Katherine Nagel, PI

Katherine Nagel started her lab at NYU School of Medicine in 2014, after receiving her PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF with Allison Doupe, and pursuing postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School with Rachel Wilson. Before focusing on Drosophila, she worked on central pattern generators and auditory processing, always combining experiments with computational modeling. She has always been fascinated by biological complexity, by neural dynamics, and by the intricate interactions between molecules, cells, and circuits that give rise to behavior. Outside the lab she raises two spirited children with her husband David, and stays sane by making artwork.

Nick Kathman, postdoc

Nick did his graduate work with Roy Ritzmann studying visual motion processing in the cockroach central brain and a postdoc with Jessica Fox looking at how mechanosensory representations from the fly haltere are integrated with visual motion in the central brain. In his free time he enjoys swimming, playing tennis, and exploring the city.

Aaron Lanz, PhD student

Aaron completed his BSc and MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Calgary where he studied synaptic regulation of the stress response with Dr. Jaideep Bains and Dr. Grant Gordon. In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing soccer, exploring the outdoors/city, and playing board games.

Emily Hao, undergraduate

Emily is currently completing her B.S. in Neuroscience with a Minor in Computer Science at New York University. In Summer 2023, she studied cancer cell treatments at Jecho Laboratories with Dr. Kaiyong Yang. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, hiking, crocheting, and trying new restaurants.

Christina May, postdoc

Christina completed her PhD with Monica Dus at the University of Michigan studying the influence of dietary sugar on taste and feeding behavior. In addition to science, she enjoys baking, gardening, reading, and being outdoors with her husband and their dog, Whisky.

Theresa Steele, PhD student

Theresa earned her BA in Neuroscience from Reed College where she worked with Erik Zornik studying sexual dimorphism in the vocal pattern generator of Xenopus frogs. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking too much food and hoarding house plants.

Yasha Zaman, undergraduate

Yasha is currently pursuing her BS in neuroscience with a concentration in neuropsychology at Hofstra University . She spent two years working with Dr. Alison Mello at Queensborough Community College to utilize RNAi silencing techniques to mimic eczema “equivalent” gene (BLI-6) in C. elegans. In her spare time, Yasha loves to cook, bake, and travel to new places.

Kavin Nuñez, postdoc

Kavin completed his PhD work with Karla Kaun at Brown University studying how hunger affects olfactory memory processing and retrieval for ethanol associated cues. Outside of research, he enjoys practicing martial arts, baking, exploring the outdoors, and hanging out with his significant other and their dog.

Jabari McGinnis, PhD Student

Jabari earned his BS in Biology with a minor in neuroscience from Morehouse College. Following undergrad, he was a PiNBac student at Harvard Medical School where he studied the role of cortical activity in voluntary movement initiation in the labs of John Assad and Bernardo Sabatini. Outside of the lab, he enjoys thrift shopping, reading, and hanging out with friends.

Ryan Farrell, postdoc

Ryan completed his PhD with Tim Ryan at The Rockefeller University leveraging optical indicators to study the role of Presenilins in controlling neurotransmission. Outside the lab he enjoys hiking, baking, reading, theatre and walking his dog Benny.

Karin van Hassel, RA

Karin earned her BA in Neuroscience from Bowdoin College where she worked with Patsy Dickinson and Dan Powell studying how sensory and modulatory inputs interact to produce flexible motor outputs in the heart of the American lobster. Outside of the lab she enjoys exploring the city, reading, and eating good food with friends.