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RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

Meet the people behind the work


According to myth, the famed explorer Ernest Shackleton took out a small ad in a newspaper and wrote: “Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.”

From our dual headquarters in Minnesota and in Boston, we can similarly promise small wages and bitter cold. (Not so much the complete darkness and constant danger!) And as for success, honor, and recognition? Time will tell. But I am grateful to the many research assistants who have collaborated on our work over the years. A Lab is only as good as the people who work in it. Below is a list of those who have worked as RAs over the years.

Lab alumni have gone off to amazing careers in law, science, medicine, business, education, and more. They are using their talented brains to make their community a better place, and I am proud of all they are accomplishing.

We are a small Lab, so we do not have many spaces available. But we are always considering new opportunities, so check out the Hiring page and let us know if you’re interested in joining the team. It’s the most amazing Lab in the world! (Well, at least I think it is. You can join and see for yourself.)

Click on photos to read RA bios.

Chinmayi Balusu

Chinmayi Balusu

Research Assistant

Alex Engemann

Alex Engemann

Research Assistant

Julianna Gerold

Julianna Gerold

Research Assistant

Rishab Jain

Rishab Jain

Research Assistant

Lauren Lang

Lauren Lang

Research Assistant

Nas Lawal

Nas Lawal

Research Assistant

Christhy Le

Christhy Le

Research Assistant

Ashley Malkin

Ashley Malkin

Research Assistant

Craig McFarland

Craig McFarland

Research Assistant

Ivan Ramirez

Ivan Ramirez

Research Assistant

Emily Rodriguez

Emily Rodriguez

Senior Fellow, Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society

Key Williams

Key Williams

Research Assistant

Catalina Zapata

Catalina Zapata

Community Engagement Lead & Research Assistant


Natasha Ahrweiler

Natasha Ahrweiler

Maha Al-Suwaidi

Maha Al-Suwaidi

Ilham Abdalla Tagelsir Ali

Ilham Abdalla Tagelsir Ali

John Arceci

John Arceci

Alexander Bagwell

Alexander Bagwell

Chinmayi Balusu

Chinmayi Balusu

Amber Banks

Amber Banks

Yuhan Bao

Yuhan Bao

Melissa Barwick

Melissa Barwick

Sarah Becker

Sarah Becker

Mariah Bellamoroso

Mariah Bellamoroso

Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Monisha Bhatia

Monisha Bhatia

Andrea Bilbija

Andrea Bilbija

Thomas Booms

Thomas Booms

Sam Brandao

Sam Brandao

Mikaela Brandt-Fontaine

Mikaela Brandt-Fontaine

Mikaela Brandt-Fontaine

Mikaela Brandt-Fontaine

Brent Brien

Brent Brien

Julianne Campbell

Julianne Campbell

Morgan Carlson

Morgan Carlson

Deniz Cataltepe

Deniz Cataltepe

Junchi Chu

Junchi Chu

Gabriela Barriuso Clark

Gabriela Barriuso Clark

Spencer Compton

Spencer Compton

Warren Cormack

Warren Cormack

Warren Cormack

Warren Cormack

JP Costello

JP Costello

Frances Daniels

Frances Daniels

Sean Deitrick

Sean Deitrick

Jonathan Dial

Jonathan Dial

Sydney Diekmann

Sydney Diekmann

Sydney Diekmann

Sydney Diekmann

Shawn Donovan

Shawn Donovan

Devin Driscoll

Devin Driscoll

Laura Drohan

Laura Drohan

Michael Dunbar

Michael Dunbar

Kathryn Easterling

Kathryn Easterling

Christine Egan

Christine Egan

Christine Egan

Christine Egan

Alex Engemann

Alex Engemann

Erin Shortell

Erin Shortell

Elizabeth Escalante

Elizabeth Escalante

Heloise Evins-Mackenzie

Heloise Evins-Mackenzie

Regina C.E. Fairfax

Regina C.E. Fairfax

Katherine Fang

Katherine Fang

Jenna Farleigh

Jenna Farleigh

Alexandria Scarbrough Fisher

Alexandria Scarbrough Fisher

Kyle Flann

Kyle Flann

John Frost

John Frost

Ilai Gavish

Ilai Gavish

Julianna Gerold

Julianna Gerold

Laura Gisler

Laura Gisler

Anne Gooch

Anne Gooch

Joseph Graen

Joseph Graen

Juile Griep

Juile Griep

Felicity Grisham

Felicity Grisham

Vihra Groueva

Vihra Groueva

Lea Gulotta

Lea Gulotta

Lokys Gust

Lokys Gust

Julia Hall

Julia Hall

Melissa Hartley

Melissa Hartley

Ian Hayes

Ian Hayes

Katherine Van Deusen Hely

