west(at)neuro.duke.edu
Our Team
Anne West, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, PI
M.D. Harvard Medical School
Ph.D. Harvard Medical School
west(at)neuro.duke.edu
Mariah Hazlett, Ph.D.
Postdoc
Neurobiology
B.S. Ohio University
mariah.hazlett(at)duke.edu
Vijyendra Ramesh (VJ)
Ph.D. Candidate
Molecular Cancer Biology
B.S. University at Buffalo
vijyendra.ramesh(at)duke.edu
Arthy Narayanan
Ph.D. Candidate
Neurobiology
B.S. BMS College of Engineering
arthy.narayanan(at)duke.edu
Andrew Aldridge
Ph.D. Candidate (GS3)
UPGG
B.S. UC San Diego
andrew.aldridge(at)duke.edu
Aaron Halvorsen
Ph.D. Candidate (GS3)
Neurobiology
B.S. Univ of Nebraska-Lincoln
aaron.halvorsen(at)duke.edu
Erin Fykes
Ph.D. Candidate (GS3)
DSCB
B.S. & B.A. Washington & Lee University
erin.fykes(at)duke.edu
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Rebecca Li
Undergraduate (Senior)
rebecca.li(at)duke.edu
Cynthia Dong
Esha Patel
Past Members
Postdoctoral Fellows, Residents, Senior Scientific Staff
Padmanabhan Pattabiraman, postdoctoral fellow (2005-2008)
Current position: Research Scientist, Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Case
Western Reserve University, Cleveland
Jay V. Deng, Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow (2007-2012)
First Position: CSO, Encor Biotechnology, Gainesville, FL and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Current position: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Duke University, Dept. of Neurobiology
Dan Su, Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow (2010-201
Current position: Q2 Solutions, clinical trial laboratory testing
Anthony Zannas, M.D. Psychiatry resident (2013-2014)
First position: Postdoctoral fellow, Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich
Current position: Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Xiaoting (Tina) Wang, Ph.D. postdoctoral fellow (2013-2015)
Current position: Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist, GW Pharmaceuticals, Raleigh, NC
Weiwei Liu, Ph.D., Visiting scholar, Chengdu University, China (2019-2020)
Current position: postdoctoral fellow, Chengdu University, China
Matthew Green, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow (2019-2021)
Current position: Senior Scientist at VyantBio
Katherine Tonn Eisinger, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow (2019-2021)
Current position: Strategic Feasibility at IQVIA
Graduate Students
Cambria Hanselman (Cell and Molecular Biology/Neurobiology, 2007-2008)
Awarded Master’s degree, fall 2008
Current position: Scientist, Parabel sustainable hydrofarming
Ashley Hutchinson (Pharmacology, 2007-2011)
Defended PhD thesis Dec. 15, 2011
Current position: Assistant Senior Lecturer, Örebro University, Sweden
Thesis title: “Monoaminergic regulation of MeCP2 phosphorylation in mouse models of psychiatric disease”
Michelle Lyons (Neurobiology, 2006-2012)
Defended PhD thesis March 12, 2012
Next and current position: Associate Partner, McKinsey and Co., New York, NY
Thesis title: “Mechanisms of specificity in neuronal activity-regulated gene transcription”
Ranjula Wijayatunge (Developmental and Stem Cell Biology/Neurobiology, 2006-2012)
Defended PhD thesis April 9, 2012
Current position: Research scientist, UTSW
Thesis title: “The H3K27-specific histone demethylase Kdm6b (Jmjd3) is induced by neuronal activity and contributes to neuronal survival and differentiation”
Young May Cha (Medical Scientist Training Program/Neurobiology, 2009-2012)
Awarded Master’s degree Dec. 2012
Next position: Anesthesiology residency, University of Pennsylvania
Liang-Fu Chen (Neurobiology 2011-2017)
Defended PhD thesis Nov 16, 2017
Next and current position: postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University
Thesis title: “Mechanisms of Specificity in Neuronal Activity-regulated Gene Transcription”
David Gallegos (Neurobiology 2013-2019)
Defended PhD thesis Nov. 12, 2019
Next and current position: postdoctoral fellow, EPA and NIEHS
Thesis title: “Psychostimulant-Regulated Plasticity in Interneurons of the Nucleus Accumbens”
Martine Tremblay (UPGG 2015-2021)
Defended PhD thesis March 2021
Next and current position: Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai
Thesis title: “Functions of the histone linker protein H1.4 in neuronal development and intellectual disability”
Urann Chan (Neurobiology 2016-2022)
Defended PhD thesis March 2022
Next and current position: Associate, McKinsey and Co., New York, NY
Thesis title: “Developmental Regulation of H3K27me3 Drives Excitatory Synapse Maturation and Social Behavior”
Melyssa Minto (Computational Biology 2017-2022)
Defended PhD thesis Oct 2022
Next and current position: Bioinformatic Scientist, RTI International, Research Triangle, NC
Thesis title: "Systematic Examination of Epigenomic Regulation of Neuronal Plasticity"
Undergraduate Senior Thesis Students
Charlotte Schwarz – Duke University class of 2012. Thesis title: “Activity-regulated transcription of Bdnf by the MEF2 transcription factor family.”
Medical School, Hungary, Psychiatry residency Duke
Caitlin Finn – Duke University class of 2014. Thesis title: “NMDA Receptor-Dependent Regulation of BDNF by CaRF”.
