Neuroscience

College

College of Life Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Campus

Center City

Format

On Campus

Duration

4 - 5 Years

Contact Information

Program Director

Name: Kyunghee Koh, PhD
Position: Co-Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Department of Neuroscience
Contact Number(s):

Program Director

Name: Angelo Lepore, PhD
Position: Co-Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Department of Neuroscience

900 Walnut Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Program Coordinator

Name: Danielle Park
Department: Jefferson College of Life Sciences
Organization: Jefferson

1020 Locust Street
M-46 JAH
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Contact Admissions

Contact Number(s):

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Current Students

The close-knit student body of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience is an integral part of the Jefferson Community and continues the time-honored tradition of scholarly exchange. Our interdisciplinary curriculum allows students from all departments to work collectively toward the common goal of progress in the field of neuroscience. 


Current Students

Michael Aimino
Michael.Aimino@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Timothy Mosca, PhD

Project: My project involves determining how synapses develop over time in different classes of sensory neurons in the olfactory regions of the fruit fly brain. 


Tyler Alexander (MD/PhD)
Tyler.Alexander@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Manuel Covarrubias, MD, PhD

Project: TBD


Victoria Baccini
Victoria.Baccini@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Matthew Dalva, PhD

Project: TBD


Bridget Boyle
Bridget.Boyle@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Elena Blanco-Suarez, PhD

Project: To study the spatiotemporal-dependent roles of Chrdl1 in ischemic stroke-driven GluA2-AMPAR distribution and its role in differential neuronal vulnerability to stroke.


Matthew Byrne
Matthew.Byrne@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Richard Smeyne, PhD

Project: TBD


Rachel Cain
Rachel.Cain@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Matthew Dalva, PhD

Project: TBD


Debotri Chatterjee (MD/PhD)
Debotri.Chatterjee@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Richard Smeyne, PhD

Project: I'm interested in looking at the interplay of environmental toxins and viral infections in the etiology of Parkinson's disease.


Lara Cheslow (MD/PhD)
Lara.Cheslow@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Scott Waldman, MD, PhD

Project: TBD


Kallon Crowther
Kallon.Crowther@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Richard Smeyne, PhD

Project: TBD


Alison DePew
Alison.DePew@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Timothy Mosca, PhD

Project: My project is focused on investigating a novel mechanism for the cell surface receptor LRP4 in synapse development at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction in order to better understand its role in disease and the overall development of the nervous system.


Layla Ghaffari
Layla.Ghaffari@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Aaron Haeusler, PhD

Project: Investigating the convergence of altered neuronal activity and C9orf72-linked molecular mechanisms in ALS/FTD


Jesse Humenik
Jesse.Humenik@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Timothy Mosca, PhD

Project: 1-Identifying Cell Surface and Secreted Proteins used in synaptogenesis

2- The role of transcription factors in neurogenesis  


David Jaffe (MD/PhD)
David.Jaffe@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Angelo Lepore, PhD

Project: TBD


Haani Jafri (MD/PhD)
Haani.Jafri@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Matthew Dalva, PhD

Project: TBD


Jordyn Karliner
Jordyn.Karliner@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Diane Merry, PhD

Project: My project is investigating the mechanisms of aberrant neurite outgrowth in SBMA and the involvement of androgen receptor transcriptional activity in this process.


Siddharth Karthikeyan (MD/PhD)
Siddharth.Karthikeyan@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Le Ma, PhD

Project: TBD


James Lim
James.Lim@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Mijail Serruya, MD, PhD

Project: TBD


Adam Marc
Adam.Marc@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD

Project: TBD


Ivette Martorell Serra
Ivette.martorellserra@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Richard Smeyne, PhD

Project: TBD


Elizabeth Moese
Elizabeth.Moese@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Le Ma, PhD

Project: I study how posttranslational modifications of neuronal microtubule associated proteins, MAP7 and tau, influence kinesin based transport and axon branching. 


Msema Msackyi
Msema.Msackyi@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD

Project: TBD


Andrew Nelson
Andrew.Nelson@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Davide Trotti, PhD

Project: TBD


Tabitha Rodriguez
Tabitha.Rodriguez@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Richard Smeyne, PhD

Project: TBD


Katelyn Russell
Katelyn.Russell@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Aaron Haeusler, PhD

Project: TBD


Medha Sengupta
Medha.Sengupta@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Diane Merry, PhD

Project: TBD


Gabrielle Spagnuolo

Gabrielle.Spagnuolo@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Lorraine Iacovitti, PhD

Project: I am interested in understanding how glial interactions affect post-stroke outcomes in ischemic stroke.


Samantha Thomas (MD/PhD)
Samantha.Thomas@students.jefferson.edu

Laboratory: Angelo Lepore, PhD

Project: Promoting circuit-specific synaptic reconnectivity after spinal cord injury

Recent Graduates

Joshua Barton (MD/PhD)

Thesis Title: “Regulation of the Gut-Brain Axis by Guanylyl Cyclase C”

Advisor: Scott Waldman, MD, PhD

Current Position: MD/PhD 7, JeffMD Phase 2, SKMC 3

Bridget Curran

Thesis Title: “Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Guidance of Bifurcating Sensory Axons During Development”

Advisor: Le Ma, PhD

 

Vibol Heng (MD/PhD)

Thesis Title: “Neurobiological and Behavioral Characterization of Adult Male and Female Mice in Prolonged Social Isolation”

Advisor: Richard Smeyne, PhD

Current Position: MD/PhD 9, JeffMD Phase 3, SKMC 4

Elana Molotsky

Thesis Title: “THE IMPACT OF ANDROGEN RECEPTOR POLYGLUTAMINE EXPANSION ON THE MOTOR UNIT IN SBMA: NMJ PATHOLOGY, MOTOR UNIT VULNERABILITY, AND NEUROFILAMENT DYSREGULATION”

Advisor: Diane Merry, PhD

 

Eric Brown

Thesis Title: “Differential activation of pain circuitry neuron populations in spinal cord injury induced neuropathic pain”

Advisor: Angelo Lepore, PhD



Nicolette Heinsinger

Thesis Title: “Modulating EphBs in the dorsal horn attenuates neuropathic pain after cervical spinal cord injury”

Advisor: Angelo Lepore, PhD

 

Brandie Verdone

Thesis Title: “Understanding the consequences of dipeptide repeat protein formation in C9orf72 ALS/FTD”

Advisor: Piera Pasinelli, PhD

Current Position: PostDoctoral Fellow/ IRACDA Posdoctoral Scholar, Department of Biomedical Engineering/Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Brittany Charsar (MD/PhD)

Thesis Title: “Respiratory axon plasticity drives recovery of diaphragm function after spinal cord injury”

Advisor: Angelo Lepore, PhD

Current Position: PGY-3 Resident, Department of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia                 

Rogan Magee (MD/PhD)

Thesis Title: “Addressing Computational and Experimental Questions on tRNA-Derived Fragments (tRFs) to Define New Roles in Cell Behavior and Human Disease”

Advisor: Isidore Rigoutsos, PhD

Current Position: PGY - 3 Resident, Neurology, University of Pennsylvania

Sean O’Sullivan (MD/PhD)

Thesis Title: “The Effect of Alcohol and Opioid Withdrawal on Single-Cell Glia and Neuronal Gene Expression in the Visceral Emotional Neuraxis“

Advisor: James Schwaber, PhD

 

Benjamin Yang (MD/PhD)

Thesis Title: “Investigation of molecular mechanisms mediating MAP7 function in axon branching”

Advisor: Le Ma, PhD

Current Position: PGY-3 Resident, Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson