Meet the Summer Scholars
Welcome! We are thrilled to introduce you to the 2026 cohort of the Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience Program!
Meet Ayla Acakpo-Satchivi
Ayla Acakpo-Satchivi is a rising 3rd year student from Saint Louis University studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Bruce McNaughton’s Lab, Ayla worked with her PhD candidate mentor, Winny Ning, to explore how the hippocampus encodes spatial memories and if hippocampal theta waves related to stepping rhythm play a role in this process.
Meet Steven Acevedo
Steven Acevedo is a rising 2nd year student from New York University studying Global Public Health and Nursing. This summer, in Dr. Katharine Simon’s Lab, Steven worked with his post-doctorate mentor, Dr. Alessandra Shuster, to research the bidirectional impacts of sleep, cognition, and mood in adolescents and young adults with Type 1 Diabetes.
Meet Miana Bridges
Miana Bridges is a rising 4th year student from Morgan State University studying Clinical Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Eitan Schectman’s Lab, Miana worked with her PhD Student mentor, Neda Morakabati, to research the impact of rescripting traumatic events and targeted reactivation on memory consolidation during sleep.
Meet Yaisha M. Camis Bonilla
Yaisha M. Camis Bonilla is a rising 3rd year student from University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Sara Mednick’s Lab, Yaisha worked with her PhD Student mentor, Allison Morehouse, to research how changes in heart rate across the menstrual and sleep cycle can predict emotional memory processing.
Meet Aamori Connor
Aamori Connor is a rising 4th year student from Howard University studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Sara Mednick’s Sleep and Cognition Lab, Aamori worked with her PhD Student mentor, Temilade Adekoya, to examine how daytime and nighttime sleep interact with each other across the menstrual cycle to support working memory.
Meet Uwadiae Ehondor
Uwadiae Ehondor is a rising 2nd year student from Howard University studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Aileen Anderson’s Lab, Uwadiae worked with his PhD Student mentor, Vaidehi Gandhi, to how implanted biomaterials may support regeneration and suppress inflammation after spinal cord injury.
Meet Asia Evans
Asia Evans is a rising 2nd year student from Howard University studying Biochemistry. This summer, in Dr. Shahradad Lotfipour’s Lab, Asia worked with her PhD Student mentor, Nora Alammari, to research how nicotine and nicotine analogs affect the brain and substance use behavior in adolescent rodents.
Meet Jalen Fortson
Jalen Fortson is a rising 3rd year student from Morehouse College studying Biology. This summer, in Dr. Christine Fowler’s Lab, Jalen worked with his PhD Student mentor, Julia Lagomarsino, to research the effect of nicotine on memory and operant learning using mouse models.
Meet Oluwatomisin Kale
Oluwatomisin Kale is a rising 3rd year student from Howard University studying Biology. This summer, in Dr. Steve Mahler’s Lab, Oluwatomisin worked with her PhD Candidate mentor, Erica Ramirez, to research how psychedelic drugs differentially affect the brain under a social context in rats.
Meet Claire Karr
Claire Karr is a rising 4th year student from CSU Long Beach studying Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology. This summer, in Dr. Michael Yassa’s Lab, Claire worked with her PhD Student mentor, Emily Yi, to research Alzheimer's Disease in women.
Meet Ashura Langford
Ashura Langford is a rising 3rd year student from Howard University studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Lisa Flanagan’s Lab, Ashura worked with her PhD Candidate mentor, Vi Phuong Dang, to research how glycosylation of glioblastoma cells affects drug resistance and metastasis.
Meet Talia Manning
Talia Manning is a rising 4th year student from North Carolina A & T State University studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Michael Yassa’s Lab, Talia worked with her PhD student mentor, Leah Varghese, to research how chronic stress affects vascular health and Alzheimer's Disease pathologies.
Meet Alessandro Mariño-El Gornati
Alessandro Mariño-El Gornati is a rising 3rd year student from SUNY at Albany studying Nanoscale Engineering. This summer, in Dr. Jennifer Gelinas’s lab working with his post-doctoral scholar mentor Liang Ma Ph.D to analyze electrophysiological characteristics in the cortex and hippocampus in early postnatal development.
Meet Verónica Rodríguez González
Verónica Rodríguez González is a rising 4th year student from the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras studying Molecular Biology. This summer, in Dr. Han Tan’s Lab, Veronica researched how expression of certain genes in the brain contribute to obesity and how do GLP-1 drugs affect the brain.
Meet Leah Scott
Leah Scott is a rising 4th year student from CSU Fresno studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Liz Chrastil’s Lab, Leah worked with her PhD Candidate mentor, Alina Tu, to research spatial navigation and sex differences in path integration.
Meet Layla Solomon
Layla Solomon is a rising 3rd year student from Spelman College studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Sara Mednick’s Lab, Layla worked with her PhD Student mentor, Tracy Uzoigwe, to research gross motor learning and sleep cognition using EEG and spindle density.
Meet Uma Vij
Uma Vij is a rising 3rd year student from CSU Monterey Bay studying Biological Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Tallie Z Baram’s Lab, Uma worked with her post-doctoral scholar mentor, Rachael Hokenson Ph.D, to research how estrogen cycles and acute stressors interact disrupt memory.
Meet Kamille Watkins
Kamille Watkins is a rising 4th year student from Spelman College studying Health Sciences. This summer, in Dr. Aileen Anderson’s lab working with her mentor Zeina Elrachid to analyze how the complement protein C1q interacts with receptors on neural stem cells to regulate cellular behaviors.
Meet Taylor Webster
Taylor Webster is a rising 3rd year student from Spelman College studying Biology. This summer, in Dr. Bruce McNaughton’s Lab, Taylor worked with her PhD Student mentor, Royston Long, to research how the brain supports long term continuous learning throughout the lifespan.
Meet Camryn Williams
Camryn Williams is a rising 4th year student from Howard University studying Psychology. This summer, in Dr. Liz Head’s lab working with her PhD Student mentor Zoe Treadwell to analyze the connection between neurofilament light concentrations in CSF and plasma and Alzheimer’s Disease pathologies.
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.