Weill Cornell Medical School, MD program
Jalen Carter – Duke University class of 2015. Thesis title: “Transcriptional regulation by BDNF in the developing cerebellum.
Kaiser Permanente, operations.
Marty Yang – Duke University class of 2015. Thesis title: “Single-cell analysis of neuronal activity-dependent transcription.”
Harvard Medical School HST program, Harvard Neurobiology PhD program
Allen Zhou – Duke University class of 2017. Thesis title: “Epigenome modification at gene regulatory elements activates neuronal activity-dependent gene transcription.”
Harvard Medical School, MD program
Nicole Wayne – Duke University class of 2017. Thesis title: “Regulation of histone methylation in the developing cerebellum.”
NIH IRTA fellowship, University of Pennsylvania MD program
Kim (Jane-Valeriane) Boua – Duke University class of 2019. Thesis title: “Identifying a unique regulatory cell population within the Lateral Habenula.”
Lab Research Analyst, Duke Dept of Neurosurgery
Ernesto Morfin Montes de Oca – Duke University class of 2019. Thesis title: “Targeted epigenetic editing at the Arc enhancer: a strategy for modulating transcription of Arc.”
Post-bac research program, University of Washington
Wendy Tan - Duke University Class of 2021. Thesis title:
Diwas Gautam - Duke University Class of 2021. Thesis title:
Krishna Sinha – Duke University class of 2022. Thesis title:
PhD Rotation Students
Nicole Parragio (Cell and Molecular Biology) – fall 2006
Halima Chuktan (Cell and Molecular Biology) –fall 2006
Andreas Pfenning (Computational Biology and Bioinformatics) –spring 2007
Jung Min Lee (Neurobiology) –fall 2007
Felicia Hawthorne (University Program in Genetics and Genomics) –spring 2008
Dominic Luciano (Neurobiology) –fall 2008
Dominic Ippolito (Neurobiology) –spring 2009
Beth Thompson (Cell and Molecular Biology) –spring 2009
Christina Tognoni (Psychology and Neuroscience) –spring 2010
Nathan Hedrik (Neurobiology) –summer 2010
Cynthia Hsu (Neurobiology) - spring 2011
Lisa Sears (Cell and Molecular Biology) –fall 2011
Chris Vockney (Development and Stem Cell Biology) –spring 2012
Paige Dexter (Cell and Molecular Biology) –fall 2012
Scott Barish (Cell and Molecular Biology) –fall 2012
Justin O’Hare (Neurobiology) –spring 2013
Brett Condon (Cell and Molecular Biology) –fall 2013
Matt Biegler (Neurobiology) –spring 2014
Lindsey Cantin (Development and Stem Cell Biology) –spring 2015
Elizabeth Pax (Cell and Molecular Biology) –spring 2015
Bryson Deanhardt (Neurobiology) –fall 2015
Martine Trembley (University Program in Genetics and Genomics) –spring 2016
Elizabeth Fleming (Toxicology) –spring 2016
Sarah Cunningham (University Program in Genetics and Genomics) –winter 2016
Caitlin Paisley (Neurobiology) –spring 2017
Mary Rose Branch (Neurobiology) –fall 2017
Maya Evanitsky (Developmental and Stem Cell Biology) –spring 2018
Luke Bartelt (University Program in Genetics and Genomics) – spring 2019
Arthy Narayanan (Neurobiology) – spring 2019
Aryana Yousefzadeh (Psychology) – research practicum summer 2019
Maddie Clark (Neurobiology) – fall 2019
Minel Arinel (Cell and Molecular Biology) – fall 2019
Federica Mosti (Cell and Molecular Biology) - fall 2020
Hannah Reed (Neurobiology) - fall 2021
Kavya Raghunathan (Developmental and Stem Cell Biology) - fall 2021
Emiliano Sotelo (UPGG) - spring 2022
Mariana Holguin Lopez (Neurobiology) - spring 2022
Undergraduate Research Programs, Independent Study, and Work Study Students
Rachel Wang (Duke University) – undergraduate research 2005-2007
Lauren Burch (Haverford University) - summer undergraduate research 2006
Andrea Pretorian (Duke University) – summer undergraduate research 2006
Kelli McDowell (Duke University) – PREP post-bac program student 2006-2008
Monica Hamilton (Duke University) – HHMI summer research 2007
Chase Palisch (Centre College) – NSF REU summer research 2007
Bochong Li (Duke University) – undergraduate research 2007-2009
Rishi Mistra (University of Tennessee) – NSF REU summer research 2008
Fangda Jiang (Duke University) – HHMI summer research 2010
Spencer Lewis (Duke University) – ARRA summer research 2010
Heetae Hong (Duke University) – work study 2010-2011
Peter Cruz-Gordillo (Duke University) – undergraduate research 2010-2011
Nika Larian (Transylvania University) – NSF REU summer research 2011
Kyle Davidson (Duke University) – Summer Neuroscience research fellowship 2012, independent study 2012-13.
Kurt Isaac-Elder (Howard University) – NSF REU summer research 2012
Rebecca Brenner (Duke University) - HHMI summer research 2013, independent study 2014.
Johnny Kim (Duke University) – summer research 2013, independent study 2013-14.
Hannah Ahrendt (Duke University) – bSuRF summer research program 2016