Alumni Outcomes

Many of our former students have gone on to hold faculty positions at Universities across the US. Many more are currently in postdoctoral positions.

Gustavo Rodriguez (entered 2009, Ph.D. 2014)
Dr. Rodriguez is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University.

Rachel Wurzman (entered 2008, Ph.D. 2014)
Dr. Wurzman is a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Pennsylvania.

Jessica Ihne (entered 2009, Ph.D. 2014)
Dr. Ihne is a Postdoctoral Fellow at at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Tanya Evans (entered 2007, Ph.D. 2013)
Dr. Evans is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University.

Jeremy Purcell (entered 2005, Ph.D. 2012)
Dr. Purcell is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University.

Hilary North Scheler (entered 2005, Ph.D. 2010)
Dr. Scheler is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Mary Adedoyin (entered 2005, Ph.D. 2010)
Dr. Adedoyin is a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSF.

Sakura Minami (entered 2005, Ph.D. 2010)
Dr. Minami is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the J. David Gladstone Institute.

Melissa Herman (entered 2005, Ph.D. 2009)
Dr. Herman is an Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina

Pavel Ortinski (entered 2002, Ph.D. 2007)
Dr. Ortinski is currently a Research Assistant Professor at U Penn

Jill Turner (entered 2002, Ph.D. 2006)
Dr. Turner, initially a Postdoctoral Fellow at U Penn, received the Young Investigator Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in 2011. Dr. Turner is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Pharmacy

Laila Zai (entered 1999, Ph.D. 2004)
Dr. Zai is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital.

Peter Turkeltaub (entered 1999, M.D., Ph.D. 2003)
Dr. Turkeltaub is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University Medical School/Department of Neurology.

Cherie Marvel (entered 1996, Ph.D. 2002)
Dr. Marvel is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Penelope Kuhn (entered 1994, Ph.D. 2002)
Dr. Kuhn is currently a Professor in the Dept of Psychology at CSU Chico.

Several of our students have gone on to positions in industry.

Dr. Kelly McVearry (entered 2002, Ph.D. 2007)
Dr. McVearry is the Senior Scientific Advisor to Northrop Grumman’s Chief Medical Officer. Northrop Grumman integrates subject matter expertise with information technologies to serve federal and global health customers.

Philberta Leung (entered 2002, Ph.D. 2007) 
Dr. Leung is a Research Scientist at Aronora, a biotech company focusing on new biological blood clot treatment drugs.

Robbin Wood Miranda (entered 2002, Ph.D. 2007)
Dr. Miranda is a Neuroscientist at the Schafer Corporation.

Rana Al-Hallaq (entered 1997, Ph.D. 2001)
Dr. Al-Hallaq is a Clinical Scientist at Forest Research Institute & Forest Laboratories, Inc.

Georgetown University provides many opportunities for students to become involved in government policy work. Several students have received prestigious fellowships from AAAS or the National Academies of Science to pursue their interest in science in the public realm after graduating from the IPN. With the increasing importance of using scientific knowledge to inform public policy decisions, we anticipate that these scientists will continue to have a strong impact on how science is supported and utilized by the federal government.

Brannon Green (entered 2009, Ph.D. 2016)
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data at the US Department of Justice.

Brandon Martin (entered 2007, Ph.D. 2012)
AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the US Department of Defense.

Leah Lozier (entered 2007, Ph.D. 2013)
Presidential Management Fellow (PMF-STEM) at the National Institutes of Health.

Lauren Ullrich (entered 2006, Ph.D. 2014)
Health Program Specialist at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Dawn Joseph-Beraud (entered 2007, Ph.D. 2013)
Science Policy Analyst at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Danielle Evers (entered 2005, Ph.D. 2009)
AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Office of Science and Technology Policy. OSTP serves as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans and programs of the Federal Government. Dr. Evers is currently Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Sunbin Song (entered 2003, Ph.D. 2008)
National Academies of Sciences Graduate Fellowship in the Committee on Science, Technology, and Law. Dr. Song is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the NIH in the Human Cortical Plasticity Section.

Alexis Jeanotte (entered 2003, Ph.D. 2007)
AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship in the National Securities and Global Securities at the US Department of Homeland Security. Dr Jeannotte is currently a contractor supporting the government in the development and management of programs that fund research and development to meet national security needs.

Judy Lytle (entered 2002, Ph.D. 2007)
AAAS National Defense and Global Security Fellowship, Office of Naval Research. Dr. Lytle is currently the Science and Technology Division Director for AVIAN Engineering, providing support to DoD agencies and partner companies in Science and Technology Development.

