Lab Head Associate Professor Dept. Neuroscience 401-863-5825 karla_kaun@brown.edu Office: Rm 362, 185 Meeting St. https://vivo.brown.edu/display/kkaun
Lab Manager 401-863-5832 reza_azanchi@brown.edu
Research Assistant Department of Neuroscience I'm investigating localization of dopamine receptors and provide molecular support for lab members. amanda_waterman@brown.edu
Graduate Student Neuroscience Graduate Program I'm interested in how alternative splicing of the dopamine 2 receptor affects circuit dynamics during appetitive behavioral responses. tariq_brown@brown.edu
Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Neuroscience I'm looking at the neural circuit mechanisms underlying individual variation in operant responses to volatilized drugs of abuse in Drosophila. john_hernandez@brown.edu
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Neuroscience I'm interested in how cotransmission regulates motivated behavior for natural stimuli and how alcohol and drugs of abuse influence this. lewis_sherer@brown.edu
Graduate Student (Haass-Koffler Lab), Neuroscience Graduate Program I'm part of a collaborative project with the Kaun, White, Haass-Koffler and McGeary labs in the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies looking at mechanisms through which stress alters octopamine signaling in flies, and how this affects alcohol response. rivkah_hornbacher@brown.edu
Undergraduate Student Neuroscience Concentration I'm investigating how memory-induced alternative splicing of Drosophila STAT influences brain function and behavior. brian_lee@brown.edu
Undergraduate Student Neuroscience Concentration I'm investigating cell-type specific localization of dopamine receptors within the Drosophila brain. imaad_said@brown.edu
Undergraduate Student Biology Concentration, Neurobiology Focus I'm developing behavior assays to investigate the mechanisms underlying nicotine reward in Drosophila. miauaxochitl_haskie@brown.edu
Undergraduate Student Neuroscience Concentration I'm investigating how ethanol self-administration affects morphology and plasticity of neurons in the a'3 mushroom body circuit. megan_wang2@brown.edu
Undergraduate Student Cognitive Neuroscience Concentration, I'm investigating how internal state alters cotransmission of octopamine and glutamate in the Drosophila brain. liliana_cunha@brown.edu
We are a fun, diverse and scientifically eclectic group of researchers. If you are interested in becoming part of our laboratory, please contact Dr. Kaun!
CURRENT LAB COLLABORATORS
Gilad Barnea: Sidney A. Fox and Dorthea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Brown University
Sarah Certel: Associate Professor, Division of Biological Science, University of Montana
Carolina Haass-Koffler: Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University
Erica Larschan: Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Brown University
John McGeary: Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University
Kate O'Connor-Giles: Provost's Associate Professor of Brain Science, Brown University
Rohan Palmer: Assistant Professor of Psychology, Emory University
Emily Petruccelli: Assistant Professor, Dept. Biology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Kristin Scaplen: Assistant Professor, Dept. Psychology, Bryant University, and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Dept. Neuroscience, Brown University
Galit Shohat-Ophir: Associate Professor, Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Norma Velazquez-Ulloa: Associate Professor of Biology, Lewis & Clark College
Tara White: Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences (Research), Brown University
LAB ALUMNI
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES
Natalie D'Silva: Kaun Lab, Dept. Neuroscience 2018-21 (Vascular Research Laboratory, Providence VA Medical Center)
Kristin Scaplen: Kaun Lab, Dept Neuroscience, 2014-20 (Assistant Professor, Dept. Psychology, Bryant University)
Emily Petruccelli: Kaun Lab, Dept Neuroscience, 2016-18 (Assistant Professor, Dept. Biology, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Fabiola Eckert: PhD, Pharmacology Postgraduate Program UFSC, Brazil, Spring/Summer 2023 exchange student
Kavin Nunez: PhD Brown University, Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program, 2016-21, Postdoc with Nagel Lab at NYU.
Jacqueline Howells: PhD Candidate, Brown University, Co-supervised with Dr. Marc Tatar, Pathology Graduate Program, 2019-22
Jamie Catalano: PhD Candidate, Brown University Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program, 2018-21
Katie McCullar: PhD Candidate, Brown University Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2018-21
Nicholas Mei: MSc Brown University Neuroscience Graduate Program, 2014-17 (Software Engineer Allen Institute for Brain Science)
Sarah Salamon: MSc University of Cologne, 2017 (PhD Candidate, University of Cologne), 2017 exchange student
POSTBACCALAUREATE STUDENTS
Nelson Le PREP 2022-23 (Specialist, Analytical Engineer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company)
Yanabah Jaques (Cognitive Neuroscience 2016-18, PREP 2018-19 (Graduate School in Neuroscience, University of California Berkeley)
Nishell Savory: PREP 2016-17 (Graduate Student, Drexel University College of Medicine)
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Honors Thesis:
Owen Wogmon: Neuroscience, Brown University 2023 (Fulbright Scholar)
Eve Glenn: Neuroscience, Brown University 2022 (Research Technician, Brown University)
Raffee Wright: Behavior Genetics, Brown University 2021 (University of Edinburgh Graduate School)
Vaishnavi Sankar: Neuroscience, Brown University 2021 (Baylor Medical School)
Sophia Song: Neuroscience, Brown University 2019 (Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University)
Sydney Gang: Neuroscience, Brown University 2019 (Research Assistant, Dana Farber Institute)
Ryan Cohen: Biology, Brown University 2019 (Software Developer Engineer, Adobe)
Nicolas Ledru: Biology, Brown University 2016 (Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University)
Rachel Muster: Neuroscience, Brown University 2016 (Medical School, University of California San Francisco)
Independent Study
Rohan Freedman: Neuroscience Brown University 2023
Mariel Magdits: Neuroscience, Brown University 2021 (MS in Human Nutrition, Columbia University)
Tyler Blackwater: Computational Biology, Brown University 2019
Fahim Mahmud: Neuroscience, Brown University 2018
Karen Gutierrez: Neuroscience, Brown University 2017 (Stanford Medical School)
Gina Chieffallo: CLPS, Brown University 2017
Hayley Bounds: Neuroscience Brown University 2015 (Graduate School in Neuroscience, University of California Berkeley)
Edward Lee: Biology, Brown University 2014 (Medical School, Loma Linda University)
Summer Students:
Wyatt Ploot: Biology, University of Montana (research advisor is collaborator Dr. Sarah Certel, University of Montana)
Anthony Walley: Neuroscience, Presidential Scholar, Brown University 2020 (Research Assistant, UMass Medical School)
Jack Martin: Biology and Native American and Indigenous Studies, Brown University 2019 (Research Technician, University of New Mexico)
Destinee Semidey: Hunter College 2019
Breanna Demestichas: Binghampton University 2019
Jaclyn Dell: University of South Florida, St. Petersburg 2016 (Graduate School in Clinical Psychology, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg)
Samantha Huynh: Brown University 2015
Sophie Yan: Brown University 2015
Alex Chen: New York University 2014 (Graduate School in Neuroscience, University of Michigan)
RESEARCH TECHNICIANS
Edward Anderson: Kaun Lab, Dept Neuroscience, 2017 (University of North Carolina Catalyst for Rare Disease Postdoctoral Research Associate)
Michael Feyder: Biochemist research assistant 2014-17 (Graduate School in Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Medical School)