Meet the A-Team
Meet the Scientists
The A-Team Internal Advisory Committee

Axel Nimmerjahn
U19 Team Director, Project 2 PI/Lead, Admin Core Lead
Associate Professor, Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Lab website
E: animmerj@salk.edu
Phone: 858-453-4100 x1063

Cagla Eroglu
Project 3 PI/Lead
Professor
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Duke University Medical Center
Departments of Cell Biology and Neurobiology
Lab website
E: cagla.eroglu@duke.edu
Phone: 919-684-3605

Lin Tian
Project 4 PI/Lead
Scientific Director
Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience
Lab website
E: Lin.Tian@mpfi.org
Phone: 530-752-8667

Guoqiang Yu
Project 1 PI/Lead, Data Science Resource Core Lead
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Lab website
E: yug@vt.edu
Phone: 571-858-3153
The A-Team
DUKE UNIVERSITY

Daniel Quintero
Graduate Student
Project 3
E: daniel.quintero@duke.edu
Expertise
- Mouse handling
- EEG recordings
- Immunohistochemistry
- Imaging
- Data analysis

Dhanesh Bindu
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Project 3
E: dhanesh.sb@duke.edu
Expertise
- Molecular cloning
- CRISPR
- AAV-mediated bioengineering
- In utero electroporation
- Mouse surgeries

Dolores Irala
Senior Research Associate
Project 3
E: dolores.irala@duke.edu
Expertise
- In vitro neuron and astrocyte culture
- Confocal and super-resolution imaging and analysis
- Mouse genetics
- Biochemical assays

Leslie Vazquez
Graduate Student
Project 3
E: leslie.vazquez-rangel@duke.edu
Expertise
- Immunohistochemistry, including human post-mortem staining
- Live-imaging / Confocal Imaging
- scRNA-seq analysis
- Fiji analysis
- Cell culture

Jessica Moore
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Project 3
E: jess.moore@duke.edu
Expertise
- In vivo imaging
- Image Analysis
- Transgenic mouse lines
- Epithelial biology
- Immunohistochemistry

Justin Savage
Graduate student
Project 3
E: justin.savage@duke.edu
Expertise
- Genomics
- Image Analysis
- Primary Cell Culture
- Confocal Microscopy

Kristina Sakers Hays
Research Specialist III
Project 3
E: kristina.sakers@duke.edu
Expertise
- Primary astrocyte and neuron cell culture
- In vivo manipulation of astrocyte gene expression (AAV, lentivirus, plasmid electroporation)
- RNA-sequencing
- R programming
- Bioinformatics
- Unix/Bash scripting
- Shiny Apps

Leyka Nagendren
Research Technician II
Project 3
E: leykashree.nagendren@duke.edu
Expertise
- Python
- Next generation sequencing
- Bioinformatics tools
- CRISPR

Nimrod Elazar
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Project 3
E: nimrod.elazar@duke.edu
Expertise
- Confocal imaging techniques
- Biochemical analyses

Olivia Wirfel
Research Technician I
Project 3
E: olivia.wirfel@duke.edu
Expertise
- snRNA-seq
- Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization
- Molecular cloning
- R programming
- Immunohistochemistry stainin

Olu Lawal
Graduate student
Project 3
E: oluwadamilola.lawal@duke.edu
Expertise
- Behavior
- Imaging
- Data analysis
- Immunohistochemistry
- Cell culture

Trisha Vaidnayanathan
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Project 3
E: trisha.vaidyanathan@duke.edu
Expertise
- In vivo and ex vivo 2-photon imaging
- EEG/EMG recordings
- Imaging analysis (including AQuA)
- Electrophysiology data analysis (Matlab)
- Fiber photometry and optogenetics
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

Alessio Andreoni
Assistant Project Scientist
Project 4
E: aandreoni@ucdavis.edu
Expertise
- Molecular cloning
- Fluorescence microscopy
- Sensor design and screening
- Protein expression and purification

Akash Pal
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Project 4
E: akapal@ucdavis.edu

Emily Wright
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Project 4
E: ecwright@ucdavis.edu

Jacob Roshgadol
Graduate Student Researcher
Project 4
E: jrosh@ucdavis.edu
Expertise
- Python, Matlab, and Arduino programming
- 3D printing & rapid prototyping
- In vivo behavior experiments – fiber photometry and 2-photon experiments

Kiran Long-Iyer
Graduate student
Project 4
E: krlongiyer@ucdavis.edu

Kwun Nok Mimi Man
Assistant Project Scientist
Project 4
E: knmman@ucdavis.edu
Expertise
- Two-photon imaging using optical sensors in brain slices
- Genetically encoded sensor design, engineering, and high-throughput screening
- Patch-clamp electrophysiology in cultured cells, coupled with calcium uncaging and calcium microfluorimetry
- Stereotaxic injection of AAVs and cranial window surgery
- Confocal imaging
- Neuronal-astrocyte co-culture
- Immunolabeling and proximity ligation assay
- Co-immunoprecipitation and Western blotting
- Biotinylation to study surface proteins
- Morris water maze
- Flow cytometry
- Histology
- Gene and microRNA expression profiling
- Analysis of two-photon and confocal imaging data
- Analysis of electrophysiology data

