Mark Frye PhD University of Washington
- Positions: Professor UCLA Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology and Neurobiology
Chair PhD program in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology - Affiliations and memberships: UCLA Brain Research Institute; Neuroscience PhD program; Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology PhD program; International Society for Neuroethology; Society for Neuroscience
- Scholarship: ORCID; Google Scholar; ResearchGate
- Vita: NeuroTree MS with Robert Olberg at Union College, PhD with Tom Daniel and Jim Truman at University of Washington, postdoc with Michael Dickinson at Caltech. Current CV
- Hometown: Delmar NY
- Talent: guitars and their variants
- Contact: frye|ucla|edu
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Martha Rimniceanu BS Tufts University
PhD Candidate Molecular Cellular Integrative Physiology
2023 Hyde Fellow, UCLA Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology
Project: Control systems and circuits for visuo-motor integration
Hometown: Bușteni Romania
Talent: salsa (the dance, not the food)
Contact: mrimni05|ucla|edu
Lesly Palacios Castillo BS MS California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
PhD Candidate Molecular Cellular Integrative Physiology
2019 Cota-Robles Fellow, UCLA Division of Graduate Education
Project: Multisensory and neuromodulatory control of neural circuits and behavior
Hometown: Guatemala City Guatemala
Talent: singing and guitar
Contact: lmpalacios|ucla|edu
Karina Keus BS UCLA
PhD Student Neuroscience
2023 Graduate Research Fellow (GRFP), National Science Foundation
Project: Functional analysis of neural circuits controlling visual navigation
Hometown: Andover MA
Talent: Guitar hero, IKEA furniture assembly
Contact: kkeus|ucla|edu
POSTDOCS
Giovanni Frighetto PhD University of Padova
ResearchGate
ORCID
Project: Circuits and behavior of object vision in flight
Hometown: Arzignano Italy
Talent: drumming, juggling, climbing
Contact: gfrighetto|ucla|edu
David Bertsch PhD Case Western Reserve University
ORCID
Project: Neuromodulation of visual processing
Hometown: Cleveland OH
Talent: Cooking, particularly beef wellington
Contact: dbertsch|ucla|edu
Pablo Currea PhD Florida International University
ResearchGate
ORCID
LinkedIn
IMDB
Project: Visual flight control
Hometown: Miami FL
Talent: independent movie production, drawing, and painting
Contact: pablocurrea|ucla|edu
RESEARCH STAFF
ASSISTANT RESEARCHER
Sara Wasserman PhD Brandeis University
Assistant Professor Wellesley College
ResearchGate
Project: Sara is working in the lab during the summers with her cadre of super-star undergraduates on projects aimed at understanding state-dependency in neural circuits and behavior.
Hometown: Brentwood CA
Talent: violin, wit
Contact: swasserm|wellesley|edu
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Athena Coates Art major, UCLA
Project: Athena is assisting Lesly in neurogenetics and neuroanatomy of aminergic circuitry in the fly brain.
Hometown: Miami FL
Talent: scribbling and spelling
Contact: athenacoates1129|gmail|com
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Isabelle Reike-Wey Neuroscience major, UCLA
Project: Isabelle is studying how natural visual feedback influences the control of saccadic object tracking.
Hometown: Seattle WA
Talent: flute, soccer, unicycling
Contact: isabellerw18|ucla|edu
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER
Tanvir Mann Physiological Science major, UCLA
Project: Tanvir is studying the role of panoramic optic flow on saccade dynamics.
Hometown: Hollister CA
Talent: cooking, especially Indian food
Contact: tanvir.mann2020|gmail|com
RESEARCH TECHNICIAN
Daniela Limbania BA Neruroscience, Wellesley College
Project: Daniela is supporting a NSF funded project seeking to understand how internal physiological state influences olfactory tracking across fly species.
Hometown: Tampa FL
Talent: singing and dancing
Contact: dlimbania|ucla|edu
SUMMER STUDENTS
Good luck with your studies this year, Giulia and Penny
Maybe we’ll see you again next summer
FUNDED COLLABORATIONS
Jean-Michel Mongeau, Bio-Motion Systems Lab, Penn State University. Project: AFOSR A gyroscopic control loop for active target vision
Volker Hartenstein, UCLA Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Project: NIH Developmental and functional analysis of neural circuits controlling navigation in Drosophia
Sara Wasserman, Wellesley College. Project: NSF RUI: State dependent modulation of visuomotor reflexes across Drosophila species , and also with our high school outreach
LAB ALUMNI
Postdocs
Ben Hardcastle, now Project Scientist, Allen Institute
Carola Städele, now Group Leader, Institute of Neurophysiology, University of Göttingen
Jean-Michel Mongeau, now Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Penn State University
Sara Wasserman, now Associate Professor, Neuroscience, Wellesley College
Jessica Fox, now Associate Professor, Biology, Case Western Reserve University
Jamie Theobald, now Associate Professor, Biology, Florida International University
Partha Krishnan, now Deputy Director of HSE (Vaccine Business Unit), Sanofi Pasteur
Yan Zhu, now Associate Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Biophysics
Graduate students
Karen Cheng (PhD, NS), now postdoc Ilona Grunwald Kadow lab University of Bonn
Ivan Lopez (MS, IBP), now attending Stanford Medical School
Mehmet Keleş (PhD, MCIP), now postdoc Mark Wu lab Johns Hopkins University
Jacob Aptekar (PhD, NS, MD MSTP program), now Senior Director, Acorn AI
Ross Kelley (MS, Physiological Science), now MD University of Arizona
Dawnis Chow (PhD, MCIP), now Senior Data Scientist, Box
Brian Duistermars (PhD, MCIP), now Visiting Assistant Professor Claremont McKenna College
Undergraduates and high school students
Sarah Fatkin undergraduate researcher and then lab manager, now enrolled in MCIP PhD program at UCLA
Giulia Pellegrini undergraduate summer researcher at UC Santa Barbara
Penny Suarez undergraduate summer researcher at Wellesley College
Rachel Colbath undergraduate researcher, lab tech, now attending USC Medical School
Natalie Boyd undergraduate researcher, now preparing for graduate school
Rachel Mernoff undergraduate researcher, now attending MD/MPH program at UCSF/Berkeley
Nina Fukuma undergraduate researcher, MD
Austin Wang undergraduate researcher and co-author, earned PhD from UCSF
Patrick Lu lab tech, now Co-Founder CEO Playfull
Farhaad Kahn undergraduate researcher, now unknown
Asma Sodager high school student, NIH STEP-UP program, now attending UC Irvine
Conway Ou undergraduate researcher
Elliot Layne SWIRLSS program high school student
Noam Ringach high school student, now attending Stanford University
Emmett Krantz high school student, now attending UCSB
Nadya Zolotova undergraduate, MD, UC Irvine
Nelson Nunez high school researcher, NIH STEP-UP program, now unknown
Ryan Tsiao undergraduate researcher, now unknown
Delaine Quaresma undergraduate researcher, Dr. of vet. medicine UC Davis
Jade Nguyen undergraduate researcher and co-author, MD Chicago Medical
Allie Salomon high school volunteer and co-author, now biomedical engineer
Rachel Care undergraduate researcher, earned PhD UCSF , now at Career Center
Ivan Rodriguez-Pinto undergraduate researcher, earned his PhD from Florida International University
Victoria Choi undergraduate researcher, now optometrist
Jasmin Hu undergraduate researcher, now optometrist
Portia Bautista undergraduate researcher, now MD
Manish Padhiar undergraduate researcher, earned PhD from Princeton University
Jennifer Rhodes the lab’s first summer undergraduate researcher, BS in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley
