It’s time to welcome all the newcomers to the lab!
Alina Tu worked in Dr. Chrastil’s lab as an undergrad RA and completed her senior honors thesis on the relationship between hippocampal subfield volumes and individual differences in navigation ability. Although she is not new to the lab, she’s now working in a new position as Lab Manager, managing 20+ RAs. Congrats, Alina!
Daniela Cossio transitioned from her Lab Manager position at the Medical University of South Carolina to her Ph.D. program here at UC Irvine to study aging, sex differences, and the mechanisms underlying spatial learning and memory. Her background with rodent models will definitely bring a unique perspective to our lab. Excited to have you here, Daniela!
Erica Ward is also a new Ph.D. student coming from CSU Fullerton through the Mathematical, Computational, and Systems Biology Program. She aims to use her computational and model-building skills to understand the neural processes behind human spatial ability. We’re supporting you, Erica!
Marjan Rashidi recently joined our lab from Iran University of Science and Technology with an MSc in Architectural Engineering. She now plans to research human decision-making behaviors in spatially complex environments at the Spatial Neuroscience Lab. You got it, Marjan!
Vaisakh Puthusseryppady, Ph.D. traveled from the UK after finishing his Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia, where he analyzed factors that contribute to spatial disorientation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Now, he’ll be working with behavioral testing, neuroimaging, and VR to further understand spatial ability and AD risk. Looking forward to it, Vaisakh!
