Lucio Schiapparelli, Ph.D: Lucio obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Navarra (Spain), Postdoctoral training at Hollis Cline lab at Scripps Research and then joined the Soderling lab in February 2021. Lucio has a background in developing proteomic strategies for studying protein synthesis and transport in the visual system in vivo and focused on the proteins that are transported to the synapses that deliver the visual information from eyes to the brain. In the Soderling lab, Lucio’s work focus on the molecular mechanisms of how inhibitory synapses onto excitatory neurons are accurately established during brain cortex development.

Aki Uezu, M.D., Ph.D: Aki obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. at Kumamoto University (Japan). He did his postdoctoral training in the Soderling Lab, publishing several important discoveries, including the first in vivo BioID proteomics that uncovered the proteome of the postsynapse of GABAergic synapses. He then went to industry as Chief Scientific Officer at CasTag and then Scientist III at Thermo. Aki recently rejoined the Soderling lab as an Assistant Research Professor. He is driving projects on new proteomics studies of signal transduction in brain.

Nick Maxwell, Ph.D: Dr. Maxwell obtained his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.  Dr. Maxwell studies the molecular mechanisms of Autism based on a mutation in a voltage-gated sodium channel. He is combining mouse genetics, AI models, and protein engineering to search for new cures. 

Pushpa Khanal, Ph.D: Pushpa obtained her PhD from the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms of synapse development and plasticity.

Kanchan Jha, Ph.D: Kanchan received her Ph.D. in computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Patna (India). Her thesis culminated in several publications on new AI models using graph neural networks and protein language models to predict protein-protein interactions. Her postdoctoral work is developing new AI methods based on large protein language models to predict signal transduction events in the brain.

Julie Kent, B.S. Zoology (Michigan State University), RLATG: Julie is our lab manager and keeps us happy and organized with a well-running laboratory. Using her expertise in animal husbandry and transgenic mouse technologies, she is also spearheading novel ideas and experiments for new transgenics to uncover the molecular landscape of neuronal cell interactions.

Kazi Hossain, B.S. Biology (City College of New York, CUNY): Kazi joined the lab in 2019 through Duke’s Developmental and Stem Cell Biology (DSCB). He is interested in the link between genetic mutations and behavior abnormalities at the level of neural circuit alterations.

Jaebin Kim, B.S. Bioengineering (California Institute of Technology): Jaebin joined the lab in 2021 through the Duke PhD program in Cell Biology. Jaebin is interested in how presynaptic cytomatrix proteomes and actin signaling pathways modulate the presynaptic dynamics and plasticity in different cell-types.

Daichi Shonai, B.S. Biological science (Osaka University, Osaka, Japan): Daichi joined the lab in 2021 through the Duke Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGM) PhD program. He is interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms of Parkinson’s Disease.

 Pooja Parameswaran, M.S. Biomedical Engineering, emphasis on Data Science and Computational Modeling of Biological Systems (Duke University): Pooja’s undergraduate degree in Biochemistry facilitates our proteomic and protein engineering projects. She works with the Soderling Lab team on complex analysis of large datasets and application of deep-learning tools.

Joey Mao, B.S. Applied Biology with Biotechnology, (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University): Joey joined the lab through the Cell & Molecular Biology graduate program.

Edwin Bustamante, B.A. Biology with a concentration in Neuroscience (Colby College): Edwin is a technician working with Daichi Shonai on Parkinson’s Disease.