of my research has been investigating the differences between wild rats and laboratory raised rats. In the future, I plan to go to medical school.

Evelyn Barringer

My name is Evelyn Barringer and I am from Greenwich, Connecticut. I am a psychology major with a concentration in neuroscience and minors in biology and Spanish. I am currently working on the exotic brain project, focusing on the comparative neuroanatomy of various species including skunks, raccoons, mouse lemurs and wild rodents. The goal of this research is to find a more accurate model to represent the human brain and to add to the general knowledge of other brain types and the animal's hormones and overall stress levels. Post-graduation, I hope to pursue a PhD or PsyD in neuroscience and eventually work in a clinical and patient facing setting.

Jean Paul Dorion

My name is Jean Paul Dorion, and I am from Guatemala City, Guatemala. I am a Psychology major, with a Neuroscience concentration and a pre-medicine path. Currently, I am working on the exotic brain project, focusing on the comparative neuroanatomy of various species including skunks, raccoons, mouse lemurs, and wild rodents. We are doing this to find better models for the human brain through other animals. We want to continue to educate others in this department and find more information about the brain and its connections. Over the summer I want to further this through the study of Von Economo Neurons to understand their effect on the brain. I will be working with a team on a project exploring wild and captive rats as well. After graduation, I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, clinical psychology as well as going to Medical School.

2019-2021 Research Students

Janhavi Bhalerao

My name is Janhavi Bhalerao and I am from Pune, India. I am double majoring in Psychology and Biology with a concentration in Neuroscience. I was previously studying the effects of early life stress on physical development, anxiety-related behaviors, and neuroendocrine responses. I am now working on understanding the impact of effort-based rewards on emotional resilience– a rodent model of behavioral therapeutic approaches for depression. After graduation, I am planning on pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and working as a researcher and educator.

Bilal Hindi

My name is Bilal Hindi, I am from Lebanon and I majored in Psychology with a Concentration in Neuroscience and minored in Healthcare Studies. In the Lambert lab, I worked with Efforts-Based Reward Project in my sophomore year. I then worked on the Probiotics project for the summer. When I came back from studying abroad in London, I presented the Probiotics Project and the Lead-Poisoning project that we conducted with the team from Dr. Lorenz Neuwirth’s lab at SUNY-Old Westbury. For my senior thesis, I worked on the Raccoon Project, investigating learning and optimal brain performance with Dr. Sarah Benson-Amram’s lab at the University of Wyoming. I graduated in May 2020, and I am hoping to go to graduate school in the future.

Sally Watanabe

My name is Sally Watanabe and I am a 2021 graduate of the lab! During my time with Dr. Lambert I’ve been most interested in studying the effects of environmental enrichment on Long Evans Rats. This past year I completed my Senior Thesis on the neurobiological comparisons of wild-caught rats and laboratory rats as a translational biomedical research model. I feel most passionate about preserving the environment and the myriad of biodiversity that exists in our natural world. I am currently engaging in behavioral field research with macaques over the summer and will complete a fellowship with the Chesapeake Conservation Corps over the next year. I intend to integrate my passions for sustainability, conservation, social justice, and research into my future career path, whatever that may be.

Katherine Gillenwater

I am from Charlottesville, Virginia and am majoring in Cognitive Science. I have been most involved in the Rat Loft and Lead Poisoning projects during my time in the lab. As of now, I hope to enter the field of User Experience design after graduation and I am considering pursuing a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction.

Ana Deustch

Ana is from Bucharest, Romania and majored in psychology with a neuroscience concentration and a biology minor. During her time in the lab, she worked on an NIMH grant studying the effects of effort-based reward contingency training on emotional resilience. Ana plans to continue pursuing research, and is going to start a research Master's in Neuroscience this fall at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Annie Lai

I am from Richmond, VA majoring in Biology. During my time in the Lambert Lab, I have worked on the Raccoon Brain project with isotropic fractionation and counting neurons. After graduating, I plan on spending a gap year getting more clinical hours working as an EMT, taking the GRE, and applying to Physician Assistant schools.

Nick Natale

Nick graduated from the University of Richmond in May 2020 with a B.S. in both Biology and Psychology. For most of his undergraduate experience, he has worked in the lab of Dr. Kelly Lambert, investigating the effects of probiotic supplementation on neurochemicals, glial cells, hormones, and behavior of rats exposed to chronic and acute psychological stressors. He was also active in a project that measured the neuronal density of the raccoon brain. In his last semester with the lab, Nick worked on another project that used isotropic fractionation to evaluate whether a GABA receptor agonist can attenuate lead-induced neurotoxicity and preserve neuron-glia density in perinatal lead-exposed rats. Nick enjoys running, taking hikes in his hometown of Chappaqua, NY, playing tennis, and cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is currently a student in the University of Virginia Neuroscience Graduate Program.

