Undergrads
Wu Tsai Undergraduate Fellows
- Sarah Cook (Neuroscience)
- Austin Curtis (Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry)
- Micah Gold (Applied Mathematics)
- Odessa Goldberg (Cognitive Science)
- Youssef Ibrahim (Neuroscience)
- Alexandra Martinez-Garcia (Neuroscience)
- Jessica Na (Neuroscience)
- Noor Nouaili (Neuroscience)
- Witt Phillips (Computer Science)
- Hunter Robbins (undeclared)
- Nathan Shan (undeclared)
- Olivia White Storti (Neuroscience)
The Institute welcomed 12 Yale students with research projects focusing on psychology, neurobiology, computer science, and more.
Tran Doan, Computer Science, Benjamin Franklin College, 2025
- Project: Human-Robot Hide-and-Seek
- Advisor: Brian Scassellati
Sarah Feng, Neuroscience, Trumbull College, 2025
- Project: Trauma resilience and multiple memory systems
- Advisor: Elizabeth Goldfarb
Ernestine Giahyue, Neuroscience, Saybrook College, 2025
- Project: Labeling the ensemble of neurons activated during stress and reward encoding using ArcTRAP
- Advisor: Marina Picciotto
Eliana Peyton, Neuroscience, Trumbull College, 2026
- Project: Molecular determinants of behavior patterns in an autism/BPD model rodent
- Advisor: Elizabeth Jonas
Sean Piñón, Neuroscience, Saybrook College, 2024
- Project: Investigating Glial-Vascular Transport Mechanisms across the Blood-Brain-Barrier
- Advisor: Jaime Grutzendler
Aranyo Ray, Computer Science & Psychology, Saybrook College, 2025
- Project: Social Learning of International Students in the United States
- Advisor: Melissa Ferguson
Ariana Reichler, Cognitive Science, Trumbull College, 2024
- Project: Affective Schema Learning and Early Experiences
- Advisor: Dylan Gee
Nathalia Reis, Cognitive Science, Davenport College, 2024
- Project: Functional Brain Networks Underlying Cognitive Inflexibility
- Advisor: Jutta Joormann
Ben Scheve, History, Silliman College, 2024
- Project: Environmental Risk and Protective Factors for Youth Suicidality
- Advisor: Arielle Baskin-Sommers
Isabel Shi, MCDB, Benjamin Franklin College, 2026
- Project: Study of Impaired Consciousness in a Mouse Model of Focal Temporal Lobe Seizures
- Advisor: Hal Blumenfeld
Serina Wang, Undeclared, Saybrook College, 2026
- Project: Reverse-engineering the brain: modeling neural dynamics of primate predator pursuit with novel recurrent neural network model
- Advisor: Ilker Yildirim
Elizabeth Wu, Neuroscience, Saybrook College, 2024
- Project: Dissecting visual distance estimation in Drosophila
- Advisor: Damon Clark
The Institute welcomed 14 students from Yale College and beyond, studying psychology, computer engineering, cell biology, and more.
Callie Benson-Williams, Neuroscience, Yale College
The Role of Multicontextual Threat on Emotional and Cognitive Processing, Advisor - Arielle Baskin-Sommers
Doris Chen, Psychology, Yale College
Resting State of Executive Control Networks (DLPFC) Predict Development of Control of Hallucinations, Advisor - Albert Powers
Evan Gerritz, Computer Science, Yale College
The Role of Color in the Perception of Translucent Surfaces, Advisor - Steven Zucker
Dawood Ghauri, Computer Engineering, Iowa State University
Neuron Identification Using Convolutional Neural Networks for In-Vivo Two-Photon Calcium Imagery From Mice, Advisor - Liang Liang
Brianny Gonzalez, Psychology, Connecticut College
The Effects of Disruptive Behavior Disorders and Family Environment and Neighborhood Environment on Behavioral and Neural Indicators of Emotional Working Memory, Advisor - Arielle Baskin-Sommers
Gabriela Hernandez-Busot, Molecular Biology, University of Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras
Measuring Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Serum as a Biomarker of Cognition in Patients with Hallucinations and Clinical High Risk for Psychosis, Advisor - Albert Powers
Elisa Howard, Neuroscience, Yale College
Imaging Dynamics of the Actin-Spectrin Cytoskeleton of Regenerating Axons, Advisor - Stephen Strittmatter
Erick Lopez, Psychology, Yale College
Role of Subcortical Arousal Systems During Transient Changes in Attention, Advisor - Hal Blumenfeld
Amma Otchere, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale College
Investigating the Role of Acetylcholine in the Developing Mouse Cortex, Advisor - Michael Crair
Arianna Rodriguez-Rivera, Microbiology, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao
Multiple Cognitive and Neurobiological Mechanisms of Alcohol Processing, Advisor - Elizabeth Goldfarb
Sabrina Santos-De Leon, Cellular Molecular Biology, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras
Hierarchical Control and Memory Encoding, Advisor - Samuel McDougle
Gabriella Valdivieso-Calderon, Neuroscience, Amherst College
Investigating the Effects of Internal State on Foraging in Drosophila, Advisor - Michael Nitabach
Elaine Wijaya, Neuroscience, Yale College
The Influence of Acute Stress on Episodic Memory and Statistical Learning, Advisor - Elizabeth Goldfarb
Nathan Wu, Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale College
Investigating Perceptual Asymmetry Upon Time Reversal in Drosophila, Advisor - Damon Clark
To support undergraduate research as quickly as possible in the Institute's first year, we teamed up with Yale College to identify students that applied for a summer fellowship in areas of interest to WTI.
Zhangir Azerbayev
Project - Learning Metacognition for Artificial Visual Systems
Advisor - Julian Jara-Ettinger
Omar Chishti
Project - Investigating White Matter Connectivity in a Novel Brain Atlas
Advisor - Hitten Zaveri
Nanki Chugh
Project - Characterizing Innate Pattern Preferences in Drosphila, Advisor - Damon Clark
Michal Gerasimiuk
Project - Investigating the Performance Per Watt of Neuromorphic Computing Approaches in a Spike Sorting Pipeline for Implantable Brain-Computer Interfaces,
Advisor - Abhishek Bhattacharjee
Samira Glaeser-Khan
Project - Two-Photon Imaging in the Prefrontal Cortex to Reveal Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Norepinephrine Spread and Release, Advisor - Alfred Kaye
Jacques Morris
Project - Creating Real-Time Decoding Algorithms to Understand How Neural Activity Enables Complex Behaviors, Advisor - Ethan Meyers
George Mourgkos
Project - Investigating the Activation of Disease-Associated, Proangiogenic Astrocytes in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Advisor - Brian Hafler
Jenna Salameh
Project - VIP Interneuron Contributions to Perception in the Primary Visual Cortex, Advisor - Jess Cardin
Isabel Santiuste
Project - Effects of Early Life Adversity on Frontolimbic Circuitry, Advisor - Dylan Gee
Amy Shteyman
Project - Investigating the Role and Ability of Anti-Apoptotic Protein Bcl-xL to Modulate Memory and Cognition, Advisor - Elizabeth Jonas
Alice Zhang
Project - Determining Size and Stoichiometry of the TRPA1 CFS Mutant Protein Channel, Advisor - Candice Paulsen
Sophia Zhao
Project - Investigating the Developmental Trajectory of Inhibitory Synapses and Dendritic Spines in Cortical Pyramidal Neurons, Advisor - Michael Higley