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Kristen Zuloaga, PhD
Associate Professor Kristen joined Albany Medical College in February 2017. Kristen obtained her PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2011 and has been trained by leaders in the fields of neuroendocrinology (Dr. Robert Handa), cerebral vascular physiology and cerebral ischemia (Dr. Nabil Alkayed and Dr. Rayna Gonzales), aging and neurogenesis (MacArthur Fellow Dr. Sally Tempe). She serves as both Council member and Education co-Chair for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences and on the Editorial Board for Biology of Sex Differences. She is deeply committed to mentorship and is Co-Founder/Co-Director of the Albany Postdoctoral Development Program. She is currently funded by an R01 from NINDS, and a U01 from NIA that was recently approved for funding with an expected start date of 6/1/2021. Recently completed funding includes an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant and Skarlow Memorial Trust grant. |
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Charly Abi Ghanem, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow Charly joined the Zuloaga Lab in August 2019. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from University of Paris-Saclay in France where he studied the role of the androgen receptor in sexual dimorphism and repair of myelin. Charly's current work focuses on the effects of menopause (in females) or androgen loss (in males) on white matter damage and inflammation in various forms of dementia. |
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Olivia Gannon
Graduate Student Olivia joined the Zuloaga Lab in January 2018. Prior to joining the lab, Olivia was a technician in the Molecular and Cellular Physiology Dept at AMC. Olivia's main project focuses on determining the effect of menopause on VCID and assessing the therapeutic potential of brain-specific estrogen. Olivia's work is funded by an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship. |
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Abby Salinero
Graduate Student Abby and Kristen have been working together since 2016, and started the lab together at AMC in 2017. She transitioned from lab manager to PhD in Fall 2019. Abby's main project focuses on the effect of menopause on cognitive impairment caused my metabolic disease. Abby is also a talented artist and has created beautiful images for our publications. |
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Daniel Kelly Lab Manager Daniel joined our lab in July 2020. His current research focuses on how menopause and metabolic disease alter cognitive function. |
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Janvie Naik Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student Janvie is in her 3rd year at RPI as part of the AMC/RPI MDDR program. She joined the lab in August 2019. Janvie's main project focuses on the effect of menopause on white matter damage in vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia. |
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David Kordit Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student David is in his 3rd year at RPI as part of the AMC/RPI MDDR program. He joined the lab in September 2019. David's main project focuses on sex differences in white matter damage and neuroinflammation in mouse models of dementia. |
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Febronia Mansour Technician Febronia, an undergrad at Albany College of Pharmacy, joined the Zuloaga lab in February 2019 as an intern. She is examining sex differences in cerebral blood flow and underlying vascular pathology (microbleeds) in several mouse models of dementia. |
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Harini Venkataganesh Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student Harini joined the lab in August 2020. Her project focuses on examining changes in neuroinflammation in response to menopause or high fat diet in females. |
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Avi Sura Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student Avi joined the lab in Sept 2020. His project focuses on examining changes in episodic memory in response to loss of estrogen with menopause (females) or androgens (in males). |
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Matthew Wang Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student Matthew joined the lab in Sept 2020. His project focuses on examining changes in spatial memory in response to loss of estrogen (females) or androgens (in males) in a mouse model of multi-etiology dementia. |
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Nyi-Rein Kyaw Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student Nyi-Rein joined the lab in Oct 2020. Nyi-rein is examing the effects of sex hormones on vascular and metabolic contributions to dementia. |
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Alvira Tyagi Student, Shaker High School Alvira, a student at Shaker High School, joined the Zuloaga lab in February 2019. She is assisting in experiments examining sex differences in neurogenesis and dementia. |
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Lisa Robison, PhD
Collaborator/Instructor Lisa joined the Zuloaga Lab as a postdoc in August 2017. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Stonybrook University where she studied how lifestyle factors, such as exercise, affect Alzheimer's disease progression. Lisa's current work focuses on sex differences in the effect of chronic high fat diet on neurogenesis in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and mixed dementia. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Stetson University but continues her reserach in the Zuloaga lab virtually with an Adjunt Instructor appointment at Albany Med. |
Lab Alumni:
Nathan Albert - MDDR student
Brian Anderson, MS - Technician
Lauren Camargo - Med student
Carly Connor - Intern (undergraduate)
Amanda Custozzo - Med student
Alyssa Galloway - Intern (undergraduate)
Maueve Janecka - Intern (high school)
Katherine Melchionni - Intern (undergraduate)
Dhanisha Nandigama - Intern (undergraduate)
Mishal Razi - Intern (highschool)
David Riccio - Lab manager
Melissa Thomas - MDDR student
Alya Tyson - Intern (post-bac)
Allegra Wu - Intern (undergraduate)