Luis Colon-Perez, Ph.D.

Assistant Researcher
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Office: 1412 Biological Sciences III
Email: lcolonpe@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-3919
Website

Luis Colon-Perez, Ph.D.

About Me
Projects
Research Interests
Honors and Awards
Fun!
I was born in Puerto Rico and raised in the rural town of Utuado. Prior to my career in science, I was a certified folkloric wood handcrafter. In High School, I was featured in a Puerto Rican TV show and my work has been highlighted in a Puerto Rican folkloric art book. In college, I committed to a career in science by enrolling the Department of Physics in 2003 at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. I completed my degree in in 2008, then moved to the University of Florida to undergo graduate studies in the Department of Physics. In 2013, I started a Postdoc training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida. In 2018, I moved to Irvine as a research faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior.

Individual Research Projects

Currently, I am pursuing three major areas of research:

  • Preclinical biomarkers of substance use disorders
  • Relationship between topological circuitry indices of brain connectivity and behavior
  • Developing tractography tools to quantify brain structure

These three areas of research ultimately merge as a broad research portfolio to identify in vivo insights to further our understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders.

My current goal is to integrate computational neuroscience methods, such as connectomics to broad applications in neuropsychiatric disorders and preclinical studies of substance use disorders. Through graduate school and postdoctoral training, I have been able to adopt a quantitative portfolio in MRI research that enables me to collaborate with many neuroscientists. My recent work is focused on computational neuroscience approaches to investigate disease-related brain topology, particularly in animal models of substance use disorders.
Currently funded through: NIH-NIDA K25 grant (April 2019-March 2024) BRRF NARSAD Young Investigator grant (Jan 2020- December 2021)
I enjoy hiking with my family, going to the beach, and exploring the natural environment. I consider myself a foodie, so I thoroughly enjoy visiting “weird” restaurants to try unusual foods. I also enjoy experimenting with cooking at home. I love to travel. I’ve been fortunate to have visited over 10 countries (over 30 cities) in Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America. I let my hair grow and have donate it twice for an organization helping kids with alopecia.

What the lab means to me…

“The Yassa lab is an amazing group of diverse individuals that make up an outstanding team. For me, the Yassa lab has been a growing experience as I strive to become an academic in a tenure track position. As an academic and Hispanic, I expect to be a mentor to URMs as many others have been mentors to me, including Mike Yassa. The Yassa lab represents the perfect lab that I strive to support in the future as a mentor of STEM students.”