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Kristen Zuloaga, PhD
Professor Director, Graduate Studies, Dept. of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College co-founder, NY Capital Region Postdoctoral Development Program Kristen joined the Department of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics (DNET) at 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 has served as both Council member and Education co-Chair for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences and currently serves on the Editorial Board for Biology of Sex Differences and for Alzheimer's & Dementia, on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Albert Research Institute for White Matter and Cognition, the Scientific Advisory Board for Albany Medical College, and the External Advisory Board for the NIA CNS-Met COBRE. She is a former standing member of the Chronic Dysfunction & Neurodegeneration (CDIN) study section for NIH. She is deeply committed to mentorship and is Co-Founder of the NY Capital Region Postdoctoral Development Program and Director of Graduate Studies in DNET. She has received funding at every stage of her career including her current NINDS R01 renewal, NIA U01, NIA R21, BrightFocus, Alzheimer's Association AARG-D, and 11 other current or previous grants (NIH and multiple foundations). |
Jennifer Lafrican
Postdoc
Jenn joined the lab in August 2025. Her studies focus developing new mouse models of andropause.
Jennifer Lafrican
Postdoc
Jenn joined the lab in August 2025. Her studies focus developing new mouse models of andropause.
Celine Camon
Postdoc
Celine joined the lab in October 2025. Her studies focus effects of menopause and perimenopause on dementia.
Celine Camon
Postdoc
Celine joined the lab in October 2025. Her studies focus effects of menopause and perimenopause on dementia.
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Emily Groom
PhD student
Emily joined the lab in April 2023. Her studies focus on sex differences in the effects of adolescent stress on cerebral amyloid angiopathy and vascular contributions to dementia. Her work is supported by an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship. Emily has given 3 invited talks during her time in our lab (Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Online Research Symposium, University at Albany Life Sciences Symposium, and University of Scranton Brain & Behavior Conference) and won several awards including Excellence in Poster Presentations at Albany Medical College, Abstract Award for Society of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology in 2025, and Travel Award for the 2025 BrightFocus Alzheimer's Disease Fast Track workshop.
Emily Groom
PhD student
Emily joined the lab in April 2023. Her studies focus on sex differences in the effects of adolescent stress on cerebral amyloid angiopathy and vascular contributions to dementia. Her work is supported by an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship. Emily has given 3 invited talks during her time in our lab (Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Online Research Symposium, University at Albany Life Sciences Symposium, and University of Scranton Brain & Behavior Conference) and won several awards including Excellence in Poster Presentations at Albany Medical College, Abstract Award for Society of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology in 2025, and Travel Award for the 2025 BrightFocus Alzheimer's Disease Fast Track workshop.
Christina Thrasher
PhD Student
Chrissy joined our lab in June 2022, as a technician and entered the PHD program in 2024. Her current research focuses on chronic stress and menopause as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. She won a poster presentation award for her work on this project at the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences in 2025.
Christina Thrasher
PhD Student
Chrissy joined our lab in June 2022, as a technician and entered the PHD program in 2024. Her current research focuses on chronic stress and menopause as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. She won a poster presentation award for her work on this project at the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences in 2025.
Shelby Sabourin
MD/PhD Student
Shelby joined our lab in November 2024. Her current research focuses on sex differences in the effects of high fat diet on cerebral amyloid angiopathy.
Shelby Sabourin
MD/PhD Student
Shelby joined our lab in November 2024. Her current research focuses on sex differences in the effects of high fat diet on cerebral amyloid angiopathy.
Molly Batchelder
Technician/Lab Manager
Molly joined the lab in June 2024. Her current project focuses on sex differences in endothelial risk genes for Alzheimer’s disease.
Molly Batchelder
Technician/Lab Manager
Molly joined the lab in June 2024. Her current project focuses on sex differences in endothelial risk genes for Alzheimer’s disease.
Ann Mutahi
Technician
Ann joined the lab in Dec 2024. Ann work focus on assessing cognitive changes following endocrine aging (andropause/menopause).
Technician
Ann joined the lab in Dec 2024. Ann work focus on assessing cognitive changes following endocrine aging (andropause/menopause).
McKenzie Comito
Technician
McKenzie joined the lab in Fall of 2024. Her work focuses on assessing neuropathology changes associated with risk factors for dementia.
Technician
McKenzie joined the lab in Fall of 2024. Her work focuses on assessing neuropathology changes associated with risk factors for dementia.
Riane Richard
Medical degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Riane is part of the AMC/RPI MDDR program. She joined the lab in January of 2023. Her work focuses on vascular risk genes of Alzheimer's disease.
Riane Richard
Medical degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Riane is part of the AMC/RPI MDDR program. She joined the lab in January of 2023. Her work focuses on vascular risk genes of Alzheimer's disease.
Ava Herzog
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Ava joined the lab in Summer 2023 and is working on sex differences in the effects of mid-life chronic stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Ava joined the lab in Summer 2023 and is working on sex differences in the effects of mid-life chronic stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Aaron Paul
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Aaron joined the lab in Fall of 2023 and is working on the effect of androgens on Alzheimer's disease.
