Meet the Summer Scholars
Welcome! We are thrilled to introduce you to the 2025 cohort of the Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience Program!
Meet Jassiely Bigas Hamden
Jassiely Bigas Hamden is an undergraduate student at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, studying Psychology. This summer, Jassie worked in Dr. Liz Chrastil's laboratory with her graduate student mentor, Alina Tu, to research differences in spatial navigation in midlife adults using virtual reality and fMRI.
Meet Morgan Chambers
Morgan Chambers is an undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Education Studies at Spelman College. This summer, Morgan worked in Dr. Sara Mednick's Sleep and Cognition Laboratory with her graduate student mentor, Tracy Uzoigwe, to investigate how sleep affects motor memory using full-body dance routines. Her work involved EEG data collection, participant coordination, and analysis of movement during naps to understand how sleep consolidates whole-body motor learning.
Meet Lauryn Chandler
Lauryn Chandler is an undergraduate student at Howard University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Women's, Gender, and Sexualities Studies. This summer, Lauryn worked in Dr. Aaron Bornstein's laboratory with her Ph.D student mentor Ari Khoudari, investigating how people develop expectations about the world and how this affects decision making.
Meet Olivia Colquhoun
Olivia Colquhoun is an undergraduate student at Howard University, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Chemistry. This summer, Olivia worked in Dr. Christie Fowler's laboratory with her PhD student mentor, Julia Lagomarsino, to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying drug dependence, using a mouse model.
Meet Gabriella Cordero
Gabriella Cordero is an undergraduate student at Mount Holyoke College, majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior and minoring in Film, Media, and Theatre. This summer, Gabriella worked in Dr. Christie Fowler's laboratory with her Ph.D. student mentor, Kendyl Laumann, to investigate the neurobiological effects and interactions of nicotine and psychedelics and assess whether it alleviates or exacerbates responses to traumatic events and stress.
Meet Corey Goddard
Corey Goddard is an undergraduate student at Howard University majoring in Biology with a minor in Psychology. This summer, Corey worked in Dr. Michael Yassa's Laboratory with his Ph.D. student mentors, Emily Yi and Dana Parker, to investigate how estrogen, specifically estrone, interacts with tau protein and how this relationship may influence brain function and structure in postmenopausal women.
Meet Daniella Joseph
Daniella Joseph is an undergraduate student at Indiana Wesleyan University, majoring in Biochemistry and Pre-Med. This summer, Daniella worked in Dr. Bruce McNaughton's laboratory with her Ph.D. student mentor, Royston Long, and postdoctoral mentor, Dr. Zaneta Navratilova, to investigate how long-term memory is efficiently consolidated without catastrophic interference using in-vivo calcium imaging of awake mice performing a task.
Meet Sofia Lopez-Orraca
Sofia Lopez-Orraca is an undergraduate student transferring from San Diego Mesa College to the University of California San Diego, where she will major in Molecular and Cell Biology. This summer, Sophia worked in Dr. Steve Mahler's Laboratory with her Ph.D. candidate mentor, Erica Ramirez, to investigate how GABA neurons in the ventral pallidum contribute to social reward and motivation in rodents.
Meet Taylor Marshall
Taylor Marshall is an undergraduate student at Xavier University majoring in Neuroscience. This summer, Taylor worked in Dr. Steve Mahler's Laboratory with her postdoctoral mentor, Dr. Grayson Butcher, to develop and refine a machine learning system for automatically scoring the head twitch response in rodents, a measure of serotonin 2A receptor activation.
Meet Kimberly Mendez
Kimberly Mendez is an undergraduate student at Barnard College majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior with a minor in Anthropology. This summer, Kimberly worked in the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Head with her Ph.D. student mentor, Zoe Treadwell, to study Alzheimer’s disease pathology in a naturally aging canine model.
Meet Juliana Morsello
Juliana Morsello is an undergraduate student at Adelphi University studying Cognitive Neuroscience. This summer, Juliana worked in Dr. Michael Yassa's laboratory with her Ph.D. student mentors, Dana Parker and Emily Yi, to analyze diffusion kurtosis imaging to study white matter tracts, enabling the detection of early biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease.
Meet Resa Nelson
Resa Nelson is an undergraduate student at Hofstra University studying Biology and Biochemistry. This summer, Resa worked in the Dr. Lisa Flanagan laboratory with her MD/PhD student mentor, Laura Tennis, to explore the factors that influence neural stem cell differentiation.
Meet Serafina Ottley
Serafina Ottley is an undergraduate student at Hampton University studying Psychology. This summer, Serafina worked closely with Dr. Katharine Simon and her team to examine how sleep influences mental health throughout youth development and its role in shaping long-term mental health trajectories.
Meet Mariam Oyejide
Mariam Oyejide is an undergraduate student at Howard University, majoring in Psychology and double minoring in Biology and Criminology. This summer, Mariam worked in Dr. Aaron Bornstein's laboratory with her postdoctoral mentor, Dr. Sharon Noh, to identify and understand the neural mechanisms and training conditions that enhance learning and decision-making across the lifespan.
Meet Bronwyn Pinsly
Bronwyn Pinsly is an undergraduate student at Westfield State University studying Biotechnology. This summer, Bronwyn worked in Dr. Momoko Watanabe's laboratory with his Ph.D. student mentor, Bella Fleming, to further develop cortical organoids.
Meet Nia Reese
Nia Reese is an undergraduate student at North Carolina A & T studying Psychology. This summer, Nia worked in Dr. Kroll's laboratory with her Ph.D candidate mentor, Nicole Vargas Fuentes, to investigate how bilingual speakers process emotional information at neural and behavioral levels using EEG, behavioral tasks, and surveys.
Meet Raul Rivera
Raul Rivera III is an undergraduate student at Loyola Marymount University studying Psychology. This summer, Raul worked in Dr. Eitan Schechtman's laboratory with his mentor Nicholas Lew, a master's student, to research the effects of circadian rhythms on memory consolidation in humans during sleep.
Meet Asia Smith
Asia Smith is an undergraduate student at Howard University, studying Biology and Chemistry. This summer, Asia worked in Dr. Tallie Z. Baram’s laboratory with her PhD student mentor, Mason Hardy, to investigate the impact of early-life stress on long-term behaviors and psychiatric disorders.
Meet Cassandra Vandevoorde
Cassandra Delvira Vandevoorde is an undergraduate student at Agnes Scott College studying Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence. This summer, Cass worked in the laboratory of Dr. Bruce McNaughton with her PhD candidate mentor, Winny Ning, to explore how the hippocampus and cortex interact to encode spatial navigation and object information in mice.
Meet Maya Warner
Maya Warner is an undergraduate student at Spelman College studying Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. This summer, Maya worked in Dr. Michael Yassa's laboratory with her Ph.D. student mentors, Dana Parker and Emily Yi, to investigate how neuroinflammation differs between men and women, and why these differences might make women more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
About the Program
The Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience Program at the University of California, Irvine Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory is an immersive residential neuroscience research program. Funded by the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program and the University of California Office of the President's UC-HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Initiative, the program aims to expose undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in science to neuroscience research.
Supporting Partners
The Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience is possible thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF-REU), the US Department of Defense Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Experiences (ASSURE), and the University of California - Historically Black Colleges and Universities (UC-HBCU) Initiative from the UC Office of the President.
