Training Group:

Integrative Neuroscience

Mentor / Lab:

Alexander Chubykin

Specific Research Area / Project:

Visual processing and learning in health and disease

Lab / Personal work-related websites:

Lab

Research Profile:

The visual cortex processes what we see, and the cortical neuronal circuits orchestrate in dynamic ways to interpret complex visual information. One of the factors that affect the way neuronal circuits fire is experience, and impairments in visual learning and processing has been found in various diseases. My current research interests lie in 1) Inter-areal visual cortical processing in mice with visual experience; 2) how novel treatment, like in vivo direct reprogramming, recovers visual processing in mice with ischemia. I hope my research would help better understand visual cortical processing and help push the novel treatment for impaired visual processing to clinical use.

About Me:

Like most people, I was not clear about what I wanted to do during my undergraduate, but I knew doing research is not painful for me. My undergraduate research experience in different areas of neuroscience made me realize the complexity of the nervous system, and made me wanted to continue knowing more about it, so I am here in PULSe.

PULSe offers the opportunities to rotate in different departments and research areas, and nurtures collaborative research across the campus. I found it quite interesting that in multiple interdisciplinary poster events, talking to people with backgrounds in molecular and cellular neuroscience, biomedical engineering, ecology, and even cancer biology could lead to conversations involving shared research interests, which has made me more exploratory when doing collaborative research.

Being in academia is a fun career choice to me, and it is challenging at the same time. I would love to contribute to advancing science, optimally as a faculty.

Publications:

• Kissinger ST, Pak A, Tang Y, Masmanidis S, Chubykin AA., 'Oscillatory encoding of visual stimulus familiarity', Journal of Neuroscience (July 4, 2018), 38, 27, 6223-6240

Presentations:

• Author&Presenter, ‘In vivo direct reprogramming restores visually evoked responses after focal stroke’, IndianaCTSI, IUPUI (December, 2017)
• Author&Presenter, ‘In vivo direct reprogramming restores visually evoked responses after focal stroke’, OIGP Spring Reception, Purdue University (May, 2019)
• Author&Presenter, ‘Cortical feedback modulation of experience-dependent oscillations in V1’, Society of Neuroscience meeting, Chicago (October, 2019)

Leadership:

• Diversity and Inclusion Chair, PULSe GSO, 2017
• Teaching volunteer, Science in School Outreach, 2017