Alex is a PhD candidate in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) PhD program at Northwestern. Alex completed his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees at the University of Virgina in Psychology and Neuroscience, respectively, where he completed work modeling the circuitry of the visual thalamus using serial block-face electron microscopy and various quantitative methods.

Alex's current research interests include high content methods for analyzing 3D models of brain development and understanding the sodium/potassium ATPase’s contribution to development and how mutations can lead to a wide phenotypic spectrum of diseases, such as malformations of cortical development, childhood onset schizophrenia, and alternating hemiplegia of childhood.

Alex is dedicated to scientific mentorship and outreach in his professional and personal life. He’s also deeply passionate about scientific and general policy. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, such as The Legend of Zelda, Star Wars, going on hikes in nature, and spending time with his adorable cat, Pippy (not pictured unfortunately).

Maddie recently completed her Bachelor of Science in Integrative Biology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Maddie's previous research experience includes studying the optimization of photosynthesis in soybeans and other agricultural crops. From photosynthetic processes she took the next logical step into biomedical research. With her interest in expanding her areas of research and understanding of molecular biology techniques, she hopes to develop her own area of research relating to biophysics, developmental biology, and pharmacology.

Maddie enjoys beekeeping on her free time. 

Hasini is a high school researcher exploring animal behavior models of intellectual disability in Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo). Mutations in abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated (ASPM), the most common recessive microcephaly gene, reduce cortical volume by at least 50% in humans, and Hasini is profiling a germline knockout of Aspm ferret. 

Qiurui is a recent graduate of Peking University and Northwestern Neurobiology Masters student. Qiurui uses tissue culture models to analyze key proteins underlying action potential kinetics in developing neurons.

Sean recently completed his Bachelor of Science in Physics from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sean's previous research experience includes evaluating the efficacy of machine learning for coding practices, as well as his work as part of the Adult Development, Adaptation, & Technology Laboratory at UI, where he employed algorithms to track participants’ postural trajectory during balancing tasks through graphical and numerical techniques.

Sean will leverage his computational and mathematics background to model neurodevelopmental diseases related to childhood brain development. 

Sean is passionate about education, Sean also regularly tutors and teaches AP physics, undergraduate calculus, introductory programming, and has worked with aspiring US Physics Olympiads.

Following her PhD in biomedical sciences at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ximena joined Northwestern's Neuroscience Department working as a Data Analyst to study rare neurodevelopmental disorders through the lens of gene regulation. Ximena is interested in basic science projects that require high throughput transcriptomics and proteomics data anayses. Ximena has experience in teaching as well as mentoring visiting graduate school students eager to acquire coding skills suited for processing large datasets. On her free time, Ximena likes to travel, paint and scuba diving.

Pranav is an undergraduate researcher in the Northwestern Class of 2027. Pranav's undergraduate research is focused on sodium channel disorders affecting prenatal development. 

Nathaniel is an undergraduate researcher in the Northwestern Class of 2028. Nathaniel's undergraduate research is focused on in vitro modeling of various ion channel disorders in the context of perinatal development

Richard Smith is an Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. 

Dr.Smith completed a cotutelle PhD in "Cerveau, Cognition & Comportement (Brain, Cognition & Behavior)" at Sorbonne University in Paris and Biology at University of Maryland. For his postdoc, he worked with Christopher Walsh at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital. In 2020, Richard joined the Faculty at Harvard Medical School, before starting his lab at Northwestern in 2022. 

My time outside the lab includes my family, singing and music, Photography/print making, technology/gadgets.

For more information, see Google Scholar 

Karla completed her BSs in Basic Biomedical Research from National Autonomous University of Mexico. Karla's thesis, entitled "Generation and transplantation of midbrain organoids into parkinsonian rats" with Dr. Iván Velasco in the Biomedical Research Institute, Cellular Physiology Institute.

Her research interests include stem cell modeling (cerebral organoids and 2D models) of neurodevelopmental diseases.

Dan's doctoral work focused on the "Identification and functional evaluation of AMPAR (GRIA3 and GRIA4) missense variants in patients with intellectual disability". Dan hopes to leverage her electrophysiology experience on ion channel and neurodevelopmental disorders to study prenatal pathology associated with ion channel dysfunction affecting newborns.