NTP Faculty Currently Recruiting

The following NTP faculty have funding to support Ph.D. graduate students and are seeking NTP students to join their labs:

Behavioral, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience

Name	Email	Research Description
Melisa Carrasco	carrascomccaul@neurology.wisc.edu	Research focuses on the long-term cognitive development of children, including healthy infants and those afflicted by a newborn brain injury. The research lab aims to help predict executive dysfunction and cognitive disability in populations at risk.
Carrie Niziolek	cniziolek@wisc.edu	My research focuses on speech motor control: how the brain coordinates sensory and motor signals to achieve communicative goals. Our lab combines brain imaging during spoken language with the acoustic analysis of speech behavior.
Ben Parrell	bparrell@gmail.com	We study speech motor production—the physical act of producing vocal speech. We take a broad approach in our research, focusing on the relationship between the abstract, cognitive-linguistic system, speech motor behavior, and brain function.
Brittany Travers	btravers@wisc.edu	Movement and motor patterns in neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals (autism, ADHD, etc.) and how motor training can render cascading effects on brain neuroplasticity (using MRI) and behavior. Funding pending.

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Name	Email	Research Description
Edwin Chapman	chapman@wisc.edu	Presynaptic aspects of synaptic transmission; biophysics of membrane fusion, neuronal cell biology.
Katie Drerup	drerup@wisc.edu	Our lab uses zebrafish to study neuronal cell biology. We are interested in mitochondrial homeostasis, autophagy, and microtubule regulation, which are all essential for the formation and maintenance of neural circuits.
Mary Halloran	mchalloran@wisc.edu	Cell biology of cargo transport in neurons during development and disease.
Mrinalini Hoon	mhoon@wisc.edu	Mammalian retinal development, maturation, disease and degeneration
Matt Jones	mathewjones@wisc.edu	Mechanisms of memory and sleep, with applications to diseases such as epilepsy and Alzheimer’s. Funding pending.
Justin Wolter	wolter4@wisc.edu	We study the mechanisms by which genetic variation (common and rare) affect risk and resilience to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases.
Xinyu Zhao	xinyu.zhao@wisc.edu	To investigate the genetic basis of mammalian brain development at single cell levels using stem cell and gene edited mammalian models and explore implications in developmental disorders.

Development, Plasticity, and Repair

Name	Email	Research Description
Erik Dent	ewdent@wisc.edu	We are interested in neuronal development and plasticity in the hippocampus and cortex. Our work focuses on the dynamics of the neuronal cytoskeleton and we use rats and mice as our experimental models. Funding pending.
Tim Gomez	tmgomez@wisc.edu	In the Gomez lab we seek to improve our understanding of the molecular basis of normal neural network formation during development and how defects in connectivity occur in ASDs, such as Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC).
Darcie Moore	darcie.moore@wisc.edu	Adult neural stem cell quiescence and quiescence exit. Funding pending.

Neurobiology of Disease

Name	Email	Research Description
Tobey Betthauser	tbetthauser@wisc.edu	Our lab uses neuroimaging and fluid biomarkers to investigate the sequence and timing of Alzheimer’s disease pathologic and clinical events. We also perform antemortem-postmortem studies comparing imaging and fluid biomarkers acquired during life to pathological characterization of tissue after death.
Qiang Chang	qchang@waisman.wisc.edu	Use mouse models, nonhuman primary models, and human stem cell based models to study brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Michelle Ciucci	ciucci@surgery.wisc.edu	The main projects center on noradrenergic mechanisms of vocalization/swallow/GI deficits in Parkinson disease using a translational approach (Pink1-/- rat model). We use behavior, histology, PCR, and microPET imaging to study how exercise and drugs might rescue these deficits. We are also interested in how pathology might spread from gut to central nervous system.
Ryan Herringa	herringa@wisc.edu	Using neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry, we are exploring brain-body mechanisms of vulnerability and resilience to childhood trauma. Modalities include behavioral assessment, neuroimaging, psychophysiology, machine learning, and others.
Zhen Huang	zhuang3@wisc.edu	Mechanisms of tau pathology development and neurodegeneration in a microglia specific mouse model of sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
Colleen McDowell	cmmcdowell@wisc.edu	This project will study the role of astrocytes, microglia, and lamina cribrosa cells in the development of optic nerve damage in glaucoma. Specifically, we are looking at the molecular pathology and paracrine signaling pathways between these cells types using primary cells in culture, human donor eyes, and a mouse model of glaucoma.
Marcelo Vargas	mvargas@wisc.edu	Biology of astrocytes, astrocyte-neuron interaction, neurodegeneration.
Donna Werling	dwerling@wisc.edu	The Werling Lab uses functional genomics and genetics approaches to study the interacting effects of genetic variation and sex-differential biology on brain development and risk mechanisms for neuropsychiatric disorders, with a focus on developmental disorders such as autism.

Systems and Circuits

Name	Email	Research Description
Jared Cregg	jcregg@wisc.edu	Brainstem circuits for motor control. We employ cutting-edge techniques for detailed anatomical, molecular, and functional analyses, together aimed at providing basic insights into the cell types and circuits that control movement.
Ari Rosenberg	ari.rosenberg@wisc.edu	Neural computations underlying 3D vision, multisensory integration, and the neural basis of autism.
Betsy Quinlan	betsy.quinlan@wisc.edu	Rejuvenation of plasticity in adult cortical circuits; amblyopia, sensory deprivation
Raunak Sinha	raunak.sinha@wisc.edu	Receptors, synapses and neural circuits