Ivy Estabrooke (entered 2000, Ph.D. 2005)
AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, Office of Naval Research Global, which works to find cutting edge research around the globe. Dr. Estabrooke is now a program officer at the Office of Naval Research

Liza Bundesen (entered 1998, Ph.D. 2003)
The National Academies Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellowship, placed at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Bundesen is currently Acting Chief of the Science Policy and Evaluation Branch within the NIMH Office of Science Policy, Planning, and Communications.

Our M.D./Ph.D. students have gone on to both academic and nonacademic medical practice.

Rachelle Toman (entered 1998, Ph.D. 2003)
Dr. Toman is the Medical Director of Community Health Center in Washington, DC

Brandon Zielinski (entered 1997, Ph.D. 2001)
Dr. Zielinski is a Visiting Instructor in Pediatrics and Attending Physician in the Dept of Neurology at UCSF.

Other job paths our students have followed:

Bridget Queenan (entered 2009, Ph.D. 2014)
Dr. Queenan is the Associate Director of the BRAIN Initiative at UC Santa Barbara.

Nancy Cowdin (entered 2008, Ph.D. 2014)
Dr. Cowdin is a chemistry teacher at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School.

Samantha Crowe (entered 2001, Ph.D. 2006)
Dr. Crowe is a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Laura Chamberlain Gehl (entered 2001, Ph.D. 2005)
Dr. Gehl is the Senior Editor of Science Weekly.

Kimberly Rivas-Plata Ballard (entered 1998, Ph.D. 2005)
Dr. Ballard is a Patent Examiner and Alzheimer’s Disease Consultant for the USPTO.

Parviz Bozzelli: Post-Doctoral fellowship – MIT
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisor: Katherine Conant
Thesis Title: The role of MMPs in impaired paravascular clearance pathways

Edith Brignoni-Perez: Post-Doctoral fellowship – Stanford University
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisor: Guinevere Eden
Thesis Title: The Neural Bases of Reading in Bilingual Children and Adults

Catherine Elorette: Post-Doctoral fellowship – Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisors: Patrick Forcelli and Ludise Malkova
Thesis Title: Rapid Visual Threat Processing in Non-Human Primates

Kelly Michaelis: Post-Doctoral fellowship – NINDS
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisors: Peter Turkeltaub and Andrei Medvedev
Thesis Title: Using EEG and TMS to Investigate the Neural Mechanisms of Speech Perception

Alberto Sepulveda-Rodriguez: Research Associate – Cantor Fitzgerald
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisor: Stefano Vicini
Thesis Title: Characterizing the acute microglial response to single non-epileptogenic vs. epileptogenic seizures

Gabrielle-Ann Torre: Post-Doctoral fellowship – Boston University
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisor: Guinevere Eden
Thesis Title: The Modulatory Roles of IQ and SES on Brain Structure and Reading Ability

Patrick Malone: MD/PhD – Georgetown University
Entered: 2015
Thesis Advisor: Max Riesenhuber
Thesis Title: Neural mechanisms of vibrotactile speech perception

Chinyere Agbaegbu-Iweka: Post-Doctoral fellowship – Stanford University
Entered: 2013
Thesis Advisors: Jeff Urbach and Herb Geller (NIH)
Thesis Title: Elucidating the role of Plasticity-Related Gene protein-3 in CNS plasticity

Brittany Aguilar: Post-Doctoral fellowship – University of California Davis
Entered: 2013
Thesis Advisors: Patrick Forcelli and Ludise Malkova
Thesis Title: Investigating Contributions of Intermediate and Deep Layers of Superior Colliculus to Defensive and Emotional Behaviors

Mackenzie Fama: Assistant Professor – Towson University
Entered: 2013
Thesis Advisor: Peter Turkeltaub and Rhonda Friedman
Thesis Title: Self-reported Inner Speech In Aphasia: Behavioral Relationships And Neural Correlates

Stephanie Davis: MD/PhD – Georgetown University
Entered: 2014
Thesis Advisors: Jeffrey Huang and Anton Wellstein
Thesis Title: Exploring IL4i1 As A Potential Biomarker And Treatment Option In MS

Scott Miles: Founder – Secret Chord Laboratories
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisors: Josef Rasuchecker and Norberto Grzywacz
Thesis Title: The neurocognition of learning a new musical system

Benson Stevens: Post-Doctoral fellowship – Georgetown University
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Ashley VanMeter
Thesis Title: Genetic Influences Of Dopamine And GABA On Adolescent Cognition.

