Meet Our Team
Michael Yassa, Ph.D.
Director
Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
B.A. and M.A., Johns Hopkins University
Ph: (949) 824-1687 | Email: myassa@uci.edu | Office: 320 QRL
Manuella Oliveira Yassa, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Outreach and Education
Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
M.A., University of California, Irvine
B.A., Johns Hopkins University
Manuella completed her Bachelor's degree in neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University, and her Master's and Doctoral degrees in Social Ecology with a focus on neuroscience education and the impact of university-community partnerships on the diversity of the STEM educational system and workforce.
Ph: (949) 824-5193 | Email: explorethebrain@uci.edu | Office: 309 QRL
Cecilia Martz
Center Administrator
B.A., California State University, Fullerton
Cecilia completed her bachelor’s degree in business administration at California State University, Fullerton. Before joining the CNLM team, Cecilia worked at the UCI School of Law as an Events Assistant, helping both with administrative tasks and day-of coordination for events. She will be assisting the CNLM with day-to-day tasks, financial reimbursements, human resources, and general administrative duties.
Ph: (949) 824-5193 | Email: c.martz@uci.edu | Office: 320 QRL
Eleanor Chan
Chief of Financial Affairs and Sponsored Projects
B.A., University of California Los Angeles
Eleanor is a graduate of UCLA and has been working at UCI since 2002 in divisions spanning Biological Sciences and Medicine. She is highly experienced in financial management and contracts & grants administration.
Email: echan@uci.edu
Morgan Coburn, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Office of Outreach and Education
Ph.D and M.S., University of California, Irvine
B.A., Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley
Morgan grew up in San Juan Capistrano, before she traveled to Western Massachusetts to complete her Bachelors in Neuroscience and Behavior at Mount Holyoke College. She returned to Southern California to complete her Masters and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in the laboratory of Dr. Mathew Blurton-Jones. Her doctoral research focused on human microglial dynamics in Alzheimer’s Disease. Morgan then completed a Postdoc at the University of Virginia with Dr. Ukpong Eyo before returning to the CNLM team. In her role, she works to advance the Outreach and Education goals of the CNLM to create accessible, equitable, and high-quality learning experiences in partnership with communities.
Email: macoburn@uci.edu | Office: 320 QRL
Erin M. Purvis Conway, Ph.D.
Civic Science Fellow
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
B.S., University of California, Santa Barbara
Erin completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biopsychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. As a Civic Science Fellow at the CNLM, she is working to strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships between UCI researchers and the local community.
Email: epurvis@uci.edu | Office: 320 QRL
Erynn Nassif
Student Marketing Assistant
Undergraduate, University of California, Irvine
Erynn is a Business Administration major at UC Irvine with an emphasis in Marketing and Information Systems. She has built a diverse portfolio through work with various organizations, gaining experience in strategic communications, social media management, and brand-aligned content creation. Currently, she is a Student Marketing Assistant at the CNLM.
Email: nassife@uci.edu
Thien Pham
Student Marketing Assistant
Undergraduate, University of California, Irvine
Thien is a Business Economics major at UC Irvine with experience in media through his roles as a Student Videographer and member of the Sports Broadcast Crew. As a Student Marketing Assistant at the CNLM, he manages video production and content creation to support outreach and engagement in neuroscience research. After completing his undergraduate studies, he plans to pursue certification as a Certified Public Accountant.
Email: thienmp1@uci.edu
Executive Committee
Sunil Gandhi
Vice Chair of the Executive Committee
Marcelo Wood
Chair, Neurobiology & Behavior
Christine Gall
Chair, Anatomy & Neurobiology
Gary Lynch
Distinguished Professor, Psychiatry
Bruce McNaughton
Distinguished Professor, Neurobiology & Behavior
Barbara Dosher
Distinguished Professor, Cognitive Science
Faculty Fellows
The 123 Faculty Fellows of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory make up the core of the Center. Our Fellows have appointments in a wide range of departments in including Neurobiology and Behavior, Engineering, Psychology, Neurology, Psychiatry, Cognitive Sciences, Anatomy and Neurobiology and Pharmacology because they tackle the study of the neurobiology of learning and memory from different angles, using different tools. To learn more about the Faculty Fellows of the CNLM, please click here.
CNLM Ambassadors
The CNLM Ambassadors are a group of over 70 undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research staff and community members who are passionate about brain awareness, education and outreach. The group engages in brain awareness activities both on the UC Irvine campus and in K-12 schools, community centers and senior centers in Orange County and Southern California. Click here to learn more about the CNLM Ambassadors Program.
The Chairs of the CNLM Ambassadors for 2022-2023 academic year are Caden Henningfield and Miranda Chappel-Farley.