Thesis Advisor: Dr. Rebekah Evans, Dr. Patrick Forcelli
Research Interests: Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, basal ganglia
Education: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.S. Psychology
About: Briana graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill in 2020 with a B.S. in Psychology and minored in neuroscience and medical anthropology. While at UNC, she worked under Dr. John Gilmore, combining structural neuroimaging data with behavioral assessments to understand early brain development in children at risk for developing neuropsychiatric disorders.
After graduation, Briana wanted to explore the underlying mechanisms of behavior in a more causational manner. She worked as a post-baccalaureate fellow with the Neurobehavioral Core at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Under Dr. Jesse Cushman, she researched the effects of toxicants on rodent behavior to better understand the neural basis of behavior and health factors that drive disease.
Now in the IPN at Georgetown, Briana is investigating extended basal ganglia circuitry important for sensorimotor integration. She uses ex vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, in vivo calcium imaging, and behavior to understand cell-type specificity within this circuit and how it may be used as a target for neurological disorders with basal ganglia output dysfunction, such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
Rotations: Dr. Rebekah Evans, Dr. Patrick Forcelli, Dr. Alexey Ostroumov
Academic Appointment(s)
- Primary
- PhD Student, Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience
- PhD Student, Evans Lab, Department of Neuroscience
- PhD Student, Forcelli Lab