Carrie Leonard: Post-Doctoral fellowship – Georgetown University
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Maria Donoghue
Thesis Title: Distinct Roles For EphA7 Isoforms In Cortical Dendritic Elaboration And Synapse Formation.

Valerie Darcey: IRTA Post-Doctoral fellowship – NIH
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Ashley VanMeter
Thesis Title: Investigating the relationship between Omega-3 Fatty Acid intake and neurocognitive development in healthy adolescents.

Erika Raven: Marshall-Sherfield fellowship – Cardiff University
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisor: Ashley VanMeter and Jeff Duyn (NIH)
Thesis Title: Reproducibility and use of myelin imaging methods for the study of adolescent brain development

Patrick Cox: Postdoctoral Fellow at George Washington University
Entered: 2010
Thesis Advisor: Max Riesenhuber
Thesis Title: The Effects Of Extensive Single Task Training On The Neural Bases Of Visual Object Categorization: Escaping The Frontal Bottleneck

Lanier Heyburn: Postdoctoral Fellow at Walter Reed
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisor: Brent Harris and Charbel Moussa
Thesis Title: TDP-43 Pathology: Elucidation Of Mechanisms And Treatment With Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition

Theodore Turesky: Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisor: Guinevere Eden
Thesis Title: Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Simple Finger Movements in Healthy Development and Aging and Children with Dyslexia

Kathryn Schuler: Assistant Professor of Linguistics at University of Pennsylvania
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisor: Elissa Newport
Thesis Title: The Acquisition of Productive Rules in Child and Adult Learners

Rachael Harrington: Post-doctoral fellowship- George Mason University
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisor: Michelle Harris-Love and Peter Turkeltaub
Thesis Title: Mechanisms of recovery in patients with severe arm impairment after stroke

Carissa Winland
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Kathy Maguire-Zeiss and Stefano Vicini
Thesis Title: Activated Microglia and AMPAR Mediated Excitatory Post Synaptic Currents

Meg Allen: Postdoctoral Fellow at Weill Cornell (with Dr. Dilek Colak)
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Kathy Conant and Kathy Maguire-Zeiss
Thesis Title: Differential effects of PAR1 signaling in neurons and glia

Frank Fishburn: Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh
Entered: 2010
Thesis Advisor: Chandan Vaidya and Andrei Medvedev
Thesis Title: Establishing The Sensitivity Of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy To Cognitive Load And State In Healthy Adults And Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Summer Kathol
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Italo Mocchetti
Thesis Title: Investigating mitochondrial dynamic impairment by HIV viral protein Tat and the protective capacity of Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide

Kelly Chamberlain: Postdoctoral Fellow at NINDS with Dr. Zu-Hang Sheng 
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Jeffrey Huang
Thesis Title: The role of creatine in promoting oligodendrocyte survival and modulating axonal mitochondria in the CNS

Kyle Shattuck: Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgetown University
Entered: 2010
Thesis Advisor: Ashley VanMeter
Thesis Title: Investigating the Cholinergic Regulation of Human Learning and Memory Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Andrew Breeden: U.S. Presidential Management Fellow
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Chandan Vaidya
Thesis Title: Noradrenergic modulation of functional brain networks underlying executive control

Caitlin Taylor: Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Santa Barbara
Entered: 2010
Thesis Advisor: Guinevere Eden
Thesis Title: Age- and Experience-Dependent Modulation of Coherent Visual Motion Processing

William Hayward: Completing Medical School at Georgetown University
Entered: 2012
Thesis Advisors: Peter Turkeltaub, Rhonda Friedman
Thesis Title: Objective Support for the Subjective Report of Inner Speech in Aphasia

Laura Erickson: Quantitative User Experience Research Assistant, Synergis, at Google
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisors: Peter Turkeltaub, Josef Rauschecker
Thesis Title: Examinations Of audiovisual speech processes, the McGurk Effect and the heteromodal superior temporal sulcus in the human brain across numerous approaches

Brannon Green: AAAS Fellow
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisor: Josef Rauschecker
Thesis Title: Sound, Memory, and Audiomotor Interactions