Katherine Van Deusen Hely

Courtney Holliday Hess

Courtney Holliday Hess

Sam Holloway

Sam Holloway

Annie Ilsley

Annie Ilsley

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer

Eric Jackson

Eric Jackson

Ian Jackson

Ian Jackson

Lauren Bair Jacques

Lauren Bair Jacques

Rishab Jain

Rishab Jain

Elizabeth McElwee Janss

Elizabeth McElwee Janss

Mariam Abdel-Malek, JD

Mariam Abdel-Malek, JD

Grace Jensen

Grace Jensen

Tyler Johnson

Tyler Johnson

Brendan Johnson

Brendan Johnson

Dara Johnson-Ayodele

Dara Johnson-Ayodele

Kaela Juarez

Kaela Juarez

Kat Kubis Jugo

Kat Kubis Jugo

Annie Jwa

Annie Jwa

Fatjon Kaja

Fatjon Kaja

Michelle Kallen

Michelle Kallen

David Kamper

David Kamper

Robert Kim

Robert Kim

Clarissa Kimmey

Clarissa Kimmey

Ellen Kleeman

Ellen Kleeman

Alexis Kocken

Alexis Kocken

Shishira Kothur

Shishira Kothur

Martha Kramer

Martha Kramer

Jordan Krieg

Jordan Krieg

Kathryn Kuhn

Kathryn Kuhn

Rtusha Kulkarni

Rtusha Kulkarni

Sarah Lagan

Sarah Lagan

Lauren Lang

Lauren Lang

Emily Larish

Emily Larish

Erica Larson

Erica Larson

Nas Lawal

Nas Lawal

Christhy Le

Christhy Le

Ryan Lee

Ryan Lee

William Leung

William Leung

Weiwen Leung

Weiwen Leung

Alexis LiDonde

Alexis LiDonde

Reid Litman

Reid Litman

Eric Little

Eric Little

Stacy Livingston

Stacy Livingston

Nancy Lu

Nancy Lu

Geordin Crist, MA

Geordin Crist, MA

Greg Maczko

Greg Maczko

Megha Majumder

Megha Majumder

Layla Malamut

Layla Malamut

Amy Mandel

Amy Mandel

Maxim Massenkoff

Maxim Massenkoff

Jillian Mastroianni

Jillian Mastroianni

Craig McFarland

Craig McFarland

Lindsey Gilling McIntosh

Lindsey Gilling McIntosh

Fenella McLuskie

Fenella McLuskie

Jaleh McTeigue

Jaleh McTeigue

Maria McTeigue

Maria McTeigue

Najet Miah

Najet Miah

Monica Miecznikowski

Monica Miecznikowski

Bethany Mihalik

Bethany Mihalik

Tim Mitchell

Tim Mitchell

Madeleine Muller

Madeleine Muller

Jennifer Near

Jennifer Near

Kailey Nicholson

Kailey Nicholson

Aubrianne Norton

Aubrianne Norton

Jennifer Novo

Jennifer Novo

Job Okeri

Job Okeri

Ifeoma Okoli

Ifeoma Okoli

Caitlin Opperman

Caitlin Opperman

Caitlin Opperman

Caitlin Opperman

Jonathan Ord

Jonathan Ord

Renee Osagiede

Renee Osagiede

Cameron Kruger Pariseau

Cameron Kruger Pariseau

Andrew Park

Andrew Park

Raquel Stringer Parker

Raquel Stringer Parker

Alex Payne

Alex Payne

Ryan Pesch

Ryan Pesch

Aldis Petriceks

Aldis Petriceks

Breanna Philips

Breanna Philips

Jeff Phillips

Jeff Phillips

Sarah Prentice-Mott

Sarah Prentice-Mott

Joshua Preston

Joshua Preston

Spencer Ptacek

Spencer Ptacek

Ivan Ramirez

Ivan Ramirez

Lauren Ramos

Lauren Ramos

Carly Rasmussen

Carly Rasmussen

Carly Rasmussen

Carly Rasmussen

Jason Reed

Jason Reed

Rick Weinmeyer

Rick Weinmeyer

Kelsey Rodgers

Kelsey Rodgers

Emily Rodriguez

Emily Rodriguez

Maya Roytman

Maya Roytman

Kai Saito

Kai Saito

Sam Sipprell

Sam Sipprell

Jennifer Sauer

Jennifer Sauer

Cole Schott

Cole Schott

JT Schuweiler

JT Schuweiler

Ithika Senthilnathan

Ithika Senthilnathan

Anish Sethi

Anish Sethi

Sina Sadeghzadeh

Sina Sadeghzadeh

Tayla Smith

Tayla Smith

Alyssa Sosa-López

Alyssa Sosa-López

Aubrey Sprenger

Aubrey Sprenger

Drew Staniewski

Drew Staniewski

Adam Steiner

Adam Steiner

Ian Stevens

Ian Stevens

Sumita Strander

Sumita Strander

Christopher Sundby

Christopher Sundby

Oliver Sussman

Oliver Sussman

Jamie Thalgott

Jamie Thalgott

Deanna Thompson

Deanna Thompson

Tom Pryor

Tom Pryor

Efrain Torres

Efrain Torres

Alex Tsalidis

Alex Tsalidis

Robin Tu

Robin Tu

Emily Twedell

Emily Twedell

Emily Twedell

Emily Twedell

Tevyn Waddell

Tevyn Waddell

Kennon Wales

Kennon Wales

Alexander Walker

Alexander Walker

Aryan Weisenfeld

Aryan Weisenfeld

Ian Welsh

Ian Welsh

Jacob Westerberg

Jacob Westerberg

Bethany Whelan

Bethany Whelan

Matthew Wilkinson

Matthew Wilkinson

Sarah Pazar Williams

Sarah Pazar Williams

Justin Wong

Justin Wong

Yihan Wu

Yihan Wu

Micaela Yarosh

Micaela Yarosh

Alina Yasis

Alina Yasis

Lois Yoo

Lois Yoo

Catalina Zapata

Catalina Zapata

Jess Zuo

Jess Zuo

Brian Zurowski

Brian Zurowski