Current Trainees
Current Trainees
Postdoctoral Scholar/ Calipari Lab
Maxime received his Ph.D. in 2020 from Johns Hopkins University. During his thesis work in the Brown Laboratory, Maxime studied the relationship between transcriptional identity, cell types and cell states in the mouse cerebral cortex. He also focused on understanding how the diversity of long-range projection neurons contributes to sensory perception, in particular within the corticothalamic and corticoclaustral systems. In August 2020, he joined the Calipari Lab where he studies the neural mechanisms underlying habit formation.
Postdoctoral Scholar/ Simerly and Winder Labs
Caitlyn received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Florida State University. Her dissertation examined how visceral sensory feedback influences conditioned avoidance behavior with a particular focus on metabolic need state and the contribution of the noradrenergic population in the nucleus of the solitary tract and its projections to limbic forebrain regions to learned avoidance behaviors.
Postdoctoral Scholar/ Jones Lab
Shalonda received her Ph.D. from Meharry Medical College in the department of Biochemistry and Neuroscience, where she studied molecular and cellular mechanisms of the psychostimulant regulation of dopamine transporter. Shalonda’s postdoctoral research training at Vanderbilt University focuses on investigating the contribution of muscarinic acetyl cholinergic receptor M5 in regulating the dopamine mediated neurocircuit-based mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders such as opioid use disorders and depression.
Postdoctoral Scholar/ Calipari Lab
Michael received his Ph.D. from Tufts University in 2022. His dissertation work examined how self-administered drugs can promote addiction-like behaviors through persistent change to stress-signaling systems. He is particularly focused on the role of striatal dopamine in modulating motivated behavior in anticipation of salient events, under both appetitive and aversive conditions.
Postdoctoral Scholar/ Neul Lab
Jonathan received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California San Diego. His dissertation work focused on investigating the viability of nonsense suppression therapy in a novel mouse model of Rett Syndrome. His postdoctoral training at Vanderbilt centers on identifying and characterizing genetic modifiers of neurodevelopmental disorders.