Carolina Gomez - Undergraduate Researcher (2022-2023)

After graduating from Tulane in 2023 with a BS in Neuroscience, Carolina worked at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. She has been accepted to Tulane Medical School and will start Fall 2024! During her time in the Galazo lab, she focused on motor learning in mice.

Alina Tiemroth – Undergraduate Researcher (2019-2022)

While working in the Galazo Lab, Alina developed a strong interest in the genetic programs that generate the brain. Her Honors Thesis project investigated the role of a transcriptional co-regulator in the development of the cerebral cortex. She is currently a PhD student in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Lee Vaasjo - PhD recipient (2024)

In the Galazo Lab, Lee’s PhD focused on the molecular mechanisms of specification and maintenance of cortical cell identity. To achieve this, he implemented a series of advanced surgical, molecular, and microscopy techniques. Noteworthy during his Ph.D., he went to the MBL-Neural Systems & Behavior course, became an SfN-Neuroscience Scholar, and received the competitive F99/ K00 NIH Blueprint and BRAIN Initiative D-SPAN Award.

Now, at the University of Pittsburgh in the Chamberland Lab, he studies the role of inhibitory neurons on dendritic integration in the hippocampus using multi-photon voltage imaging.

Xiao Han - PhD recipient (2024)

Han is from Xi’an, China. After graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.S. in Neuroscience, he enrolled in the Master’s program in Tulane Brain Instituted at 2016 and later joined the Ph.D Program at 2018. Since join Dr. Galazo’s lab in 2019, Han has been working on several projects that involved in characterization of corticothalamic neurons in deep cortical layers, investigating the mechanism of cortical neuron identity development, and implication on rodent working memory after manipulating cortical neuronal activities. In his free time, Han spends time to explore the city of New Orleans, road tripping, playing guitar and painting miniatures. 

Rajan K C - PhD recipient (2024)

Rajan received his B.S. from McNeese in 2019. As an undergraduate, he researched protein-lipid interaction and how its dysregulation affects trafficking in the Parkinson model in Professor Stephan N. Witt’s lab at LSU-Health, Shreveport. He joined Tulane CMB PhD program in 2020 and Meadows and Galazo lab in 2021 where he received his PhD in 2024. As a graduate student, he worked on understanding the functional and molecular role of a transcription regulator in cortical development and ASD and in lymphatic endothelial cell using genomic, transcriptomic, and molecular approaches. He joined Heiman lab at MIT in 2024 as a postdoctoral associate. Using his previous neuro and vascular experience, he wants to understand the mechanism and drivers in VCID and utilize gene therapy to directly target the cerebrovascular cells and modify disease characteristics in neurodegeneration.

Vivianne Morrison - Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Morrison received her PhD in neuroscience in 2019 from Georgetown University where under the guidance of Dr. Jeff K. Huang and with independent funding from the NSF, she studied oligodendrocyte development. She began her postdoctoral work at Vanderbilt University in 2020 with Dr. Bruce Carter, exploring the role of microglial phagocytosis in neurogensis; an F32-funded project that she continued to persue at Tulane University while also contributing to the research of Dr. Gregory Bix, and later, Dr. Maria Galazo in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Dr. Morrison is now a research scientist in the labortory of Dr. Kevin Zwezdaryk, where she manages an NIH funded project aimed at exploring viral etiologies of Alzheimer’s Disease in collaboration with Dr. Elizabel Enger-Chiurazzi.

Abbi Thurmon - Laboratory Supervisor (2022-2024)

Abbi is from Shreveport, LA, and joined the Galazo lab in 2019 as an undergraduate researcher. After graduating in 2022 with a B.S. in neuroscience, she became a Lab Technician. One year later, she was promoted to Lab Supervisor. Abbi is interested in the development and organization of the brain, especially in the context of sleep, memory, and attention. Outside of the lab, she organizes with New Orleans Renters’ Rights Assembly, fosters cats through Tomato Foster Club, and enjoys reading, watching movies, and baking.

Mary Lorino - Undergraduate Researcher

Mary Lorino is from Birmingham, Alabama, and joined the Galazo Lab during her time as an undergraduate student at Tulane. Mary Graduated from Tulane in May 2024 with a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience. While in the Galazo lab, Mary developed an interest in cell based therapies for neurological disorders. She is currently a PhD student in the Regenerative Medicine Program at the Universitu of Edinburgh.

Hallie Berndt – Undergraduate Researcher (2020-2021)

During her time working in the Galazo lab, Hallie designed and handmade drives for in vivo recording during cognitive tests of behaving animals, performed genotyping, conducted behavioral tests, and analyzed data. Hallie works as a medical assistant in Hoboken, NJ with an orthopedic surgeon and is currently applying to medical schools with the hopes of beginning next summer.

Madelyn Korn – Undergraduate Researcher (2020-2021)

Alexandra Figueroa – Laboratory Technician (2019 - 2020)

Rosa Reyes – Laboratory Technician (2018 - 2019)

Rosa earned her MD from UIWSOM in San Antonio, TX in 2023 and is currently completing her residency at University of Michigan in Family Medicine.