Daniel Dombeck

Principal Investigator
d-dombeck@northwestern.edu

AT&T Research Fellow
B.S. Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
Ph.D. Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Postdoc Neuroscience, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Dombeck_CV

Chris Angeloni

Postdoctoral Fellow
christopher.angeloni@northwestern.edu

The natural world is complicated and dynamic. We use many cues to guide our navigation, and can flexibly modify our routes based on changes to our environment: what may be a safe and fast bike route one day may be blocked by construction the next day, making that route more dangerous. I am interested in how we navigate in dynamic environments, a skill which requires planning. To study this, I record neural activity from multiple brain regions while mice engage in naturalistic predator-prey interactions. By combining ethologically-inspired behavioral tasks with state of the art recording techniques, we hope to elucidate the brain regions and neural mechanisms involved in planning.

Heydar Davoudi

Postdoctoral Fellow
heydar.davoudi@gmail.com

I’m interested in the neural mechanisms for spatial navigation and episodic memory at the subcellular level. By developing two-photon imaging of dendritic spines, I study how place cells in hippocampal output area CA1 integrate the spatial and contextual information of their inputs.  I received my PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in  2017 in David Foster’s lab, where I integrated in vivo electrophysiology and optogenetics to uncover the contribution of hippocampal area CA3 to the formation of CA1 place cell responses.

John Issa

Postdoctoral Fellow
john.issa@northwestern.edu

My goal is to understand how the brain processes information in a distributed and efficient manner. In particular, I am using imaging tools to study neural activity in the hippocampal formation during ongoing behavior.

Shiva Nagappan

Postdoctoral Fellow
shiva.nagappan@northwestern.edu

I am interested in the incredible diversity of neuron types in the brain – what role they each play within a circuit or system, how they form cohesive units that drive complex functions and what happens when one or more of these cell types malfunction. During my PhD, I studied how distinct neuron types in the piriform cortex differentially processed odor information and how they each contributed to specific odor-driven behaviors. Now, I am pursuing these questions in the context of dopaminergic neurons in the striatum and Parkinson’s disease.

Lior Tiroshi

Postdoctoral Fellow
lior.tiroshi@northwestern.edu

I am interested in the computations performed by the single neuron and how single-cell and subcellular activity patterns give rise to the dynamics of the circuit. In the hippocampus, ensembles of place cells form distinct representations of the outside world, and their collective activity is regarded as a neural substrate of spatial memory. How do hippocampal neurons form these robust yet flexible representations of different places, which can accommodate new and unpredictable environments? And how do dendritic mechanisms contribute to this remarkable ability? I explore these questions using advanced imaging techniques in head-restrained mice navigating a virtual reality environment, complemented by electrophysiological recordings.

Gilad Tocker

Postdoctoral Fellow
giladtocker@gmail.com

I am interested in how memories formed in the Hippocampal formation. Many models suggest a critical role for connections between cells in forming episodic memories.  By developing novel techniques for imaging dendritic spines in vivo, I hope to test these models and produce mechanistic insights.

Elena He

Graduate Student
qianzi.he@northwestern.edu

Dopamine is thought to be a critical neuromodulator of many functions including motor control, learning, and motivation, but the information conveyed in dopamine signaling has remained elusive. Using optogenetics and in vivo two photon microscopy, I hope to gain insights to the dynamics of nigrostriatal dopamine signaling, and the mechanism through which the dysfunctional system gives rise to motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease.

Daniel (Jun Young) Oh

Graduate Student
junoh2025@u.northwestern.edu

As we walk leisurely from lab to In-N-Out on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon, how does the brain form new memories and how does the representation of the spatial memories change in response to constantly shifting environments? I am interested in studying remapping mechanisms of CA1 place cells in response to novel environment exposure in vivo using functional two photon microscopy and virtual reality.

Dom Pinke

Graduate Student
pinke.domonkos@northwestern.edu

My primary interest is the research of imprinted, innate behavioral patterns. How is it possible that mice born in a lab are able to recognize and react to a predator coming from above, which they have never seen before? How do these circuits develop in the brain, and how do these ancient, hardwired functions influence memory formation? I seek answers to these questions through 2-photon microscopy and immersive virtual environments, focusing on place and grid cells in the hippocampus.

Shudi Xu

Graduate Student
shudi.xu@northwestern.edu

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a crucial role in our experience of pleasure, motivation, and reward. It’s an integral part of the brain’s reward system, reinforcing behaviors essential for survival, like eating and socializing, by making us feel good when we engage in these activities. Dopamine also regulates movement, attention, and learning. Imbalances in dopamine levels are associated with various neurological and psychiatric conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and addiction. I am particularly interested in exploring the functionality of dopamine subpopulations. To achieve this, I use in vivo electrophysiological recording methods to observe dopamine activity while mice perform various behavioral tasks.

Feng Xuan

Graduate Student
FengXuan2023@u.northwestern.edu

Neuromodulators, such as acetylcholine, dopamine, play critical roles in many cognitive processes. My goal is to better understand neuromodulator signaling in the living brain in relation to animals’ behavior. More specifically, I’m interested in using optical methods (e.g. two-photon imaging) to record neuromodulator dynamics in vivo, and relating them to ongoing behaviors (e.g. spatial navigation). Furthermore, we could perturb these signaling to see how that would change behaviors.

Zehua Chen

Master’s Student
zehuachen2025@u.northwestern.edu

Pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus fire to make up the representation of the external world and memory. These neurons are also individual computational units that are capable of integrating all their synaptic inputs with selectivity. These inputs shape plasticity in synapses, which people believe is how memory is initiated in hippocampal CA1. I’m interested in detecting plasticity molecules using novel sensors to monitor the dynamics of plasticity while the animal experiences visual environments.

DongHo Kim

Master’s Student
donghokim2025@u.northwestern.edu

My research interest centers on the dynamic processes that underlie learning and memory formation. I’m fascinated by the brain’s plasticity—how it adapts and reorganizes in response to experiences. Using two-photon microscopy and immersive virtual environments, I hope to contribute to our understanding of how the brain encodes and retains new information by exploring the neural adaptations that occur during and after learning.

Kaitlyn Quinn

Lab Technician
kaitlyn.quinn@northwestern.edu

As the lab tech/ manager, I aim to improve the overall efficiency, organization and project progression in the lab. My research focuses specifically on one of those projects, which explores dopamine and how different dopaminergic subtypes are associated with the motor symptoms seen in Parkinson’s disease.