Graduate Faculty
In This Section
Below is a list of faculty who host Systems and Cellular Neuroscience students to complete a PhD in their laboratory. Look for the Red text below each faculty member’s research description to see if they are actively recruiting for this admissions cycle.
All Program Faculty
![Michael Burton](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2024/01/michael-burton-c249d9ab59075fb3.jpg)
Dr. Michael Burton
Research Description: Peripheral to CNS communication: Emphasis on pain, depression and metabolism.
Keywords: Neuroimmunology, pain, pharmacology, behavior, metabolism
Neuroimmunology and Behavior Lab
michael.burton@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Greg Dussor](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/greg-dussor.jpg)
Dr. Gregory Dussor
Chairperson, Neuroscience
Research Description: Pain, with an emphasis on chronic headache disorders such as migraine.
Keywords: Pain, behavior, physiology, migraine, genomics
Pain Neurobiology Research Group
gregory.dussor1@utdallas.edu
![Andrew Eagle](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2023/07/andrew-eagle.jpg)
Dr. Andrew Eagle
Research Description: Hippocampal and entorhinal cortex neurocircuitry of addiction and motivated behavior
Keywords: Addiction, learning and memory, basic science research, neuromodulation andrew.eagle@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Crystal Engineer](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/crystal-engineer.jpg)
Dr. Crystal Engineer
Research Description: Auditory processing, autism spectrum disorders, plasticity, speech perception and neuromodulation.
Keywords: Behavior, neuroplasticity, physiology, autism
Engineer Lab – Texas Biomedical Device Center
crystalengineer@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Zirong Gu](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2023/08/zirong-gu.jpg)
Dr. Zirong Gu
Research Description: Exploring how basal ganglia outputs interact with other brain regions to select, initiate, and execute motivated behavior in both health and disease.
Keywords: Single-cell sequencing, viral tracing, unsupervised behavioral clustering, Cal-light tagging, closed-loop neuromodulation, computational approaches, obsessive-compulsive disorder, neurodegeneration zirong.gu@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Michael Kilgard, PhD](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/michael-p-kilgard.jpg)
Dr. Michael Kilgard
Research Description: Targeted neural plasticity for the treatment of stroke, autism, brain and spinal cord damage, PTSD, tinnitus and pain.
Keywords: Neuromodulation, neurological disease, human testing, behavior, bioengineering
Cortical Plasticity Lab
michael.kilgard@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Benedict Kolber](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/benedict-kolber.jpg)
Dr. Benedict Kolber
Director, Graduate Neuroscience
Research Description: Pain with an emphasis on stress adaptation, depression and drug discovery.
Keywords: Behavior, pain, pharmacology, physiology, drug discovery, depression, anxiety
Pain Stress Lab
benedict.kolber@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Sven Kroener, PhD](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/sven-kroener.jpg)
Dr. Sven Kroener
Research Description: Physiology of the prefrontal cortex as it relates to motivated behavior and drug addiction.
Keywords: Physiology, addiction, behavior, schizophrenia
Cellular and Synaptic Physiology Lab
sven.kroener@utdallas.edu
![Christa McIntyre Rodriguez](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/christa-mcintyre-rodriquez.jpg)
Dr. Christa McIntyre Rodriguez
Research Description: Stress and memory; therapy for memory and anxiety disorders
Keywords: Memory, stress, behavior, nerve stimulation, fear
![Lena Nguyen](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/lena-nguyen-300-400-b.jpg)
Dr. Lena Nguyen
Research Description: Cortical development and molecular mechanisms of epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders
Keywords: Neurodevelopment, cerebral cortex, epilepsy, translational control, mTOR signaling lena.nguyen@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Dr. Puja Parekh](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2024/06/puja-parekh-420-560.jpg)
Dr. Puja Parekh (Starting Aug. 2024)
Research Description: Neural circuit basis and individual differences in the regulation of effortful motivated behavior in healthy states and disease-relevant models.
Keywords: Rodent behavior, stress, optogenetics, in vivo imaging, transcriptomics, pharmacology pkp2002@med.cornell.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Ted Price, PhD](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/theodore-j-price.jpg)
Dr. Theodore Price
Research Description: Molecular mechanisms that cause pain to become chronic; therapy development.
