Undergraduate Researchers

Research Interests: Data Visualization/Data Management

“Several of my relatives have/had careers in healthcare-adjacent fields. Seeing as neuroscience was adjacent to curing brain diseases, possibly some of the biggest challenges the healthcare field faces, I became interested in applying data management and visualization skills to this field.“

Research Interest: Hippocampal Tracing with implications of memory consolidation and emotional regulation
Awards: UROP Award as fellow 2024-2025
Lab Work: Neural circuit mapping 

“I have sought to intrinsically understand the biological processes in the brain that elicit the emotions I experience in my version of reality everyday. Consequently, I enrolled in a neurobiology lab with implications of emotional processing through the circuitry of the brain to further understand inputs and outputs of specific neuronal pathways. This lab has bridged the gap between the intangible emotions and imaginative worlds I have created in my head to the scientific foundations of the brain. In fact, I have learned a great amount about the interlaced circuit networks that modulate distinct physiological behaviors of different emotions.“

Research Interests: Alzheimer’s Disease, Sleep disorders, Neurodegenerative diseases, Immunology
Lab Work: PS19 Taupathy Project, AD H151 Project

“I became interested in studying neuroscience because I wanted to understand how the brain shapes our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions at both a biological and psychological level.”

Lab Work: Development of enhancer AAV to target and study the function of subiculum

Research Interest: Neuropsychological disorders and the brain with it’s corresponding behavior.
Lab Work: PS19 Taupathy Project, AD H151 Project

“I have always had a general interest in the brain since it’s extremely complex with a lot that we still do not know nor understand about. I also worked as a nursing assistant and often worked with dementia patients, so I became interested in contributing to neuroscience.”

Lab Work: Rabies tracing of GABAergic Cell in the Dorsal Subiculum, YFV Project
Awards:
– UROP Fellow for Summer 2024
– Tri Beta Grant 2024

Research Interest: Behavior. Neuropsychology. Neurodegenerative diseases.

“My high school psychology teacher made AP psychology so interesting and he connected everything to the brain. Ever since then I’ve been so interested about the brain and how it changes/effects behaviour.“

Research Interest: Exploring early signs of dementia in the autonomic nervous system
Lab Work: Neural Mechanisms Linking Tauopathy and Cardiovascular Dysfunction in Dementia

“I’m a biomedical engineering major interested in neuroscience, so I wanted to learn more about the field.”

Research Interests: Alzheimer’s Disease, Generative models for multi-omics data
Publications: Evaluating the potential of acupuncture for Alzheimer’s disease treatment: A meta-analysis and systematic review of mouse model studies (Under review)

“I am driven by the desire to better understand the mechanisms behind neurological disorders, and I hope in the future, I will be able to contribute meaningful insights to scientific communities.“

Research Interest: Alzheimer’s disease, hippocampal tracing, and neurodegeneration
Lab Work: AD H151 Project, YFV Project
Awards: UROP 2024 Research Experience Fellowship (Funded)

“Volunteering with residents suffering from dementia sparked my interest in neuroscience. It ultimately inspired me to join the Xu Lab and specialize my major in neurobiology. That hands-on experience made the science feel personal and purposeful.”

Lab Work: LC YFV tracing project, U01 project
Awards: Tri Beta Grant 2024

Lab Work: Development of enhancer AAV to target and study the function of subiculum

Research Interest: Early detection of dementia
Lab Work: Neural Mechanisms Linking Tauopathy and Cardiovascular Dysfunction in Dementia

Student Lab Assistant / Animal Care

Research Interest: Depression and Reward Circuitry
Lab Work: Circuit Mapping in MPFC, AD H151 Project

“I’ve always been fascinated by the intricate complexities of the brain – how every neuron, synapse, and channel works together to orchestrate the human experience, physical and mental. This lab has given me the opportunity to delve further in the field of neuroscience and examine how dysfunction in this intricate system serves as the root for so many common chronic diseases.”

