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Kristen Zuloaga, PhD
Associate Professor Director, Graduate Studies, DNET co-Director, 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, Scientific Advisory Board for the Albert Research Institute for White Matter and Cognition, and is a standing member of the Chronic Dysfunction & Neurodegeneration (CDIN) study section for NIH. She is deeply committed to mentorship and is Co-Founder/Co-Director 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, NIA U01, Alzheimer's Association AARG, and 11 other current or previous grants (NIH and multiple foundations). |
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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. He has given 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 is funded by a Postdoctoral Fellowship from BrightFocus. |
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Kasey Belanger-Mayer, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow Kasey joined the Zuloaga Lab in January 2022. She received her PhD in Physiology from The Medical College of Georgia where she studied sex differences in immune cell activation in DOCA-salt hypertensive rats. Kasey's current workin the Zuloaga lab will focus on neurovascular interactions of Alzheimer’s disease risk genes. |
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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 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. |
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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. 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. |
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Christina Thrasher
Technician/Lab Manager
Chrissy joined our lab in June 2022. Her current research focuses on chronic stress and menopause as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
Christina Thrasher
Technician/Lab Manager
Chrissy joined our lab in June 2022. Her current research focuses on chronic stress and menopause as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
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Rachel Smith Technician/Lab Manager Rachel joined the lab in April 2022. Her current project focuses on sex differences in the effects of diet-induced obesity in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. |
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Sidharth Addepalli Medical Degree with Distinction in Research (MDDR) Student Sid is part of the AMC/RPI MDDR program. He joined the lab in September 2021. Sid's main project focuses on vascular and metabolic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. |
Emily Groom
Rotating PhD student
Emily is rotating Jan-March 2023. Her studies focus on sex differences in the effects of chronic stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Emily Groom
Rotating PhD student
Emily is rotating Jan-March 2023. Her studies focus on sex differences in the effects of chronic stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Madison Chandler
Rotating PhD student
Madison is rotating Jan-March 2023. Her studies focus on the role of aromatase in VCID.
Madison Chandler
Rotating PhD student
Madison is rotating Jan-March 2023. Her studies focus on the role of aromatase in VCID.
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.
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.
Vanessa Nyblom
Undergraduate, U Albany
Vanessa joined the lab in January 2023.
Vanessa Nyblom
Undergraduate, U Albany
Vanessa joined the lab in January 2023.
Julia Cornell
Undergraduate, U Albany
Julia joined the lab in January 2023.
Julia Cornell
Undergraduate, U Albany
Julia joined the lab in January 2023.
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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. |
Lab Alumni
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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. Lisa has been 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 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 and a fundable R03 score at NIH. |
Medical Students:
Sana Malik
David Kordit
Janvie Niak
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.
Postbac:
Brian Anderson, MS - Technician
Alya Tyson - Intern (post-bac)
Daniel Kelly - Technician (currently PhD student at Einstein)
Febronia Mansour- Technician (currently MD student)
Undergraduates
Carly Connor
Alyssa Galloway - Excellence in Research Award
Katherine Melchionni
Dhanisha Nandigama
David Riccio (currently MD student at SUNY Buffalo)
Allegra Wu
Highschool:
Maueve Janecka
Mishal Razi
Alvira Tyagi - currently attending Harvard University