{"id":827,"date":"2015-06-24T15:07:57","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T19:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/neuroscience.uchc.edu\/\/?page_id=827"},"modified":"2025-08-22T16:10:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T20:10:27","slug":"current-and-past-trainees","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/program-overview\/program-resources\/current-and-past-trainees\/","title":{"rendered":"Current and Past Trainees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Current Ph.D. Trainees (Senior to Junior)<\/strong><\/th>\nWhere They Came From<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Deepa Anjan Kumar<\/td>\nNortheastern University, Boston MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kiranmayi Vedantham<\/td>\nBirla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Jhunhjunu, Rajasthan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joseph Pathoulas<\/td>\nSaint John’s University, Collegeville, MN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alexander Mitchell<\/td>\nBrandeis University, Waltham, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Matthew Frost<\/td>\nUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Moumita Bhattacharya<\/td>\nJadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jacob Brady<\/td>\nSwarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Natan Busel<\/td>\nUniversity of Connecticut, Storrs, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zuzanna Fracz<\/td>\nUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jake Lustig<\/td>\nNew York University, New York, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lucille Papile<\/td>\nDickinson College, Carlisle, PA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shreya Savla<\/td>\nUniversity of Mumbai, Mumbai, India<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Haley Tallman<\/td>\nSalve Regina University, Newport, RI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sarah Wilensky<\/td>\nSkidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Graduates of the Neuroscience Program<\/strong><\/td>\nLocation Upon Graduating<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Michal Ragan, Ph.D., 2025<\/td>\nPostdoc,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jacob Hudobenko, PhD., 2025<\/td>\nMD Student, University of Texas Health Center at Houston, Houston, TX<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Caro Ph.D., 2025<\/td>\nMD Student, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shifan Chen Ph.D., 2024<\/td>\nPostdoc, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Annie Yao Ph.D., 2024<\/td>\nMD Student, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pearl Sutter Ph.D., 2024<\/td>\nMD Student, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Qinfang Liu, 2023<\/td>\nPostdoc, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jian Xing Ph.D, 2023<\/td>\nPostdoc, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Megan Rouillard Ph.D., 2023<\/td>\nEnvironmental Analyst, CT Department of Public Health<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marc Benoit Ph.D., 2023<\/td>\nMD Student, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sarah Palko Ph.D., 2023<\/td>\nPostdoc, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Emily Fabrizio-Stover, Ph.D., 2023<\/td>\nPostdoc, Medical University of South Carolina, Charlestown, SC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Zhou Ph.D., 2023<\/td>\nPostdoc, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marwa Elamin, Ph.D., 2022<\/td>\nNeurology resident, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pengyu Zong, 2022<\/td>\nPostdoc, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ramalakshmi Ramasamy Ph.D., 2022<\/td>\nPostdoc, Jackson Laboratories, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bruce Rheaume Ph.D., 2022<\/td>\nMD Student, UConn School of Medicine, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cara Hardy, Ph.D., 2021<\/td>\nPostdoc, Jackson Lab, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Matthew Sticco, Ph.D., 2021<\/td>\nResearch Biochemist, Siemens Healthineers, New York, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Robert Pijewski, Ph.D., 2021<\/td>\nAssistant Professor, Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Judy Bloom, Ph.D., 2020<\/td>\nAssistant Scientific Director, Chameleon Communications International, New York, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brittany Knight, Ph.D., 2019<\/td>\nDirector of Operations USASP; Regional Director CT Junior Science and Humanities Symposium<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jessica Yasko, Ph.D., 2019<\/td>\nBioLegend, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cory Willis, Ph.D., 2019<\/td>\nPostdoc, University of Cambridge, UK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Alexandra Nicaise, Ph.D., 2019<\/td>\nPostdoc, University of Cambridge, UK<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Carissa Sorensen (Sirois), Ph.D., 2018<\/td>\nPostdoctoral Research Assoc., Univ. of Wisconsin, WI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rajamani Selvam, Ph.D., 2018<\/td>\nResearch Fellow at the FDA, Rockville MD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
James Fink, Ph.D., 2018<\/td>\nSenior Scientist, Cell Biology, Q-State Biosciences, Boston, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mandakini Singh, Ph.D., 2017<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, UConn Health, Farmington, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maegan (Gross) Watson, Ph.D., 2016<\/td>\nPostdoctoral Associate, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Wizeman, Ph.D., 2016<\/td>\nPatent Law, Boston, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Inseyah Bagasrawala, Ph.D., 2016<\/td>\nScientist, Biogen, Cambridge, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Richard Lieberman, Ph.D., 2015<\/td>\nScientist, Fulcrum Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rodney Ritzel, Ph.D., 2015<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kasey Johnson, Ph.D., 2015<\/td>\nMedical Science Liaison at Hologic Inc.