Research Interest: Bioinformatics, Data Analytics, Single Cell, and Machine Learning

“Originally a Public Health major, I switched to Data Science but kept my passion for human biology—especially after a professor’s lecture on Alzheimer’s research sparked my fascination with neuroscience. Now, I’m driven to explore how data science can decode neurological disorders. That intersection, where numbers meet neurodegeneration, is where I want to make an impact.“

Research Interest: Dogs as a natural model for Alzheimer’s, Degus as a natural model for Alzheimer’s, dementia, immunostaining
Lab Work: AD-like pathology and Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy in outbred degu, cytoarchitecture of the aged temporal cortex and ventral hippocampus in canines
Publications and Awards:
– Co-author on “Epigenetic and 3D genome reprogramming during the aging of human hippocampus.” (2024, under review)
– 2x UROP Fellow (2024, 2025)
– UROP/Calit2 Interdisciplinary Research Teams Award Recipient
– UROP Research Experience Fellowship Award Recipient
– 2025 Winter Xu Lab “Best Presentation” Award Recipient

“Neuroscience is a constantly evolving ecosystem of neurons, synapses, and glia, each offering a unique pathway for exploration. My primary interest lies in Alzheimer’s disease, and understanding its neurodegenerative nature and the profound effects it has on the structural integrity of the brain, particularly the hippocampus. Studying these changes deepens my appreciation for the intricate architecture and resilience of the central nervous system.”

Vanessa Khieu
2nd Year
Biological Sciences

Research Interests: Some of my research interests include mainly the things that I’ve learned more about since being in this lab: imaging biomarkers, synaptic loss and neural connectivity, and amyloid-beta plaque formation.
Lab Work: Rabies tracing in the hippocampus of AD mouse models

“I became interested in studying neuroscience because of its complexity and its central role in shaping our thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and memories. Seeing the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on my grandmother made me realize how devastating it is when the brain begins to fail, and it inspired me to learn more about the underlying mechanisms of memory and cognition. Neuroscience offers the opportunity to explore how neurons communicate, how the brain processes information, and how disorders like Alzheimer’s develop over time. I’m fascinated by the potential of neuroscience to not only uncover how the brain works but also to contribute to developing treatments that could improve lives. This field combines biology, psychology, and progressive research, and I’m excited to be part of that discovery process.“

Research Interest: Neurodynamics, Space-time Manifold Analysis, Theoretical physics, BCI
Awards: 2025 Winter Xu Lab Excellence in Research Award

“The nature of consciousness, or more simply: the soul, is the most fascinating mystery in the world that requires countless fields of knowledge and various experiment methods to solve, one of the final frontiers of human cognition, in the same time, the human cognition itself.“

Research Interest: Neuroengineering, Mo-Seq, Degu

I was always interested in the brain because it is such an unknown, and learning more about the unknown, especially in something as complex as the brain has always been the biggest motivation for why I love learning.

Research Interest: Alzheimer’s disease
Lab Work: Early biomarkers in AD mice

“I am always interested in how the brain works and how to cure neurological diseases. I think it is meaningful to study neuroscience in depth and solve some real-life problems.“

Research Interest: Neuroscience
Lab Work: PS19 Tauopathy project

“I have always been very interested in learning about the brain and how it works and understanding its complexities”

Research Interest: Neuroscience, Alzheimer’s
Lab Work: PS19 Tauopathy project


“I worked with patients in a family practice clinic who has made neurodegenerative diseases, which was a very impactful experience and made me interested in joining the Xu Lab.“

Lab Work: Neural circuit mapping

Lab Work: Development of enhancer AAV to target and study the function of subiculum

“I was originally a Psychology major but switched to Pharmaceutical Sciences to build a stronger foundation in biomedical research. Still, my fascination with the brain never left—I’ve always been drawn to understanding neural function through a scientific lens. Now, I’m eager to explore how molecular tools can unravel the structure and dynamics of brain circuits, especially in translational settings.”

Research Interest: Alzheimer’s Disease, Learning and memory, Neural Engineering

“My interest in studying neuroscience stems from a deeply personal experience, which is a combination of witnessing the decline of my great-grandfather due to Alzheimer’s disease, and learning about the wide range of people who are affected by the disease through my parents’ work in senior care. These moments not only left a lasting impact on me but also sparked a deep curiosity about how the brain functions and what can be done to prevent or treat such devastating conditions.”

Research Interests: Neural circuit mapping and developing tools to target specific-cell types.

“I am drawn to the study of neuroscience because I am fascinated by various connections between the brain and behavior. I think that mapping neural circuits and further understanding the brain can offer insight on how to solve neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and brain injuries.“

Research Interests: Alzheimer’s disease, degus, brain atlases

I am interested in studying neuroscience because I want to help advance research and treatments for neurological diseases.

In-Training

“I like people, and I am drawn to their behaviors, decisions, and emotions; and I constantly wonder why we do what we do and how we are able to do it. Neuroscience fascinates me because it connects the tiniest molecular and electrical events in the brain to the incredibly complex ways we think, feel, and act. It connects biology with identity, and I love that it offers a collaborative and scientific way to explore what makes us uniquely human.“