Keywords: Pain, behavior, physiology, transcriptomics, drug discovery
Pain Neurobiology Research Group
theodore.price@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Dr. Robert Rennaker](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/robert-l-rennaker-2017.jpg)
Dr. Robert Rennaker
Research Description: Targeted plasticity therapy, medical device development, neuro injury and repair.
Keywords: Bioengineering, neurological injury, nerve stimulation, stroke
![Dr. Millie Rincón-Cortés](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2021/10/millie-rincon-cortes-418.png)
Dr. Millie Rincón-Cortés
Research Description: Normative and stress-induced plasticity of reward and mesolimbic dopamine function, emphasis on early development and the postpartum period.
Keywords: Behavioral neuroscience, development, adversity, social, dopamine, maternal brain
Developmental and Maternal Neurobiology Lab
millie.rincon-cortes@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Katelyn Sadler](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/katelyn-sadler-300-400-b.jpg)
Dr. Katelyn Sadler
Research Description: Gut-brain circuits in chronic pain conditions; central nervous system modulation of sickle cell disease pain
Keywords: Pain, interoception, microbiome, behavior, psysiology, sickle cell disease
Gut, Brain, Pain Lab
katelyn.sadler@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Dr. Steven Small](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2024/04/steve-small-420-560-94a7efe2c64ffcfc.jpg)
Dr. Steven Small
Research Description: Neurobiology of language
Keywords: Language, computational neuroscience, neuroimaging
Faculty Profile
small@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Ana Solodkin](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/ana-solodkin.jpg)
Dr. Ana Solodkin
Research Description: Biomarkers of neurological disease via neuroinformatics
Keywords: Bioinformatics, neurological disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke
![Diana Tavares Ferreira](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2023/07/diana-tavares-ferreira.jpg)
Dr. Diana Tavares Ferreira
Research Description: Cellular and molecular mechanisms of axonal integrity; studying the role of RNA transport and non-coding RNAs in neuropathies and neurodegenerative diseases using multi-omics and computational approaches.
Keywords: Computational approaches, transcriptomics, neurodegeneration, axonal transport, microRNAs
Axon Biology and Neuroinformatics Lab
diana.tavaresferreira@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
![Catherine Thorn](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/12/catherine-thorn.jpg)
Dr. Catherine Thorn
Research Description: Motor and habit learning, with an emphasis on the role neuromodulators in motor system plasticity.
Keywords: learning and memory, motor cortex, basal ganglia, noradrenaline, dopamine
Motor and Habit Learning Lab
catherine.thorn@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025
Affiliated Research Faculty
![Seth Hayes, PhD](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2021/10/Seth-Hays.jpg)
Dr. Seth Hays
Research Description: Use of vagus nerve stimulation to target neuroplasticity and treat disease.
Keywords: Bioengineering, neuroplasticity, behavior
![Dr. Tae Hoon Kim](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2021/10/Tae-Kim.jpg)
Dr. Tae Hoon Kim
Research Description: Bioinformatics and functional genomics for regulation of neurological disease.
Keywords: Transcription, genomics, pain, neurological disease
![Lloyd Lumata, PhD](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2021/10/lumata-lloyd.jpg)
Dr. Lloyd Lumata
Research Description: Imaging and biochemistry of glioblastoma and other cancers.
Keywords: Neuroimaging, brain cancer, MRI
The LUMATA Group: Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance
lloyd.lumata@utdallas.edu
![Joseph Pancrazio, PhD](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2021/10/Joseph-Pancrazio.jpg)
Dr. Joseph Pancrazio
Research Description: Development and testing of novel neural interface technology for in vivo and in vitro.
Keywords: Bioengineering, neural interfaces, cell biology, physiology
Neuronal Networks and Interfaces Lab
joseph.pancrazio@utdallas.edu
![Darshan Sapkota](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/11/darshan-sapkota-300-386.jpg)
Dr. Darshan Sapkota
Research Description: Protein variants generated from alternative start and stop sites on mRNAs and their significance in brain function and disease.
Keywords: Neurodegenerative disease, mRNA translation, stop codon readthrough, molecular biology
![Adrianna Shembel](https://bbs.utdallas.edu/files/2022/07/adrianna-c-shembel.jpg)
Dr. Adrianna Shembel
Research Description: Effects of increased neuromuscular demands on the voice; neurological and sensorimotor voice disorders.
Keywords: Laryngeal Disorders, musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, vocal demands
Integrative Laryngeal BioPhysiology Lab
adrianna.shembel@utdallas.edu
Recruiting for 2025