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Xi Bie, Ph.D., 2015<\/td>\nInvestment Analyst Intern at Spencer Trask Ventures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kyle Denton, Ph.D., 2015<\/td>\nScientist II, ALS Institute, Cambridge, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Megan Miller, Ph.D., 2015<\/td>\nAAAS S&T Policy Fellow, US Agency for International Development (USAID)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Liangfang Zhao, Ph.D., 2014<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, Brandeis University, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Matthew Hammond, MBA, Ph.D., 2014<\/td>\nSenior Associate, RA Capital Management, LLC, Boston<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Katerina Oikonomou, Ph.D., 2014<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, University of California, Los Angeles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anthony Giampetruzzi, Ph.D., 2013<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, University of Massachusetts\u00a0Medical School<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kumiko (Ijichi) Claycomb, Ph.D., 2013<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shaina Short, Ph.D., 2013<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, University of Utah, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, UT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bharti Manwani, M.D.\/Ph.D., 2013<\/td>\nAssistant Professor, Department of Neurology, UT Health McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Verica Milivojevic, Ph.D., 2012<\/td>\nAssistant Professor, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Haiying Zhan, Ph.D., 2012<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wen-Liang Zhou, Ph.D., 2012<\/td>\nGovernment Defense Contractor, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lawrence Hsieh, Ph.D., 2011<\/td>\nAssociate Research Scientist in Neurosurgery, Yale University, New Haven, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chad Siegel, Ph.D., 2011<\/td>\nSenior Medical Director at Healthcare Consultancy Group<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nicole Jackman, Ph.D., 2011\u00a0and\u00a0M.D., 2013<\/td>\nResearch track residency in anesthesiology, University of California, San Francisco<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Drew Kiraly, Ph.D., 2011\u00a0and\u00a0M.D., 2013<\/td>\nPhysician scientist (research track) residency in Psychiatry at Mt. Sinai, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eric Gaier, Ph.D., 2011\u00a0and\u00a0M.D., 2013<\/td>\nResearch track residency in ophthalmology at Mass\u00a0Eye and Ear (Massachusetts General Hospital)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jane Sutherland, Ph.D., 2010<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, Mannheimer Foundation, Inc<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ricka Messer, M.D.\/Ph.D., 2010<\/td>\nAssistant Professor, Pediatrics-Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Anna Moore, Ph.D., 2010<\/td>\nAssistant Professor of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Robert Claycomb, M.D.\/Ph.D., 2009<\/td>\nFellow, Vascular Neurology (Stroke), Department of Neuroscience, UC San Diego, School of Medicine, CA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Danielle (Bousquet) Moore, Ph.D., 2009<\/td>\nClinical Team Lead at Syneos Health, Raleigh-Durham, NC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zhou Han, Ph.D., 2008<\/td>\nSenior Scientist, Stoke Therapeutics, Boston, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joseph Cruz Madara, Ph.D., 2008<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, Scripps Institute, La Jolla, CA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dori Schafer, Ph.D., 2008<\/td>\nAssistant Professor, University of Massachusetts\u00a0Medical School, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vedakumar Tatavarty, Ph.D., 2008<\/td>\nPostdoctoral, Brandeis University, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marius Ifrim, Ph.D., 2008<\/td>\nInstructor, Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, GA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mark Niciu, M.D.\/Ph.D., 2008<\/td>\nClinical Research Fellow at National Institute of Mental Health<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yuanzheng Gao, Ph.D., 2007<\/td>\nResearch Associate, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jacqueline Sobota, D.M.D.\/Ph.D., 2007<\/td>\nAssistant Professor, Hostra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, & Associate Program Director, North Shore-LIJ Department of Dental Medicine, Manhasset, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Birgit Fogal, Ph.D., 2007<\/td>\nPrincipal Scientist at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kristian Hedstrom, Ph.D., 2007<\/td>\nProgram Manager, Neurology at Adelson Medical Research Foundation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mary Hamby, Ph.D., 2007<\/td>\nResearch Scientist, Neuroinflammation Drug Discovery at Lundbeck, NJ<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yang Yang, Ph.D., 2006<\/td>\nOphthalmic Consultants of Boston, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jason Cromer, Ph.D., 2006<\/td>\nDirector of Clinical Science at Cogstate, NY<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dale Fortin, Ph.D., 2006<\/td>\nResearch Assistant Professor at Washington State University, Vancouver, WA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lei Jin, Ph.D., 2005<\/td>\nScience Multimedia Producer, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard Medical School<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chana Rabiner, Ph.D., 2005<\/td>\nVice President at SciMetrika, LLC & Founder\/Director Global Health Programs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jay Pathmanathan, M.D.\/Ph.D., 2004<\/td>\nEpileptologist, Department of Neurology, Mass General Hospital, Harvard, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chang Xu, Ph.D., 2003<\/td>\nAssociate at the Boston Consulting Group<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Joseph Trettel, M.D.\/Ph.D., 2003<\/td>\nMedical Director, Neuropsychiatry, The Ayer Neuroscience Institute, Hartford Hospital, CT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christopher Michael Taylor, Ph.D.,2003<\/td>\nPrincipal Scientist at Pfizer, Cambridge, MA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
William D\u2019Angelo, Ph.D., 2003<\/td>\nEngineer, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Headquarters, RI<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current Ph.D. Trainees (Senior to Junior) Where They Came From Deepa Anjan Kumar Northeastern University, Boston MA Kiranmayi Vedantham Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Jhunhjunu, Rajasthan Joseph Pathoulas Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN Alexander Mitchell Brandeis University, Waltham, MA Matthew Frost University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA Moumita Bhattacharya Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"parent":1067,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 12:21:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7654,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/827\/revisions\/7654"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}