Students

Current Students

Sydney Vita

Research mentor: Donna Platt, PhD, Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences; Pramod Dash, PhD, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Departments of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Neurosurgery
Research focus: My research focuses on the physiological effects of concussive traumatic brain injury.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BA, University of Colorado - Denver, Psychology

Graham Casey

Research mentor: Brad Walters, PhD, Departments of Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences, and Otolaryngology and Communicative Science
Research focus: I'm interested in a number of topics related to the inner ear. In particular I'm interested in transcriptional regulation of cell fate in the Organ of Corti as well as its functional responses to a number of different pathologies.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, Millsaps College, Chemistry

Sid Gaikwad

Research mentor: Lique Coolen, PhD, Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Research focus: I am interested in determining brain stem projections to the spinal ejaculation generator in rats.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: MBSS, Mahatma Ghandi University; MS, Tulane University, Neuroscience

Austin Zamarripa

Research mentor: Kevin Freeman, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Research focus: My research is focused on the therapeutic effects of opioid analgesics and new opioid biased agonists in preclinical models.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, Millsaps College, Neuroscience & Cognitive Studies

John Aaron Howell

Research mentor: Lee Bidwell, PhD, Departments of Neurology and Cell and Molecular Biology
Research focus: My research focuses on the neuroinflammation that occurs after ischemic strokes, particularly the activation of the nuclear factor kappa B pathway. Our goal is to find novel methods to inhibit this pathway and prevent the secondary tissue injury that occurs as a result of the inflammatory response to ischemic strokes.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BA, University of Mississippi, Biochemistry

Kendra Stansak

Research mentor: Brad Walters, PhD, Departments of Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences and Otolaryngology and Communicative Science
Research focus: I am interested in disease states of the inner ear. My current focus is on genetic and environmental risk factors associated with formations of neoplastic masses on or around the cochlea and cranial nerve VIII.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, St. Vincent College, Psychology

Charles Barnes

Research mentor: Doug Vetter, PhD, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomical Sciences
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, University of Tennessee, Biological Sciences

Maria Jones-Muhammad

Research mentor: J. Paula Warrington, PhD, Department of Neurology
Research focus: My research focuses on understanding molecular factors that contribute to increased seizure susceptibility in placental ischemia.
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, Tougaloo College, Chemistry

Jaren Reeves-Darby

Research mentor: Donna M. Platt, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior
Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, Millsaps College, Neuroscience & Cognitive Studies

Elizabeth Gordineer

Ashley Griffin

Loc Pham

Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, University of Alabama – Birmingham, Neuroscience

Jake Valeri

William Doyle

Tanya Pareek

Undergraduate/graduate degree: BS, Millsaps College, Biology; MS, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Biomedical Sciences

Allie Smith