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Undergrads

Wu Tsai Undergraduate Fellows pursue mentored summer research in the labs under the mentorship of Yale faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from many fields, including computer science, biophysics, molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and data science.

Undergrad Fellowships
Two people standing in a crowded event, discussing a poster in front of them Wu Tsai Institute Undergraduate Summer Scholar giving a poster presentation at Yale Science Building Research student giving a poster presentation at an event

Wu Tsai Undergraduate Fellows

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