University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Beckman Institute ↗
Our Team
People
We are a diverse team of scientists with a wide range of skills, backgrounds, and experiences. Our graduate students and post-doctoral trainees have gone on to careers in academia, science policy, industry, scientific writing, and consulting.
Stephen Maren, PhD
Director, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology · Professor of Psychology
Office: 2265 Beckman Institute · smaren@illinois.edu
Tuğçe Tuna, MA, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hugo Bayer, MS, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kennedi Crayton
Graduate Student (Neuroscience)
Samantha Plas, MS
Graduate Student (Neuroscience)
Lara Mattana Ferst
Graduate Student (Neuroscience)
Alex Abramenko
Graduate Student (Neuroscience)
Pat Fang
Graduate Student (Neuroscience)
Brianna Salgado, oS
Lab Manager
Want to work with us?
We are looking for three undergraduate research assistants for Fall 2026. Shoot us an email if you're interested!
Contact usOpportunities as of June 23, 2026.
Texas A&M University
- Cecily R. Oleksiak (PhD, 2024) — Ventral hippocampus in the contextual control of avoidance.
- Krithika “Kay” Vasudevan (PhD, 2024) — Thalamic modulation of hippocampal context memories.
- Annalise Binette (PhD, 2023) — Prefrontal regulation of stress effects on fear extinction.
- Michael S. Totty (PhD, 2022) — Postdoctoral Fellow, Lieber Institute, Baltimore, MD.
- Reed L. Ressler (PhD, 2021) — Scientist, Capsida Biotherapeutics, Thousand Oaks, CA.
- Karthik R. Ramanathan (PhD, 2020) — Senior Research Associate, Spark Therapeutics, Philadelphia, PA.
- Thomas F. Giustino (PhD, 2019) — Medical Writer, Axiom, Philadelphia, PA.
- Travis D. Goode (PhD, 2018) — Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Medical School.
- Qian “Angie” Wang (PhD, 2017) — Assistant Professor, John Brown University, AR.
- Jingji Jin (PhD, 2017) — Data Scientist, State Farm, Madison, WI.
- Gillian M. Acca (PhD, 2017) — Science Policy Analyst, NIH, Washington, DC.
- Janice J. Kim (MS, 2014) — Seoul, Korea.
University of Michigan
- Caitlin A. Orsini (PhD, 2012) — Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin.
- Joshua M. Zimmerman (PhD, 2010) — Compliance Applications Lead, Bloomberg, NYC.
- Chun-hui Chang (PhD, 2009) — Associate Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
- Christine A. Rabinak (PhD, 2009) — Associate Professor, Wayne State University.
- Jennifer A. Hobin (PhD, 2006) — Deputy Director, Office of Science Policy, NIDA.
- Kevin A. Corcoran (PhD, 2004) — Scientific Writer, Prescott Medical Communications, Chicago.
- Ki A. Goosens (PhD, 2002) — Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, NYC.
Texas A&M University
- Jianfeng Liu, PhD (2021) — Assistant Professor, Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
- Olivia W. Potvin (Miles), PhD (2020) — Research Program Manager, Beth Israel Deaconess, Boston.
- Paul J. Fitzgerald, PhD (2017) — Research Assistant Professor, University of Michigan.
- Crystal M. Erickson, PhD (2013) — Surgical Neurophysiologist, National Neuromonitoring Services, TX.
University of Michigan
- Jee-Hyun Kim, PhD (2010) — Associate Professor, Deakin University, Australia.
- Chun-hui Chang, PhD (2010) — Associate Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
- Ewelina Knapska, PhD (2009) — Professor, Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
- Jinzhao Ji, MD, PhD (2007) — Physician Assistant, Private Practice, Raleigh, NC.