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Aaron joined the lab in Fall of 2023 and is working on the effect of androgens on Alzheimer's disease.
Riley Raine
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Riley joined the lab in Fall of 2024 and is working on sex differences in the effects of stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Riley joined the lab in Fall of 2024 and is working on sex differences in the effects of stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Divya Goyal
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Divya joined the lab in Fall of 2024. Her work focuses on effects of stress on dementia.
Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student
Divya joined the lab in Fall of 2024. Her work focuses on effects of stress on dementia.
Dayton Cubillo-Dreher
Undergrad
Dayton joined the lab in August 2025. Her studies focus effects of chronic stress and menopause on dementia
Dayton Cubillo-Dreher
Undergrad
Dayton joined the lab in August 2025. Her studies focus effects of chronic stress and menopause on dementia
Lab Alumni
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Charly Abi Ghanem, PhD
Collaborator/Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, SUNY Binghamton 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 work in our lab focused on the effects of menopause (in females) or androgen loss (in males) on white matter damage and inflammation in various forms of dementia. During his time in our lab, he gave numerous talks (OSSD, ISTAART PIA day, Steroid & Nervous System meeting and more) and won several awards from OSSD (best poster and travel awards). In 2022, he was elected as trainee member of the OSSD council and his work was funded by a BrightFocus Postdoctoral Fellowship. During his time in our lab, he also won numerous awards. Of note, he was invited to the prestigious Charleston Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in 2024, where he presented a talk and won a travel award. Charly has published 13 papers from his time in our lab. He is currently at SUNY Binghamton as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, where he opened his own lab in Summer 2025. |
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Lisa Robison, PhD
Collaborator/Tenure-track Assistant Professor, Nova Southeastern Univ 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. In 2020, Lisa became an Assistant Professor at Stetson University but continues to be a close collaborator with the Zuloaga Lab. Lisa's current work focuses on sex differences in the effect of chronic high fat diet in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and mixed dementia. During her time in our lab, Lisa was an invited speaker at numerous conferences, such as the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences and Alzheimer's Association International Conferences. In 2020, she won the prestigious Elizabeth Young New Investigator Award from the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences. She published 12 papers from her work in our lab. She is currently at Nova Southeastern University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, where she opened her own lab in Fall 2021. She has already received her first grants as a PI from the American Heart Association, NIH, and the Florida Department of Health. |
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Olivia Gannon
Collaborator, Currently Postdoc in the MacNamara Lab Olivia joined the Zuloaga Lab in January 2018 and graduated in March 2023. Prior to joining the lab, Olivia was a technician in the Molecular and Cellular Physiology Dept at AMC. Olivia's main project focused on determining the effect of menopause on VCID and assessing the therapeutic potential of brain-specific estrogen. Olivia's work was funded by an NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship. Olivia has received numerous other awards including a predoctoral fellowship from American Heart Association, a professional development award from Society for Neuroscience, travel awards (American Physiological Society, Alzheimer's Association, and Organization for the Study of Sex Differences) and awards from AMC including Excellence in Poster Presentations (2020, 2021) and the Dean's Certificate and Prize for Excellence in Extramural Research Activities (2020, 2021), and the Graduate Student Florence Hasteline Best Poster Award at from the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences. She published 12 papers from her time in our lab. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Katherine MacNamara's immunology laboratory at Albany Medical College. |
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Abby Salinero
Research Coordinator & Data Analyst, Global Leadership Institute Abby and Kristen started working together since 2016, and started the lab together at AMC in 2017. She transitioned from lab manager to PhD student in Fall 2019 and defended her PhD in Fall 2024. Abby's main project focused 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. In 2021, she received a Graduate Student Florence Hasteline Best Poster Award from the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences. In 2022, she received an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship. She graduated with a total of 15 publications (5 first author). |
Research Associates:
Dr. Kasey Belanger Mayer - currently a Senior Scientific Writer at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Medical Students:
Harini Venkataganesh
Sana Malik
David Kordit - Distinction in Research
Janvie Niak - Distinction in Research
Nathan Albert - Distinction in Research, Medical School Investigation Day Award,
Lauren Camargo
Amanda Custozzo
Melissa Thomas - Distinction in research, Medical School Investigation Day Award, Best Poster - Eastern Atlantic Student Research Forum, Alpha Omega Alpha Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship.
Sidharth Addepalli
Avi Sura - Distinction in Research
Matthew Wang
Nyi-Rein Kyaw - Distinction in Research
Postbac:
Alex Opiela
Brian Anderson, MS - Technician
Rachel Smith - Technician( currently grad student at Fordham University)
Alya Tyson - Intern (post-bac)
Daniel Kelly - Technician (currently PhD student at Einstein)
Febronia Mansour- Technician (currently MD student)
Undergraduates
Jeanette Ward
Carly Connor
Julia Cornell
Alyssa Galloway - Excellence in Research Award
Katherine Melchionni
Dhanisha Nandigama
Vanessa Nybloom
David Riccio (currently MD student at SUNY Buffalo)
Caitlyn Valerian
Allegra Wu
Highschool:
Glennis Cho
Mauve Janecka
Mishal Razi
Alvira Tyagi - currently attending Harvard University