We are a diverse team of scientists with a wide range of skills, backgrounds, and experiences. Graduate students and post-doctoral trainees in the lab have pursued careers in academia, science policy, industry, scientific writing and consulting.

Graduate Alumni

Texas A&M University

• Cecily R. Oleksiak (Neuroscience, PhD, 2024) • Role of ventral hippocampus in the contextual control of avoidance.
• Krithika “Kay” Vasudevan (Neuroscience, PhD, 2024) • Thalamic modulation of hippocampal context memories during conditioned fear learning.
• Annalise Binette (Neuroscience, PhD, 2023) • Prefrontal cortical regulation of stress effects on fear extinction.
• Michael S. Totty (Neuroscience, PhD, 2022) • Thalamic coordination of prefrontal-hippocampal interactions underlying the retrieval of fear extinction memories . Current position: Postdoctoral fellow, Lieber Institute, Baltimore, MD.
• Reed L. Ressler (Neuroscience, PhD, 2021) • Synaptic and associative mechanisms of fear conditioning to unpredictable threats. Current position: Scientist, Capsida Biotherapeutics, Thousand Oaks, CA.
• Karthik R. Ramanathan (Neuroscience, PhD, 2020) • Role of thalamic nucleus reuniens in Pavlovian fear conditioning and extinction. Current position: Senior Research Associate, Spark Therapeutics, Philadelphia, PA.
• Thomas F. Giustino (Neuroscience, PhD, 2019) • Noradrenergic modulation of stress-induced deficits in fear extinction • NIH NRSA. Current position: Medical Writer • Axiom, Philadelphia, PA.
• Travis D. Goode (Neuroscience, PhD, 2018) • Brain systems coordinating fear to uncertain threats • NIH NRSA. Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University Medical School, Cambridge, MA.
• Qian “Angie” Wang (Biology, PhD, 2017) • Exploring the role of infralimbic cortex inhibitory circuits in the context-dependent extinction and renewal of fear. Current position: Assistant Professor, John Brown University, Siloam Springs, AR.
• Jingji Jin (Neuroscience, PhD, 2017) • Neural circuits underlying context- dependent memory retrieval. Current position: Data Scientist, State Farm Insurance, Madison, WI.
• Gillian M. Acca (Neuroscience, PhD, 2017) • The interaction of progesterone and allopregnanolone with fear memories. Current position: Science Policy Analyst, National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC.
• Janice J. Kim (Psychology, MS, 2014) • Reversible inactivation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis blocks reinstatement but not renewal of extinguished fear. Seoul, Korea.

University of Michigan

• Caitlin A. Orsini (Psychology, PhD, 2012) • Neural circuitry underlying contextual regulation of fear after extinction • NIH NRSA. Current position: Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, TX.
• Joshua M. Zimmerman (Neuroscience, 2010, PhD) • Compensatory neural circuits for fear learning without the basolateral amygdala. Current position: Compliance Applications Area Lead, Bloomberg NYC, New York, NY.
• Chun-hui Chang (Psychology, PhD, 2009) • Extinction of recent fear: Behavioral and neural mechanisms. Current position: Associate Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.
• Christine A. Rabinak (Psychology, PhD, 2009) • The associative representation of fear memories mediated by the amygdala. Current position: Associate Professor, Wayne State University.
• Jennifer A. Hobin (Psychology, PhD, 2006) • Neural circuits for context-specific expression of pavlovian fear memory after extinction • NDSE Graduate Fellowship. Current position: Deputy Director, Office of Science Policy and Communications, National Institute of Drug Abuse, Washington, DC.
• Kevin A. Corcoran (Psychology, PhD, 2004) • Participation of the dorsal hippocampus in the acquisition, expression, and context-dependency of extinction of learned fear • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Current position: Scientific Writer, Prescott Medical Communications Group, Chicago, IL.
• Ki A. Goosens (Psychology, PhD, 2002) • Conditional plasticity in the amygdala: Substrates, molecular mechanisms, and the relationship to fear behavior • HHMI Graduate Fellowship. Current position: Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, NY.

Postdoctoral Alumni

Texas A&M University

• Jianfeng Liu, PhD (2021) • Current position: Assistant Professor, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, China.
• Olivia W. Potvin (Miles), PhD (2020) • Current position: Research Program Manager, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
• Paul J. Fitzgerald, PhD (2017) • Current position: Research Assistant Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Crystal M. Erickson, PhD (2013) • Current position: Surgical Neurophysiologist, National Neuromonitoring Services, Little Elm, TX.

University of Michigan

• Jee-Hyun Kim, PhD (2010) • Current position: Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Psychiatry, Deakin University School of Medicine, Australia. link
• Chun-hui Chang, PhD (2010) • Current position: Associate Professor, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. link
• Ewelina Knapska, PhD (2009) • Current position: Professor, Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland. link
• Jinzhao Ji, MD, PhD (2007) • Current position: Physician Assistant, Private Practice, Raleigh, NC.

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