Eli Meisel

I was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey and at the University of Richmond, I am planning on obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chinese Studies. With this, I hope to become a Physician Assistant who specializes in obstetrics. While in the lab, I have helped in the training process for the Driving project and I assisted in the data collection and analysis of the Loft and SES 2019 projects.

Clark Glory

I am from Clarksville, Maryland. I am majoring in psychology with a double minor in biology and sociology. During my time in the Lambert Lab I have worked on the driving rat project in the summer of 2018 as well as the loft project in the summer of 2019. I do not have any concrete career plans as of now but I am looking into possibly being a clinical psychologist.

Katie Pokorny

A Richmond, VA native, I will be graduating with a major in chemistry and a minor in healthcare studies. My project in the Lambert Lab was an investigation of naturally vs artificially enriched environments on the stress response of rats. I filmed and scored videos for stress behaviors for the rats in different environments and also analyzed their hippocampal regions using neuron tracing. Post-graduation, I will be working as a Technology Analyst with Accenture in Arlington, VA. In the next few years, I plan to go back to school for public health or health administration.

Allison Choe

My name is Allison and I’m from Reston, Virginia, although I attended high school in Dubai, UAE. I’m majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology with a concentration in neuroscience and a double major in healthcare studies. I’m involved in a research project that investigates behavioral and neural outcomes of perinatal lead exposure, and I had the privilege of presenting this research at the IBNS 2019 conference in Cairns, Australia. In the future, I hope to attend medical school and become a doctor.

Jack Drake

Jack’s hometown is Madison, WI. In May 2020, he graduated with a B.S. in Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Studies (LALIS), along with a B.S. in Psychology with a Neuroscience concentration. While in the Lambert Lab, Jack’s work has involved histological investigations of male rats in enriched environments and flexible problem-solving raccoons. He will be busy after graduation as the Research Coordinator of the NYU ACE Program, Division of Trauma and Fracture Surgery at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital in New York, NY and aspires to continue on to medical school.

Kelly Saverino

My name is Kelly Saverino and I am from Springfield, NJ. I am majoring in biology with a concentration in neuroscience and a minor in women, gender, and sexuality studies. I have always had a passion for animals and nature, which I was able to channel this summer through my research with java macaques at Monkey Jungle in Miami, Florida. The primate projects I am working on involve studying the behaviors, culture, and tool use of the macaques. I hope to continue similar behavioral neuroscience research in the future and pursue a Ph.D. in a related field.

Sadie Wenger

My name is Sadie Wenger and I am a rising junior from New York City. I'm majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and minoring in Latin American, Latino & Iberian studies. In the Lambert Lab, I have been working on quantifying mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) expression as part of a depression model in rats, and over the summer of 2021, I studied tool use and problem solving skills in Java macaque monkeys at Monkey Jungle in Miami, FL. After graduating UR, I hope to attend medical school and become a surgeon.

Nick Gonzalez

Hi my name is Nick and I’m from Stafford, Virginia and I am currently majoring in Biology and Neuroscience Concentration along with a minor in Psychology. My current project involves examining the differences in the neurobiology and stress profiles of Wild and Laboratory lineages of the Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus). I plan on attending Medical school after obtaining my undergraduate degree at UR.

Erin Burns

My name is Erin and I’m from Sandy Hook, Connecticut. I’m majoring in Psychology concentrated in neuroscience and a double major in biology with a minor in chemistry. My project in Dr. Lambert’s lab collaborates with the NIMH to investigate the role of adult neurogenesis in performing higher cognitive functions in Long Evans rats. In the future, I hope to either attend PA school, or obtain a PhD in a neuroscience related field.

Ally Maner

My name is Ally and I am from Villanova, Pennsylvania. I recently graduated from UR with a BA in Leadership Studies and a double major in Psychology. I was involved in the Science Leadership Scholars program, where I had the opportunity to integrate my majors through participating in research. I worked in the Lambert Lab to study the effects of dynamic environments and cognitive training on social behavior and emotion regulation in the context of "Situational Leadership". Next fall, I will be joining Avantus Federal in Washington D.C. as an Integrated Talent Management Consultant.

Nicholas McComb

My name is Nicholas. I grew up in Richmond after moving from Canada. I’m a biology major with a concentration in neuroscience and a minor in chemistry. I have been involved in a project studying how early life stress impacts brain development using a novel rodent model for socioeconomic status. In the future I wish to continue contributing to the neuroscience field and practice medicine.

Where are they now? Neuroscience Research Nation

It is so exciting to follow the accomplishments of students after they worked in the Lambert lab for summer research, senior projects or on various grant projects. I love seeing the diversity of careers within and beyond the field of behavioral neuroscience that these former students are enjoying. I’m sure I haven’t included everyone-- if you worked in the lab and aren’t included, please send me your information (and a pic) , and I’ll add you to the map!