Nikki Tjahjono
Graduate Student Researcher
Project 4
E: ntjahjono@ucdavis.edu
Expertise
- Python, MATLAB, R
- Image analysis
- FACS
- Molecular biology/cloning
- RNA-seq
- Microscopy

Ruqiang Liang
Project Scientist
Project 4
E: rqliang@ucdavis.edu

Yihan Jenny Jin
Graduate Student Researcher
Project 4
E: yihjin@ucdavis.edu
Expertise
- Two-photon imaging using optical sensors in brain slices
- Genetically encoded sensor design
- Engineering and high-throughput screening
- Stereotaxic injection of AAVs
- Confocal imaging
- Neuronal-astrocyte co-culture
- Immunofluorescence
- Array tomography
- Imaris and Neurolucida
- Molecular cloning and sensor screening in HEK cells
- Analysis of two-photon and confocal imaging data
SALK INSTITUTE

Daniela Duarte
Research Assistant II
Project 2
E: dcook@salk.edu
Expertise
- Immunohistochemistry – brain and spinal cord
- Confocal imaging on Zeiss 710, 780, and 880
- Imaris – quantification of confocal images
- Brain and spinal cord viral vector injections in mice
- In vivo spinal cord imaging in mice
- Excel, ImageJ, and Matlab for quantification of imaging data

Erin Carey
Research Assistant
Project 2
E: ecarey@salk.edu
Expertise
- One photon microscopy –in vivo imaging
- Mouse spinal cord surgeries
- Mouse microprism spinal implantations
- Mouse motor behavior testing
- Stereotaxic viral vector brain and spinal cord injections
- Immunohistochemistry

MK Duff
Graduate student
Project 2
E: mduff@salk.edu
Expertise
- Primary neuronal and microglia culture
- MEA assay
- Bulk RNA-seq
- HITS-CLIP
- P0 intracranial viral injections
- Tail vein injections
- Pilocarpine-induced epileptogenesis
- Behavior:
- Fear conditioning
- 3-chamber social interaction
- Rotarod,
- Open field
- Elevated plus maze

Nicholas Nelson
Graduate student
Project 2
E: nanelson@ucsd.edu
Expertise
- Nociception behavioral testing:
- von Frey, Hargreaves, and conditioned place preference
- Sciatic nerve injury (particularly partial sciatic nerve ligation [pSNL])
- Fluorescent immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy
- Brain and spinal cord digestion for generating single-cell suspension
- Tissue collection and preparation for immunohistochemistry and FACS
- Basic competency in:
- Cell culture
- Spinal cord viral injection
- RNA collection
- Flow cytometry and sorting
- Animal husbandry
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

Boyu Lyu
Graduate student
Project 1
E: boyu93@vt.edu
Expertise
- Matlab, C++, Python, and R
- Cell and object detection (confocal, two-photon fluorescence microscopy images)
- Active region detection
- Analysis of electron microscopy data

James Cheng Peng
Graduate research assistant
Data Science Core
E: jameschengpeng@vt.edu
Expertise
- Mathematical modeling
- Spatial and temporal image analysis
- Optimization
- Uncertainty quantification
- Matlab, Python, and R

Mark Bright
Graduate student
Data Science Core
E: bmark21@vt.edu
Expertise
- Biomedical imaging analysis (calcium and fluorescent imaging)
- Computer graphics and vision
- Networked scientific computing
- Symmetric multiprocessing
- Matlab, AQuA, and WBSv

Mengfan Wang
Graduate Research Assistant
Project 1
E: mengfanw@vt.edu
Expertise
- Matlab, Python, and C/C++
- Basic optimization techniques: linear/quadratic programming and network flows
- In-house software and framework: ConvexVst, Synquant, and muSSP/CINDA
- Basic understanding of popular deep-learning models

Songtao Wei
Graduate student
Project 1
E: songtaow@vt.edu
Expertise
- scRNA-seq, RNA-seq, and CRISPR-data
- C++, Matlab, R, and Python

Wei Zheng
Graduate student
Project 1
E: zhengw@vt.edu
Expertise
- Image processing
- Statistic test design
- Convex optimization
- Network flow
- Matlab and Python

Xuelong Mi
Graduate research assistant
Project 1
E: mixl18@vt.edu
Expertise
- Matlab, C++, Java, Python
- AQuA
- Imaging processing
- Unsupervised learning
- Convex optimization
- Graph theory
- Signal analysis
- Statistics

Zuolin Cheng
Research Associate
Project 1
E: zuolin8@vt.edu
Expertise
- Single-cell RNA-seq data analysis
- Driving transcription factors detection
- Machine learning
Administrative Support
Pinky Goyal
Lab Administrative Manager, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Phone: (858) 453-4100 x 2505
Stefania Zambetti, PhD
Sr. Project Manager, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Phone: 858-453-4100 x2222
A-Team External Advisory Board
Durga P. Mohapatra
Program Director, NIH NINDS
Nathan A. Smith
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion for Research and Research Education
Shaul Druckmann
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology and of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences,
Stanford University