Hello!

I am a theoretical neuroscientist interested in understanding how the structure of our nervous system gives rise to its function. Originally from Virginia, studied Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins and Neuroscience at Columbia University, where I earned my PhD in the lab of Larry Abbott in the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. I pursued postdoctoral training in the lab of David Anderson at Caltech, and I opened my lab at Northwestern University in 2020. We moved to Scripps Research in 2024.

I joined the Kennedy Lab in 2022, after finishing my PhD with Thomas Knöesche at the Brain Networks Group of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany. My research is focused on computation through dynamics in spiking neural networks, using a range of methods from dynamical systems theory, statistical physics, and machine learning. Most recently, I have been studying the role of neural heterogeneity in controlling neurocomputational states of brain circuits.

I am a postdoc in the Kennedy lab. I obtained my PhD at Imperial College London under the supervision of Claudia Clopath, working on computational models of learning in spiking networks. I am interested in leveraging theoretical ideas and methods to improve our understanding of the link between neural activity and behavior. Special attention is hereby given to the variety of time scales at which the activity and behavior exist. My research focuses in this context on the hypothalamus, which displays rich dynamics and is implicated in complex social behaviors.

I am currently a graduate student in the NUIN program at Northwestern University. Prior to this, I gained valuable research experience at the Sensorimotor Integration lab located at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal, working under the supervision of Eugenia Chiappe. My research is primarily centered on the application of computational tools for the analysis of animal behavior, with a particular focus on unveiling behavior patterns across various time scales. This approach allows us to gain insights into the internal states of animals during social interactions, shedding light on the computations and neural correlates within various nuclei in the hypothalamus. Outside the lab I get lost in nature, swim and dive with my GoPro, play volleyball, and search for hidden gems of food.

I am a graduate student in the Kennedy lab. I received my BS in Biology from Tsinghua University and MS in Bioinformatics from Georgia Tech. I am interested in applying different methods to analyze animal behavior and its connection to neural activity. Outside the lab, I enjoy movies, music, books, and minesweeper.

I’m a graduate-phase MD/PhD student in the lab. I graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2020 with a BS in Biomedical Engineering. There, I spent time studying the head direction network with Dr. Kechen Zhang. I am broadly interested in utilizing network models to understand neural computation and behavior. Outside of lab, I enjoy running, rock climbing, cooking, reading, and photography.