Current Personnel
Bonnie L. Firestein, Ph.D.
Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience and Principal Investigator
Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Dr. Firestein earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego under the guidance of Paul A. Insel, M.D. She performed her postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco with David S. Bredt, M.D., Ph.D. and established her independent laboratory at Rutgers University in 2000. She was primary advisor to 7 Masters students, 21 Ph.D. students, 14 Postdoctoral Associates, and over 70 undergraduate students. All of her trainees have successful careers in academia, industry, and the medical profession. She has been elected as a Fellow to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and a Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her research interests are neurodevelopment, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, schizophrenia. She is an avid Crossfitter and loves beagles and dachshunds. To learn more about her research, you can view her publications here.
Laboratory Researcher II
Min Yang, M.S.
Min earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Biology from Shanghai Ocean University and his Master’s Degree in Medical Genetics from Indiana University. Prior to joining the Firestein laboratory, he worked with our collaborator, Dr. Amrik Sahota, where he worked on mouse models for purine-related disorders and cystinuria and kidney disease. Min’s work focuses on the role of guanine metabolism in gout, TBI, and neurodegeneration.
Visiting Scholar
Dr. Mohammadreza Yousefi
Dr. Yousefi is an Associate Professor in the faculty of veterinary medicine at Azad University, Babol, Iran. He earned a BSc in Veterinary Laboratory Sciences from Semnan University, and MSc in Medical Parasitology from Mazandaran University, and a PhD in Molecular Parasitology, Veterinary Faculty from Tehran University. He has a strong background in parasitology, specifically Toxoplasma gondi, and he recently conducted a study on schizophrenia-like behaviors caused by this parasite in a murine model. His current work focuses on novel viral vectors as therapeutics for the treatment of traumatic brain injury.
Postdoctoral Associate
Dr. Srinivasa Gandu
Srinivasa was a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Biosciences (Cell and Developmental Biology track) Graduate Program. He earned a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, India and an M.S. in Pharmacology/ Toxicology from Long Island University. Prior to enrolling in the Ph.D. program, Srinivasa was a Research Technician in the Chiosis laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Srinivasa was a recipient of a Molecular Biosciences Excellence Award and Excellence Fellowship and subsequently was awarded a New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research Predoctoral Fellowship. His thesis project focuses on understanding the proteasome-mediated degradation pathway in neurons and how this pathway is influenced by cypin (cytosolic PSD-95 interactor). Srinivasa is continuing his work in the Firestein Lab and has been awarded a New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
Ph.D. Students
Christen Crosta
Christen is a Ph.D. student in the Neurosciences Graduate Program. She earned her B.S. in Neural Science with minors in American Sign Language and Psychology from New York University. After graduating, she worked as a Research Technician in the Carew Lab and as a Laboratory Manager in the Suzuki Lab at NYU. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Christen worked as a Chemical Laboratory Technician at BASF Corporation. She was awarded a position on the Rutgers NIH Biotechnology Training grant. Her thesis project focuses on biomarkers and sex-specific effects of antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia.
Keith Lange
Keith is a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Biosciences (Biochemistry track) Graduate Program. He earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from Montclair State University. After graduation, he worked with Dr. Carlos Molina at Montclair State as a technician and worked on crystallization of WbDHFR. He has experience studying Inducible cAMP Early Repressor proteasomal degradation, DNA binding, and reintegration into melanoma cells and in p53 deficient zebrafish. He is using both in silico modeling techniques and biochemistry to study the binding of activators and inhibitors of cypin. His work includes rational drug design.
Itgel (Tim) Munkhbat
Tim is a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Biosciences (Cell and Developmental Biology track) Graduate Program. He earned a Bachelor in Medicine at MNUMS, School of Biomedicine, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Prior to entering the Ph.D. program, Tim was a Research Scientist at Brain and Mind Research, Mongolian Academy of Sciences. His projects were 1. Study of Sleep Quality among Mongolians and the Prevalence of Sleep Apnea in the general Population, 2. “Interdisciplinary clinic cohort study”, Mon TimeLine Research center, and 3. Extraction and Processing of Bioactive Compounds from Broccoli plant and its antioxidant effects. Tim is interested in metabolic changes after traumatic brain injury and how to restore metabolism to promote post-injury neurocognition.
Courtney Stains
Courtney is a Ph.D. student in the Molecular Biosciences (Cell and Developmental Biology track) Graduate Program. She earned a B.S. in Biology at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate student, she worked with Dr. Emily Kramer to examine the role of the nuclear exosome in degrading hypomodified tRNA(Lys) upon retrograde nuclear import in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Courtney is interested in using scientific research to discover new signaling pathways and protein interactions to find therapeutic targets for neurological disorders or CNS injury.
Shradha Suresh
Shradha is a student in the Neurosciences Graduate Program. She earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Rutgers University. As an undergraduate student, she worked in the Shoane Laboratory where she was part of a team that developed a mobile application for testing the effect of vibration feedback on putting performance. As a Masters student, Shradha worked in the Ito Laboratory where her research focuses on treatments for multiple sclerosis. Shradha is interested in using non-invasive treatments for patients with traumatic brain injury. She will use modified viral vectors in rodent models.
Brandon Vaglio
Brandon is a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering at SUNY-Binghampton. As an undergraduate student in Dr. Koh’s lab, Brandon focused on creating an electrochemical method to improve the performance of printed carbon electrodes. As an M.S. student, Brandon designed an on-body iontophoretic glucose biosensor. His work included using use AutoCAD to create his own biosensor design. Brandon is interested in neural engineering and will use MEA technology to understand how neural circuits are shaped and can be repaired after injury.
Masters Students
Kaavyashri Anbumani
Kaavya is a Masters student in the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program. She earned her Bachelor of Technology in Industrial Biotechnology from ANNA University in Chennai, India. Kaavya is interested in developing biomaterials to help treat neuropathic pain induced by spinal cord injury.
Robert Lenczewski
Robert is a Masters student in the Biomedical Science Graduate Program. As an an undergraduate research assistant, he worked on the development of prosthetics in the area of mobility restoration and neural engineering. Robert’s current work addresses how increased activation of purine metabolism alters neural circuits.
Undergraduate Students
Agam Aviv
Omar Elmogazy
Katie Lynch
Daniel Marotta
Anisha Srinivasan
Kendra Stephens
Ryan Wang