The Team
Aryn GittisPrincipal Investigator Email: agittis AT cmu.edu Aryn Gittis, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Neuroscience Institute at CMU. She received her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University in 2001 and was a Fulbright Scholar in France from 2001-2002. She received her PhD from UCSD in 2008 where she studied with Sascha du Lac, and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Anatol Kreitzer’s lab at the Gladstone Institute/UCSF in 2012. For her postdoctoral work, she was awarded a K99 from NINDS and was a 2012 Finalist for the Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology. She joined CMU in 2012, where her lab uses electrophysiology, optogenetics, and computational approaches to study the progression of neural circuit dysfunction in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease, with the goal of developing strategies to guide therapeutic plasticity that can repair circuit dysfunction and restore movement. She has received numerous awards for this work, including a NARSAD Young Investigator Grant in 2013, the Janett Rosenberg Trubatch Career Development Award from the Society for Neuroscience in 2018, and was a Finalist for the Science and PINS Prize for Neuromodulation in 2018. Aryn enjoys chocolate. White chocolate is her favorite. |
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Mary CundiffPh.D. Candidate Email: mcundiff AT andrew.cmu.edu Mary is a Ph.D. candidate in CMU’s Biological Sciences Program. She holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Villanova. She studies the connectivity of basal ganglia nuclei to downstream regions in the brainstem and their relevance in rescuing motor deficits of a parkinsonian model. Mary mooches food from everyone in the lab. |
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Shruti NanivadekarM.D./Ph.D. Candidate Email: snanivad AT andrew.cmu.edu Shruti is an M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, pursuing a Ph.D. in Neural Computation at CMU. She is interested in utilizing modeling and behavioral approaches to understand the cellular mechanisms that can optimize deep brain stimulation in a parkinsonian model. Shruti cannot make 1x PBS. |
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Maxime VounatsosPh.D. Candidate Email: mvounats AT andrew.cmu.edu Maxime is a Ph.D. student in CMU’s Biological Sciences program. He is interested in the retrorubral field, home to the A8 dopaminergic neurons. Maxime is actually an 80 year old man. |
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Emma GaoPh.D. Student Email: yag2 AT andrew.cmu.edu Emma is a Ph.D. student in the Program of System Neuroscience (PSN) at CMU. She graduated B.S. from Brandeis University. In Gittis Lab, she studies circuit plasticity and cognitive function in the progression of Parkinson’s Disease. Emma is the kindest person among us and should be protected at all costs. |
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Asier Aristieta ArbelaizPostdoctoral Fellow Email: aaristie AT andrew.cmu.edu Asier is a postdoc who got his Ph.D. degree at the University of the Basque Country (Spain). Then, he moved to France as a postdoc where he investigated the basal ganglia neurotransmission in movement disorders. He is interested in studying the basal ganglia physiology in dopamine depleted condition, using in vivo techniques and Parkinson’s disease models. Asier is the biggest sweet tooth in the lab. |
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Dan AlbaughPostdoctoral Fellow Email: dalbaugh AT andrew.cmu.edu Dan received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He then conducted postdoctoral research at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Emory University), investigating neurophysiological abnormalities in a monkey model of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). As a postdoctoral fellow in the Gittis lab, he will study the neural underpinnings of motor deficits in a PD mouse model, focusing on locomotor circuits downstream of the basal ganglia. Dan has visited every coffee shop in Pittsburgh. |
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Jeff YurekResearch Technician Email: jyurek AT andrew.cmu.edu Jeff graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from Seton Hill University and is currently working as a laboratory technician. Through this, he assists in multiple projects while also assisting in colony maintenance and histological analysis. He really enjoys the Food Network. Jeff brings candy and is therefore the favorite. |
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Thomas FuchsResearch Technician Email: thomasfu AT andrew.cmu.edu
Welcome to the lab! |
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Rebecca MoglinUndergraduate Researcher Email: rmoglin AT andrew.cmu.edu Becca is a sophomore studying biology with a focus in Neuroscience and business at Carnegie Mellon University. She is pursuing a dual degree in the Mellon College of Science and Tepper School of Business. Within the Gittis lab, she is involved in histological analysis and training the B-SOID model to recognize and quantify mouse movement in Parkinsonian mouse studies. Welcome to the lab! |
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Henry LiuUndergraduate Researcher Email: hwliu AT andrew.cmu.edu Henry is a senior at Carnegie Mellon University studying Neurobiology and Piano Performance within the BXA interdisciplinary degree program. He intends to complete his master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Within the Gittis lab, he is involved in training the B-SOID model to recognize and quantify mouse movement in Parkinsonian mouse studies. Welcome to the lab! |
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Seojun JangUndergraduate Researcher Email: seojunj AT andrew.cmu.edu Welcome to the lab! |
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Renae KurianUndergraduate Researcher Email: renaek AT andrew.cmu.edu Welcome to the lab! |
Alumni Lab Members
Katrina Nguyen
Postdoc, Denver Colorado
Jenna Schwenk
Lab Technician, University of Pittsburgh
Brian Isett, Ph.D.
Bioinformatics Senior Research Specialist, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Ian Rosner
Research Associate,University of Pittsburgh
Teresa Spix, Ph.D.
Previous Graduate Student
Christen Snyder
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Michigan
Tim Whalen, Ph.D.
Data Scientist, Design Interactive
Liz Wendel
Research Associate, University of Pittsburgh
Victoria Corbit, Ph.D.
Postdoc, Princeton
Rachel Bouchard, M.S.
Senior Technician, Western Oncolytics
Amanda Willard, Ph.D.
Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of
Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University
Yazel Goksen
Resident Physician in Allegheny Health Network
Kevin Zitelli
Research Associate, Inscopix
Kevin Mastro, Ph.D.
Postdoc, Harvard
Fluffy Lab Members
Mittens (Parent: Emma)
Daisy (Parent: Mary)