Charisse Winston: Post-doctoral fellow at UCSD
Entered: 2010
Thesis Advisor: Mark Burns
Thesis Title: Neuronal Remodeling and Genetic Vulnerability After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Amanda DiBattista: Research Program Analyst at the National Institute on Aging at the NIH
Entered: 2011
Thesis Advisor: Bill Rebeck
Thesis Title: Effects of Alzheimer’s disease genetic risk factor APOE4 on the normal brain

Teal Burrell: Science Writer
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisor: Bill Rebeck
Thesis Title: A novel role for Fyn in ApoER2 regulation

Nancy Cowdin: Chemistry Teacher at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisors: Ashley VanMeter, Thomas Mellman, Andrei Medvedev
Thesis Title: A Comparison of Frequency-Specific Activity During REM Sleep in Trauma-Exposed Subjects with PTSD and Resilience

Ghazaul Dezfuli: Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgetown University
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisor: Richard Gillis
Thesis Title: The Role of the Dorsal Motor Nucleus of the Vagus in Food Intake and Body Weight Regulation

Jessica Ihne: Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisors: Joseph Callicott, Adam Green
Thesis Title: Exploring the influence of genetics on cognitive function using fMRI

Bridget Queenan: Associate Director, Brain Initiative at UC Santa Barbara
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisors: Dan Pak, Stefano Vicini
Thesis Title: Synapse- and Cell-specific Homeostatic Plasticity in the Hippocampus

Gustavo Rodriguez: Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisors: Bill Rebeck, Rhonda Dzakpasu
Thesis Title: Human APOE4 affects microglial reactivity and spatial cognition in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease risk

Misha Smirnov: Postdoctoral Fellow at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
Entered: 2009
Thesis Advisors: Jeff Urbach, Herb Geller
Thesis Title: The influence of structural confinement on neuronal outgrowth and interaction with the extracellular matrix

Lauren Ullrich: Health Program Specialist at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Entered: 2006
Thesis Advisor: Rhonda Friedman
Thesis Title: Recognition memory in mild cognitive impairment

Rachel Wurzman: Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisors: Larry Kromer, Stefano Vicini
Thesis Title: Effects of selective Ephrin-A deletions on striatal anatomy, synaptic physiology, and behavior in mice

Dawn (Joseph) Beraud: Science Policy Analyst at the National Institute of Mental Health
Entered: 2007
Thesis Advisor: Kathy Maguire-Zeiss
Thesis Title: Alpha-synuclein and its direct effects on microglial activation

Sonya Dumanis: Senior Associate at Center for Strategic Philanthropy, Milken Institute
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisor: Bill Rebeck
Thesis Title: Using APOE genotypes to identify new biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease risk

Tanya (Gerner) Evans: Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University
Entered: 2007
Thesis Advisor: Guinevere Eden
Thesis Title: The brain basis of arithmetic, reading and reading disability

Anthony Krafnick: Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisor: Guinevere Eden
Thesis Title: Functional and structural brain imaging studies of developmental dyslexia

Leah Lozier: Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Entered: 2007
Thesis Advisors: Ashley VanMeter, Abigail Marsh
Thesis Title: The Behavioral and Neural Basis of Emotional Face Processing in Atypically Developing Children and Adolescents

Monika Mellem: Scientist at BlackThorn Therapeutics
Entered: 2007
Thesis Advisors: Rhonda Friedman, Andrei Medvedev
Thesis Title: Brain oscillatory dynamics of lexical-semantic processing

Mark Niedringhaus: Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisor: Rhonda Dzakpasu
Thesis Title: The development of bursting networks following chemical long term potentiation

Lauren Orefice: Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisor: Baoji Xu
Thesis Title: Role of Local BDNF Synthesis in Dendritic Spine Morphogenesis

Guillermo Palchik: Postdoctoral Fellow at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Entered: 2006
Thesis Advisor: Alexei Kondratyev
Thesis Title: Neuronal DNA Double Strand Break Damage and Repair Following Sublethal iGLuR Activation, and the Neuroprotective Effects of Melatonin

Clara Scholl: Senior Professional Staff in Applied Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University
Entered: 2007
Thesis Advisor: Max Riesenhuber
Thesis Title: EEG investigations of the temporal dynamics of visual object categorization in human brain

Patricia Washington: Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Columbia University Medical Center
Entered: 2008
Thesis Advisor: Mark Burns
Thesis Title: Production, accumulation and clearance of amyloid-beta after experimental traumatic brain injury

Brian Wolff: Staff Research Associate at UC San Francisco
Entered: 2007
Thesis Advisor: Jian-Young Wu
Thesis Title: Electric fields and slow cortical activity